Tile Floors SCREAM FOR HELP

[jedishampoo]

Does anyone know how to clean tile floors? I just cleaned them, I think, but I about killed myself doing it.

We moved into the new place, and it has all tile floors. Like stone tile, smooth. At first we thought, oh, no vacuuming downstairs and no cat barf on carpet and so no Resolve. I can just sweep and mop, hooray!

HOLY CRAP was I wrong. Great clumps of dust and cat hair hiding everywhere, blowing across the floor like tumbleweeds. I tried to sweep (with a broom) and get most of the dust, but it kept skittering away from me. Then I got out the mop and Pine-Sol (sponge mop), Pine-Sol diluted as per package directions, and hell, the grout between tiles is mostly untouched, the Pine-sol leaves a bit of residue, and basically the mop makes the dust I missed wet and sorta smears it like slime.

HOW do you clean these floors? I can't hire anyone. I was doing it for hours. I can't get on my knees and scrub like I used to on the linoleum kitchen in our old place, else risk bruised knees. And dang, this place really is huge (another thing we thought at first was good) and has a LOT of tile. Acres! Anyone have any tips?

Comments

[hollywdliz.livejournal.com]

Will a Swiffer work? I'm trying to envision your floors and it sounds like they'd be nightmarish to clean (if pretty to look at), but the Amazing Swiffer is safe on any surface, AFAIK -- it just might not work as well on your tile as it does on, say, my laminated wood floors. At any rate it's good at picking up dust (where does it all come from??).

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

I do love swiffers and I've used a swiffer in the old place, but only the "wet" kind, on the lineoleum, and sometimes it would get "smeary" too, but then I could just get on my knees and sorta wipe the corners. I bought the sponge mop, Pine-Sol and bucket because I figured I'd go through an entire pack of wet swiffers just to do the kitchen and front room! :)

Do you mean the dry kind? For the dust, that is?

THANKS.

[hollywdliz.livejournal.com]

Yes, I use the dry kind. I sometimes use the wet one on the kitchen floors but generally am too lazy. Although frankly most of the time I'll just notice some dust, grab a tissue or napkin and wipe it up. I sort of clean as I go rather than dedicating a whole stretch of time to it.

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Well, Melinda's suggestion is now that maybe we pick a room a week to clean so we can keep it up. A bit at a time, as you say! She was tired of my screaming curses echoing through the house.

[soniag.livejournal.com]

I vote for Swiffer, too. I couldn't manage my wood and tile floors without it. And you can get a Swiffer Wetjet for when the tiles need more than a sweeping.

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Ah, I've used the wet cloth swiffer, but not the "wetjet." Though I've seen it in stores. Is it good? I'll try anything else at this point. :)

[soniag.livejournal.com]

Actually, I look at the wetjet longingly at Target, but so far have only used the dry and wet cloths. And I have textured, brownish tile, so I don't notice smears.

But still, the cloths are great for the tumbleweeds! (I SO know what you're talking about there! Makes you kinda sick to think about all that a carpet can absorb.)

[eliz.livejournal.com]

YES! Swiffer is goodness!

I'd go two ways. One is the wet jet for heavy duty cleaning. The second would be to also upgrade the regular "mop" to the new one with a rechargable vacuum built in. This is GREAT for day to day stuff- fur/hair/dust/bits/etc. The regular swiffer sheets do most of it, the vacuum just means you get the bits that the cloths don't. Very handy.

We use the swiffer on everything but the carpet (we have one room with carpet and a Dyson to tackle it, the carpet swiffer wouldn't have a chance as it's the room we live in).

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Melinda has examined her vacuum (we through mine away because it sucked, as in it didn't) and discovered a "tile" setting. Hopefully that will help, too! Though I definitely think I will invest in some of the dry swiffer pads. :) Thanks!

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Holy crap my grammar sucks today. Through = threw. ;)

[rosiewook.livejournal.com]

I haven't had much luck with Swiffer and dog hair. But they do help.

I bought a Bissel floor cleaner and totally love it. It combines a dry vac, mopping function and wet vac.

You might also consider having the tiles resealed. If it's streaking that much, they might be due.

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

That sounds expensive! I guess that would be an "owner" issue. And we have the owner's e-mail, heh heh. :) She already had to come out with her husband to get the Jacuzzi going, 'cause we're just hopeless, so maybe I'll try the wash/rinse idea I've seen thrown around here... Thanks!

[maiasaura.livejournal.com]

If you have a vacuum that can do hard surfaces, that works very well too. Among the many things we replaced when we moved to the renovated house was the 20 year old Eureka I got as a shower gift. I now have a fabulous Dyson. Barring that, a dry swiffer will get the worst of the hair and dirt. You can probably just use warm water and a mop most of the time and save adding the cleaner except for really dirty days. The reason why people get tile is because it's bullet proof. But, it's hard on the back and knees and don't get down on your hands and knees unless you absolutely have to.

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Melinda's discovered that her vacuum has a "tile" setting so we'll try that. I just used cleaner because I assumed I had to; several people have suggested th wash/rinse or just warm water so maybe I'll try that. :) Thanks, dear.

[knitress.livejournal.com]

Dry Swiffer first to pick up the hair. And/or vacuum.

I'm not big on the swiffer wetjet. I do use the wet swiffer sheets on my little kitchen and bathroom here in the apartment.

And it helps to actually wash the floor; eg, use the mop to put on LOTS of soapy water (with whatever detergent you're using), let it stand, then mop it all up and rinse with clean water. That means less residue. It's a #*@() of work, but you shouldn't have to do it too often.

Getting the grout cleancleanclean is always the problem with tile unless the grout has been sealed. But you don't have to get the grout sparkly, do you? If you do, then it's knee pads (or sitting down on your hip on the floor) and scrubbing with a scrub brush.

Can you tell I was raised by Germans? Mind you, I don't actually *do* all this unless I'm doing something like trying to sell my house!

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

LOL, I won't worry about the grout, then, unless we're moving out (far off in the future, I hope). I just hadn't had tile floors, and since I was obsessive about scrubbing every inch of the linoleum when I cleaned it, I figured the tile had to be scrubbed, too. Until I realized it was impossible. :) Thanks, dear, for the hints.

[jedihealer.livejournal.com]

The dry swiffer worked well for dog hair. I usually used a combo of: vaccuum, then swiffer for the rest of the hair.

As to washing, the two rooms in our house with "real" tile have colored grout. Helps deal with keeping it clean as it doesn't show the dirt/stains as much as white.

I usually use a wet swiffer on the tile near my front door, and whatever I have handy to dump in a bucket for my bathroom. Not much help, sorry.

[anirt.livejournal.com]

With the tumbleweeds, I think I would vacuum first. Then try knitress's two part wet-mop solution. Also, once you do get it pretty clean, you might not really need the cleaning solutions and migth be able tot get away with vacuum + damp mop only.

[helliongoddess.livejournal.com]

Somebody told me that the wet swiffers were really bad for small pets, so you might want to look into that (a google search would probably do it) before you got into doing that if you have kitties. They can be really sensitive to certain chemicals, and so much of those sprays get airborne on their level.

My hubby used to be a tile and flooring guy in one of his previous incarnations, I will ask him if he has any suggestions. Is it like slate, or like marble, or what? The closer an idea you can give me to what kind of stone the better answer I can give you. (Also being a retired reference librarian I may do some online research myself if he doesn't know. The Goddess loves a challenge in any form. ^-^ )

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

Your husband was a tile and flooring guy? Sounds like the guy I need in this situation. ;) I'm at work so I can't check (there are extra tiles in the garage, in packages), but they seem sort of slate-y to me, tan in color, very smooth and solid though, no chipping. I'll have to look when I get home to double-check the type.

I think next time we'll try the vacuum and then the dry swiffers to get the dust. I guess I should see whether or not Pine-sol will affect the cat, but I doubt it. She eats more toxic things than she should, anyway. ;) And she's 17!

[jedishampoo.livejournal.com]

They're called "Celima Premium Glazed Floor Tile." Everything else is in Spanish or Italian or something. :p Maybe not slate, but definitely heavy as I found when I tried to lift them to read the boxes better!