Grout Cleaning

This customer from Pinner contacted us regarding their Porcelain tiled floor which hadn’t been professionally cleaned for a couple of years. As well as deep cleaning the tile and grout they were keen for us to remove some staining and grout marks that must have been there since the floor was laid.

Removing stubborn grout from tiling is a common problem known as Grout Haze and fortunately there is a solution, in that it can be removed by giving the tiles a scrub with an acidic tile cleaner called Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up. Also, it’s worth bearing in mind that Porcelain tiles are generally impermeable but the top layer of grout being rough does trap dirt. As a result, we often find that pale or white grout appears to darken quite quickly. This is often exacerbated during cleaning as the dirty water from the tile gets washed into the recesses of the grout line.

Happy to assist I arranged to carry out a test clean at their property which would then form the basis of a quotation. For the test we carried out an acid wash on the grout staining and gave the darkened grout lines a good scrub with the same product. This worked really well along with a magic eraser sponge to complete the clean and remove any residue. A heat gun was used to dry the grout lines in order to show the customer what the result would look like. The couple were amazed at the instant change and how well the tile and grout lines cleaned up. We also tested an area where grout had not been fully removed when they were laid and left to dry on the tile, using the same process, we were able to remove it.

Keen to have the whole floor treated in the same way I worked out a quote which was accepted and a date scheduled.

Removing Grout Haze from Pale Porcelain Kitchen Tiles

When we returned to complete the whole floor we used same process as before with various dilutions of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-Up depending on the nature of the staining. Before starting though plastic wrap was used to cover and protect any areas that could be affected by the cleaning product which is acidic. The customer had an amazing built-in wine cellar in the floor of the living room with a glass door so was important to ensure that was well protected.

The cleaning involved decanting the diluted Grout Clean-up into a spray bottle and then spraying the tile and grout. The solution was then left to soak in for a good ten minutes (sometimes longer) before using a black pad fitted to a rotary machine to scrub the floor. In some areas the grout haze was quite thick, so it was necessary to use a single edge steel blade to scrape the bulk of the grout off first. The grout was hand-scrubbed as the recessed grout line can be difficult to reach with a pad; the floor was laid with large format tiles however so the grout lines were minimal.

Once we had completed the clean through the Kitchen, living room, entrance hall, toilet and utility we used a steam mop to ensure there was no chemical residue on the floor. Finally, we used our buffing machine with a white buffing pad to ensure there were no streak marks left on the tile, and to bring up the finish.

The customers were really pleased with the finish throughout and commented how well it had cleaned up. We discussed maintenance going forward and suggested using Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner for regular cleaning.

Professional Renovation of a Porcelain Tiled Floor in Northwest London