Choosing the best tile floor cleaner isn’t always straightforward. With so many products on the market, each promising the best results, it’s hard to see the wood for the trees. Different floor surfaces often require different treatments and products and many homes have a variety of floor types.
Best Tile Floor Cleaner
It’s important to follow manufacturer’s recommendations for taking care of your floor tiles and ensure that you use a suitable product that won’t damage or mark your files.
I’ve looked at some of the most popular tiled floor cleaners and examined the performance of each one under a variety of conditions.
HG Extreme Power Cleaner
HG is a big name in cleaning and the go-to brand of choice for many cleaning professionals. This intensive cleaner is ideal for tackling heavy duty, caked-on dirt, grime and debris on all kinds of floor tiles including flagstones and natural stone.
The Extreme Power Cleaner comes in a 1-litre bottle and is highly concentrated so it should last you a long time.
To use the product:
- Dilute the cleaner at a ratio of one part detergent to ten parts water.
- Apply this solution to your floor tiles with a mop, scrubbing brush or using an electric floor cleaner.
- Scrub the surface to help the cleaner to penetrate the dirt and leave it for 5 – 10 minutes, depending on how dirty the floor tiles are.
- After this time has elapsed, scrub once more and remove all of the solution from your tiles using a wet mop.
- Ensure that all residue has been removed from the floor and dry off with an old towel or rags.
I used the product on the porcelain tiles in my guest bathroom which are at least 15 years old. General wear and tear and a few spills over the years have seen the colour turn from an original cream colour to a dirty beige. I applied the power cleaner as per the manufacturer’s instructions and left it to work for 5 minutes before rinsing well and drying off. The ingrained dirt was gone and the tiles were at least 2 shades lighter.
Bear in mind that you will need some elbow grease to get the best results with this product. As it is pretty heavy duty, you should wear protective gloves throughout the process.
I recommend the HG Power Cleaner as an occasional use product, and only in areas with heavy-duty dirt and build up. It is more than what’s necessary for regular cleaning and requires time and effort to get results.
HG’s Extreme Power Cleaner is economically priced and available from Amazon as well as many DIY and homeware stores.
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back to menu ↑HG Tile Cleaner
For general cleaning purposes, HG’s tile cleaner is a great product to have around the house. The formula is highly concentrated meaning that you just need a dash of the stuff in a bucket of water to do your floors.
This product is suitable for all tiled floor types and what is really great is that you don’t need to rinse it off. Simply add about a tablespoonful of HG tile cleaner to a bucket of warm water and mop your floors as usual. Don’t rinse or dry off your floors and you’ll be left with a clean floor and high shine finish.
A word of warning; since you won’t be drying off your floors, ensure that you wring your mop out well before you use it. Especially on older tiled floors, it’s not a good idea to leave pools or puddles of water on tile surfaces as this can damage the protective finish and lead to staining or discolouration. It can also encourage the growth of mould (How To Clean Mould) or mildew in your grouting which you want to avoid.
HG’s tile cleaner left my tiles looking great and the fragrance of this cleaner is very pleasant. I was concerned that the floors might be sticky or that there might be visible residue but this wasn’t an issue.
Stick to the manufacturers recommended dilution of this product. A stronger concentration of the detergent could leave you with a sticky, smudgy floor.
The 1-litre bottle is very reasonably priced and is enough to give you approximately 40 washes.
You can also use this product with electric floor cleaners and mops by adding a small quantity to the water canister of your machine.
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back to menu ↑Vileda Steam Mop
If you want to avoid using detergents on your floors altogether, a steam mop is a great solution. Vileda’s mid-price range steam mop will get rid of 99.9% of germs and bacteria from your flooring and is suitable for use on all floor types including all kinds of tiles.
The machine takes just 15 seconds to heat up and you simply glide it across your floor to sanitise and remove dirt and grime from your flooring. It is the fastest and simplest way to clean your tiled floors. It’s also great for people with disabilities or reduced mobility as there’s no need for bending down or lifting heavy buckets of water.
Steam mops are great for use in houses where there are allergy sufferers as detergents and chemicals can often exacerbate allergic reactions. The Vileda mop is lightweight and powerful and the detachable microfibre pads are removable and machine washable.
The 20-foot electrical cable gives you excellent reach and you can use the mop for up to 28 minutes on one tank of water. As well as being great on hard floors, the Vileda mop comes with a special carpet glider attachment so you can steam your carpets and rugs too.
To see the Vileda Steam Mop in action, take a look at the manufacturer’s video below:
The Vileda Steam Mop is available on Amazon with free UK shipping and comes with a 2-year manufacturers guarantee. You can also purchase replacement microfibre pads on the site.
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back to menu ↑Pro-Kleen Grout Cleaner
Compared to tile surfaces, grout can be a real pain to clean. Over time, grouting can become discoloured and stained. The porous surface easily becomes dirty and accumulates grime and debris. Grouting is also the perfect environment for mould, bacteria and mildew and sometimes you can’t avoid having to scrub it.
Luckily, specialist grout cleaning products like Pro-Kleen Grout cleaner take some of the heavy lifting out of grout cleaning. Pro-Kleen’s grout cleaner removes staining, restoring light coloured grouting to its original state. It also kills mould and mildew and contains an agent that will prevent it from returning.
Bear in mind that this is a heavy duty chemical product and should only be used when really necessary. Always wear protective gloves and eyewear and take special care not to get this on your skin or clothing. Open windows to ventilate the room and remove children and pets from the area before you start work.
To use Pro-Kleen grout cleaner, simply spray the product onto the grout and leave it for 10 – 20 minutes to take effect. After this time has passed, rinse away or mop your floors to remove all residue.
Very bad staining or thick mould may require a second application. If you need to apply Pro-Kleen a second time, spray the product onto the grouting and scrub it in gently using an old toothbrush or grout brush. The Fuginator Joint Brush below is ideal for this kind of task. Leave for 20 minutes and rinse the product away. Mop thoroughly and leave to dry.
Pro-Kleen will restore even the dirtiest and most badly stained grouting to look like new. The product is available in a 5-litre container which comes with a 750ml re-fillable spray and this should last you for years!
The product is reasonably priced, particularly considering the large quantity and is available from Amazon.
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back to menu ↑Fuginator Joint Brush for Cleaning Grout
As I mentioned before, cleaning the grout is often the most challenging part of any tile cleaning process. Products like Pro-Kleen are great for occasional use and eliminate most of the scrubbing. However, for day to day cleaning, you won’t want to use such heavy-duty, chemical products.
Many people use an old toothbrush for cleaning grouting but as we all know, that’s not what a toothbrush was designed for. It’s hard to exert much force with a toothbrush, especially an old one. The bristles are too soft and wear down too quickly to really tackle grime.
Fuginator’s joint brush is specially designed for removing grease, mould, dust and other substances from your tile grouting. The rigid bristles are perfect for getting into the narrowest grouting and they won’t wear down after scrubbing.
The Fuginator is ergonomically designed so that your wrist won’t cramp or become tired when using it and the clever bristle layout makes it easy to remove the dirt from the grouting instead of just moving it around.
You can use the Fuginator alone with water or with a general all-purpose cleaner. This compact tool is easy to store and will last you for years.
It is economically priced and available from Amazon.
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back to menu ↑Buyers’ Guide for Tiled Floor Cleaning Products
The products I’ve reviewed above are my own personal favourite tile cleaning products which I find most useful around the home. Depending on your floor surfaces and the type of cleaning you need to do, you may have the same or different requirements.
There are a few things to take into consideration when choosing the best products for cleaning your tiled floors:
Related Articles
Here are a few articles that I think you could find helpful to link up with the Best Tile Floor Cleaner:
Your Floor Surfaces
There are many tile cleaning products designed for specific surfaces, for example, ceramic tile cleaners, porcelain tile cleaners and natural stone tile cleaning products. If you have the same flooring throughout your home, then it makes sense to choose a specialist product designed for that particular surface.
However, there are also many excellent products which are suitable for all floor types and which will do an equally good job on any tile surface. If like me, you have mixed flooring in your home, a universal floor detergent that can be used on all surfaces like HG’s Tile Cleaner is a more practical and economical choice.
Day to Day Cleaning
To keep your tiled floors hygienic and looking clean, you should be sweeping and mopping them at least once a week. A general tile cleaner diluted in water is usually sufficient but if you want to skip the detergent altogether, you can use an electric steamer.
These machines are fantastic for killing germs and bacteria and do a great job at removing dirt and grime. However, a steamer won’t do much on grouting and isn’t enough to get rid of staining or heavy-duty ingrained dirt or build up.
Staining, Discolouration and Ingrained Dirt
If your flooring is very old and has been stained over the years, you are probably going to have to resort to a heavy duty intensive cleaner like HG’s Extreme Power cleaner. Products like this are meant for occasional use in cases where more gentle cleaners like HG’s general tile cleaner won’t work.
Once you have managed to lift the grime from your tiles using an intensive cleaner, you are better off using a more gentle product or a steamer to maintain this level of cleanliness.
Cleaning Tile Grouting
Tackling dirty tile grouting is nobody’s favourite job but luckily, once you’ve done it, you shouldn’t have to do it again for a long time. For badly stained, mouldy grouting, a specialist grout cleaner is essential but if your grouting isn’t particularly bad, you can just give it a gentle scrub with any hard bristled brush, an old toothbrush or a specialist tool like the Fuginator above.
To prevent mould and mildew forming in your grouting, occasionally spraying your tiles with a diluted solution of water and distilled white vinegar can be very effective. Simply spray and leave to dry. Vinegar has natural antibacterial and anti-fungal properties and it’s completely non-toxic as well.
I hope that this information is useful for you and helps you to pick out the best products for your floor tiles. With a little bit of elbow grease and regular maintenance, even the oldest and most worn floor tiles can look great again.
Enjoy!
