FAQ & Bathroom Care
Take care of your bathrooms & they will take care of you. Bathroom maintenance is very important to protect your home value and investment. If you have some questions please take a look at our FAQ’s below. Can find the answer? Call or text us to ask directly.
Proper Care & Maintenance Of Bathroom & Tile
Every different material requires its own method of care. Here you can learn about how to take care and maintain your new bathrooms to stay looking sharp and clean for many years to come. Keeping up with the care & maintenance in the bathroom is the key part to extending the life of your bathroom or tile surface.
Ceramic & Porcelain Cleaning
One of the best floor cleaning products, though, is one that is readily available in your home. Water is effective in keeping your tile floor looking great.
- Clean ceramic tile floors with warm water or a mixture of warm water and a few drops of mild dish soap. Add fresh water frequently to avoid cleaning with dirty water.
- You can also mix a cup of white vinegar with a gallon of water for a wonderfully effective, odor-eliminating cleanser. If you have children or pets, you may not want to use harsh chemicals, and this is a wonderful alternative.
- For stubborn stains or very deep cleaning you can non acidic or acidic Heavy Duty Tile & Grout Cleaning solution in your nearest Home Depot or The Tile Shop store.
- For best results, wash bathroom tiles once a week and kitchen tiles biweekly.
- Apply cleaning solution with cloth or scrubby on a portion of an area big enough the finish before the solution dries.
- Using a non scoring scrubby give the area a good scrubbing to remove any buildup stains and allow to soak for 5 min.
- Use bucket of clean warm water, dip microfiber cloth and rinse until no water is dripping from the cloth.
- Wipe down all the cleaning solution and area scrubbed to remove stains, re rinse cloth in warm water.
- Move on to next area.
Tile floors will not appear completely clean unless the dirty grout is cleaned as well.
- Create a paste of baking soda and water.
- Scrub it gently into the grout with a toothbrush or grout brush.
- Rinse with warm water and allow to air dry.
- Try removing small grout stains with a white or pink pencil eraser, like you would erase a mistake on a piece of paper.
- For stubborn stains, use a toothbrush or sponge to apply Heavy Duty Grout Cleaner from your local Home Depot, The Tile Shop.
- Scrub grout line with a grout line scrubber or stiff toothbrush & allow to soak for 5 min.
- Scrub again to remove dissolved stains.
- Rinse clean microfiber cloth in a bucket of warm water & wipe down the area from dissolved dirt and cleaning solution.
The best way to maintain you tile floors clean depends on the type of tile you have and usually only requires the application of warm water & vinegar and elbow grease. Keeping your tile floors free of dirt and debris can mean that deeper tile floor cleaning will be needed less often.
- For Heavy Duty Grout Cleaning——–> Grout, like stone, is a porous material. Maintaining a sealed product is important to keep your product looking new for a longer period of time. The Tile Shop offers two great neutral pH cleaners for general upkeep. Neutral pH cleaners are non-acidic and are important because acid could potentially etch polished stone and/or strip sealers. Our Grout and Tile Neutral Cleaner and Anti-Bacterial Cleaner are considered safe for daily use on your grout surfaces. The Tile Shop offers several additional products if your grout requires more heavy-duty cleaning. Consult with a Tile Shop representative to determine the best product for your application since some tile products may be acid/chemical-sensitive.
Silicone and caulking is very important in your bathroom as it act as a sealant to keep water out of areas of your bathroom where water could cause damage. Its really important not to damage the sealant during cleaning as that could give water a way to get past the sealant & cause water damage.
- Use any non acidic bathroom cleaning solutions
- Solution on silicone or caulking bead.
- Use a damp microfiber cloth to wipe down any stains.
- For tougher stains softly scrub it down with a soft toothbrush until stain disappears and then wipe down with a clean cloth.
Natural Stone Tile Cleaning
- Can be cleaned with a mixture of warm water and mild detergent such as dish soap. Avoid cleaning products that contain lemon, vinegar or other acidic substances as it will damage the stone.
- Do not use vinegar or chemicals on granite or marble tile floors. Instead, use a mild, pH-neutral cleaner that won’t streak or discolor the tile.
- Travertine tile floors, like floors of limestone or marble tile, should be cleaned with hot water and a solution cleaner designed for marble or granite tile floors.
- Before cleaning, sweep stone tile floors with a soft broom, as rougher brooms can leave scratches.
- Sweep to remove any dirt particles.
- Fill a recipient of warm water and use only water, or mix it with a small amount of neutral liquid “Natural Stone Cleaner”, detergent or cleaning solutions specific for stone. Change the solution when it starts to get dirty.
- Dip a microfiber towel, a duster or a mop into the water mixture and start cleaning.
- Wash the area by starting at the corner of the room and working methodically towards the room exit.
- Allow air circulation in the room for a quick drying.
What you should Do:
- Do dust mop floors frequently.
- Do protect floor surfaces with non-slip mats or area rugs and countertop surfaces with coasters, trivets, or placemats.
- Do clean surfaces with mild detergent or stone soap.
- Do thoroughly rinse and dry the surface with clean, clear water after washing.
- Do blot up spills immediately.
What you should Not Do:
- Don’t use vinegar, lemon juice, or other cleaners containing acids on marble, limestone, travertine, or onyx surfaces.
- Don’t use cleaners that contain acid such as bathroom cleaners, grout cleaners, or tub & tile cleaners.
- Don’t use abrasive cleaners such as dry cleansers or soft cleansers.
- Don’t mix bleach and ammonia; this combination creates a toxic and lethal gas.
- Don’t ever mix chemicals together unless directions specifically instruct you to do so.
- Don’t use vacuum cleaners that are worn. The metal or plastic attachments or the wheels may scratch the stone’s surface.
Have Questions? We Have Answers.. See Our FAQs Below
Product FAQ's
Tile offers many benefits such as durability, easy maintenance, affordability, and unique design opportunities, just to name a few.
Factors such as level of foot traffic, primary users of the space, and regular exposure to water will affect the suggested application for each product. Areas that might get more foot traffic or see more moisture would be better to do in ceramic or porcelain as they have a very tiny water absorption rate compared to natural stone tiles.
While ceramic and porcelain are both man-made tiles produced from firing clay and other minerals, the main difference is that porcelain is more resistant to moisture, staining and water due to a blend of fine-grain clays and other minerals fired at a much higher degree temperature than ceramic tile.
Yes, ceramic and porcelain tiles are environmentally friendly because they are:
Low maintenance products, making them easy to clean with just water instead of harsh chemicals or cleaners that are often needed to treat or clean other flooring options.
Fired in kilns to extremely high temperatures, eliminating volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from finished products. VOCs contribute to a wide variety of health problems, making ceramic and porcelain tiles a better option for maintaining/improving indoor air quality.
Inhospitable to dust mites, mold, germs and bacteria when sealed and maintained properly. Tile is often used to replace carpet for people with allergies and asthma.
Sustainable. Ceramic and porcelain tiles are some of the longest lasting flooring products on the market, making them longer lasting than carpet, vinyl, or laminate flooring when they’re properly installed and maintained.
Installtion FAQ's
Yes, we are a bathroom renovation and tile installation company. (We don’t sell any products)
Each tile project is unique and will depend on a few different things: the product being used, the space where the product is being installed, and how much time was spent on prep & layout.
- Tiled 20-30 sqft kitchen backsplash takes 2-3 days.
- New tiled walk in shower takes 5-6 days.
- New tiled bathtub surround takes 3-4 days.
- Tiled bathroom floor 30-60 ft.² takes about 3 days.
It is recommended to order 10%-15% extra product based upon pattern layout to accommodate for cuts and repairs. Availability and style of tiles are always changing so having an extra box or two on hand is highly recommended.
The more complex your pattern becomes, the greater percentage of overage should be considered. We recommend consulting with a Tile Shop representative or your tile installer to determine the accurate amount of material needed for your project.
Grout is as much a personal option as selecting your tile. We can make suggestions based on what’s commonly used but we strongly suggest that you select the color that is right for you and your design objective.
Many variables can affect the time needed for thinset, mastic and floor mix to properly cure. We recommend waiting 24 hours before allowing traffic on any recently installed tile.
A glazed tile is already stain proof, so there is no purpose to putting on a sealer. You may put a penetrating sealer on your unglazed tile or your grout joints. The penetrating sealer is an invisible, stain resistant shield that is absorbed into the surface.
Dont want to get your hands dirty? try our Cleaning Service
We offer a variety of different tile cleaning and bathroom maintenance services. Call us to ask if we can do it for you
