We just remodeled our kitchen and my new floor is ceramic tile. I have a dumb question - how do I clean it? I vacuum (or swiffer) the dust and dirt, but if I want to mop it, what should I use? Can I use my normal sponge mop with cleaner? I normally just use Pine Sol or Mr. Clean. Can anyone recommend something? Should I avoid using anything in particular? Thanks!
Hi,
I also have ceramic tile in my kitchen. I usually vacuum than wash with Mr. Clean (I wash on my hands and knees with an old towel).
I was using the wet Swiffer mop (the one that sprays the cleaner), but I noticed some of my grout started loosening. My house is only 4 yrs old, so it wasn't the age. I went to the floor store in my area and told the tile person what was happening. He asked me if I was using Swiffer wet jet by any chance, he said stop using it immediately. There is something in the cleaning solution that loosens grout. I've stopped using it and I haven't had any more problems.
HTH
Deb
P.S. The guy at the floor store also said not to use the Swiffer wet jet on laminate wood floors, it loosens the glue. I don't have those but I thought I'd pass that along also. I guess on 1 piece linoleum floors it would be o.k., just don't use on floors that are laid in pieces.
Ok, I work with flooring in my 9-5 job. You can absolutely use your sponge mop. As far as cleaners go, you can use pretty much anything you want to use. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that cleaners that aren't specifically designed for tile will degrade the sealer on the grout. (PLEASE tell me you sealed the grout... pretty please?) This isn't really a huge issue, but it just means you will have to re-seal sooner. For a typical kitchen that is used frequently and cleaned on a regular basis you are going to be looking at re-sealing once a year. If you mop everyday it would be more like 6 months. Sealing really isn't that big a deal either though, the spray sealer you can get at your local "big box" store is fine.
The problem I had with the Swiffer wet jet solution was that it was eating through my sealer.....and breaking down my grout. It wasn't because it was a mop, it was the swiffer tile solution that was the problem. I just prefer to clean my floors on my hands and knees, I find mops push things into corners and edges and don't clean as well as good old fashioned down on your knees cleaning.
Thank you SO much. Just the answers I was looking for. I will definitely not use the swiffer wet jet and will stick with my regular mop. Thanks Deb!
We did seal the grout with a spray seal that comes out foamy and dries. It doesn't look any different once it dries so I hope it worked.
The tile looks so pretty, but I think it is going to be a pain to take care of. Vinyl flooring is just so much easier to wipe up, but I am hoping the tile will be worth it in the end b/c we plan to sell in a few years.
Thanks again!
Oh you're welcome. Congratulations on your remodel too, I meant to add that to my other 2 posts and forgot. It's so exciting to get new stuff in the house!
You were smart choosing the ceramic it will definitely be a plus when you decide to sell. We added a sunroom in January and when we were choosing flooring I couldn't believe how beautiful some of the new vinyl floors are. We chose porcelain tile, because we have all hardwood and ceramic in the rest of the house so we wanted to stay consistent with the quality of flooring.
The only negative thing I have to say about ceramic is when you drop a glass or plate it shatters into a bazillion pieces, so beware of that.
alidpayne..............do your customers drive you nuts when they can't make up their minds? I went back to the floor store so many times, my husband gave up coming with me. There are so many awesome tiles out there. If I worked in a place like that I'd want to change my floors every time I saw a new tile come in. 
My husband is a flooring installer and one thing that he has mentioned to me is that sometimes if you use a cleaner that is not recommended by the manufacturer it can void your warranty. So before you use Mr. Clean or any other type of cleaner just make sure that it will not affect your warranty. You never know when you might need it. 
water and vinegar is a fantastic cleaner that is biodegradable, doesn't harm the environment and is a whole lot less expensive.
thats what my family has used all my life (all 27 years of it) and never had any tile problems.
ditto. i also make sure to have lots of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide for my cleaning too...
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