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How To Clean Tiled Floors Naturally

By: Mike L / Last UPDATED: October 17, 2022
How To Clean Tiled Floors Naturally

Aside from good, reliable elbow grease, you might be wondering what the best natural solutions are for your tile cleaning ritual. Sure, there’s an abundance of deep-clean chemicals to choose from, but are they the best for your floor? Will they deliver the shine and stain prevention you want, without having a negative effect on the environment?

Instead, Atlas Ceramics are in favour of thinking what to clean tile floors with naturally. You’ll get an incredible finish and know for sure that corrosive, harmful chemicals are out of the picture. Here’s our end-to-end list of natural cleaning products.

Lemon Juice

The humble lemon is a friend in the fight against mildew, dirt and grease. They’re really effective when combating soap scum, which builds around the grout lines in a tile layout. Why? Because they’re full of citrus, an organic acid that breaks down bacteria and sanitises the affected space.

When searching for what to clean tile floors with naturally, cut a lemon in half. Rub the segment across and in between your tiles. Lemons can also be employed for taking care of your bathroom curtains, in conjunction with hot water.

Vinegar and Baking Soda

You’d be forgiven for thinking that vinegar will create an awful smell in your bathroom when using it as a cleaning fluid. It’s only an initial effect, though; the scent dissipates shortly after you apply it. Soon enough, you’ll relish the sharp, fast-acting properties of a vinegar wash over the tile surface.

What’s more, vinegar is cheap to buy and easy to store for long cleaning periods. Coat your tiles with baking soda first for the finest results.

Wipe any excess powder away, ensuring the main body of the tiles (and the grout lines) have a light layer remaining. Pour some vinegar into a spray bottle and squirt it over the entire floor.

Bubbles should start to form – let them sizzle for a little while. After a few minutes, you can scrub the solution with a brush and dry the floor with a towel. It’s important to refrain from letting the vinegar/soda mix set too long, or the dirt will just stick ever more steadfastly to the tiles.

Steam Cleaners

Still wondering what to clean tile floors with naturally? For some people, the answer lies in a steam cleaner, which doesn’t irritate any allergies.

Now, of course, there’s probably a question forming at your lips: “My bathroom is already full of steam on a daily basis… what makes this any different? Won’t it just add to the problem?” That’s a fair assumption, but the fact remains that specialised cleaning tools add a strong, focused blast of steam that intensifies on grime and bacteria. It’s the heat, more than anything, that makes steam cleaners so powerful.

Just fill the device up and wait for the water to boil inside. 90% of the time, usability isn’t an issue; these devices are built for individuals wanting to clean their own home, as well as more experienced tiling professionals.

One major benefit is the flexibility you’re granted – just like a vacuum, steam machines come with an assortment of nozzles, twist functions and control settings, helping you reach places (i.e. behind the toilet) that are trickier to treat than the bulk of the floor.

Salt Paste

Once more, baking soda rears its head again as a worthy companion for a natural cleaning element. This time, it’s salt, which dehydrates bacteria via osmosis. Think of it as a filter, only allowing some substances through whilst denying others – such as single-celled organisms – the chance to thrive in your bathroom.

You’ll need to mix the salt into a paste, and that’s where the soda comes in. Equal parts of each are essential to getting the consistency right. Craft the mixture in a beaker before sponging it over the areas you’re cleaning.

Leave it overnight. When you come back, the salt will have done its work, leaving you free to wipe it away with a damp flannel. Mould and grime don’t stand a chance.

Waxing Products

Some floors are begging for a flashy, sparkling appearance throughout the year – no matter how often they’re plied with dirty feet. In this instance, we suggest a natural waxing treatment. There are various products designed for the stone tiles you’re seeing to.

One important thing to hunt for is a lack of CHCs (chlorinated hydrocarbons), which are a toxic, potentially anaesthetic series of chemicals that may evaporate and cause damage to you or the environment.

Atlas Ceramics stock a sizeable amount of these waxes. The Lithofin MN Cobble Wax, for instance, is made for antique marble floors, with attention paid to a sandblasted or ‘machined’ surface.

Some stone tiles may not need any wax at all. Generally, though, they upgrade your maintenance properties, leaving them easier to clean and resistant to the build-up of dirt. Experiment with what you prefer, just to see whether this sort of finish is what you want to go for.

Non-solvent Cleaners

We’re almost at the close of what to clean tile floor with naturally, and it’s taken us to commercial cleaners that – whilst they make seem artificial – function largely by mixing with water, staying free of solvent additives.

Lithofin is the brand leader for quick, simple tile cleaning purchases. Like the wax approach detailed above, there’s a specialised fluid for the range of potential floors you may own or be working on.

The KF 5-Litre Polish bottle is a great place to start, equally good for ceramics and clay tiling slabs. It creates a shimmering film that refreshes the colour of the stone and aids your cleaning routine when basting the tiles with a sponge, mop or scraper.

Other options include the ASR 5L, composed with strong alkaline properties that are ideal for brick, stone and ceramic tiles, wiping grease away in a matter of minutes.

Has that helped your decision? Atlas Ceramics are fond of safe cleaning techniques, the kind that don’t burn a hole in your nostrils or the ozone layer… We should count ourselves well-informed, then, to have so many solid alternatives at play, many of which come from common household cupboards.

For the branded products, however, you can arrive back at the Atlas Ceramics stocklist – our advisors are keen to polish up your cleaning kit. Call us for advice on stone tiling care.

Article by Mike L

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