Article Surfing Archive

Have you ever tried to clean tile and grout yourself? If you have, you know how time consuming and labor intensive it can be! If it is within your budget, I would seriously consider letting a trained professional handle this chore for you. However, if you simply can't afford the .50 sq. ft. that most companies charge, there is a way to effectively clean your own tile and grout without breaking the bank.

Your main focus should be on choosing quality products to make your job as easy as possible. Having these materials will literally save your hours of time and labor. Hopefully, you already have some of these items tucked away in your garage somewhere just waiting to be found. Of course, anything that you don't have can be purchased at your local Home Depot store.

Sulfamic Acid
Citrus Degreaser
Chemical Pump Up Sprayer
Grout Cleaning Brush w/pole
Mop and Bucket
Masking Tape
Shop Vac w/attachments
Brass Bristle Toothbrush
Latex Rubber Gloves
White Vinegar
Disposable Shop Towels

Before cleaning, you should measure the sq. ft. of the floor you are cleaning as you will need this information so you buy enough sulfamic acid to clean with. Cover any stainless steel appliances with several rows of masking tape or plastic wrap to keep the acid from etching the stainless and ruining the cosmetic appearance of your appliances. Dust mop and sweep your tile to remove large debris and dust from the floor. Mix your mop bucket with 4 oz. of white vinegar for each gallon of water used. Make sure your mop head is brand new, so you won't smear any dirty water on your clean floor. You will use your mop to help clean up the acid after scrubbing the grout.

Mix your sulfamic acid with water in your pump up sprayer according to directions, wearing rubber gloves. You should have at least a 2 gallon sprayer as this will cover around 700 to 1000 sq. ft. of tile when mixed 50/50, We recommend the powdered crystal acid from Home Depot. I have personally used this on many of my jobs when my chemical supply company was out of my regular brand. You can also use the brand I currently clean with called StoneTech Restore. Either way, you want a 50/50 mix ratio, half water and half acid as this is most effective.

Set your pump sprayer nozzle until it becomes more of a mist than a stream. Do not pump up with too much pressure, it will splatter on everything if you do. Just enough to make a mist when you squeeze the trigger. Spray about 50 sq. ft. completely covering all the tile and grout lines. Do not spray a larger area than this when cleaning, the floor must stay wet or you will have to repeat the process if it dries before you are finished cleaning.


Using a grout cleaning brush w/handle, start at one side of the tile cleaning all the vertical grout lines with a back and forth cleaning motion, using short strokes, while slowly walking forward. Then clean all the horizontal grout lines using the same method. Cleaning the grout lines this way is less confusing and will prevent you from missing some of the area. You may need to scrub dirty areas longer or use a citrus degreaser in a spray bottle using a brass bristle toothbrush to help remove stubborn areas that aren't coming clean right away. Make sure your brush is on a handle to keep you off your hands and knees.

After the area is clean, use your shop vac to remove the dirt and acid from the floor before it dries. Make sure you vacuum very well and don't leave any dirty residue behind. Once you have cleaned up with your shop vac, you are ready to mop with your vinegar and water solution. This rinses off any of the remaining acid and dirt from the tile. Placing a fan on the floor after you have finished will help the floor dry faster. You may not notice a huge difference in the grout lines until they have fully dried, which takes a few hours sometimes because of how porous the grout is. You are now ready to repeat the process on your next 50 sq. ft. of tile and grout.