Freshly laid tiles in the bathroom look very beautiful, but over time, dirt accumulates on the joints and seams, which is great place for reproduction and various fungi. Tips on how to clean the grout between tiles will help you deal with this problem at home.
In the bathroom, clean the grout between the tiles difficult task. After all, over time, lime, dirt, and dust accumulate in these places. All this, under the influence of moisture, becomes a favorable environment conducive to the proliferation of harmful microorganisms.
The tile itself is much easier to clean, and in the spaces between it, due to the roughness when regular washing dust and dirt still remain. Therefore, you need to know what you can use to clean the seams on the floor and walls between the tiles. Below are the most common cooking methods folk remedies for removing dirt at home and tips for caring for tiles.
This is one of the most simple methods removing dirt from tile joints. To prepare the product you will need baking soda and vinegar. Soda is diluted at the rate of one tablespoon per 3 tablespoons of water.
The cleansing algorithm is as follows:
A mixture of soda and vinegar is the easiest way The paste is prepared from pharmacy hydrogen peroxide and ordinary baking soda in a ratio of 1:4. You can add dishwashing liquid to this mixture. In this case, peroxide is the bleaching component, soda acts as an abrasive, and the detergent deals with grease.
The finished paste is applied to the tile joints, rubbing in thoroughly, and left for a quarter of an hour. After this, the wall is washed several times with warm water.
Important: If mosaic or glass tiles were used when decorating the bathroom, you should not use strong detergents when washing. big amount alkalis.
Many owners, for the first time after renovation, are looking for options on how to clean the seams between the tiles in the bathroom, because they cannot cope with the dirt that appears. A mixture of soda, vinegar and lemon - effective method, helping to eliminate heavy pollution. This product penetrates well into uneven areas and small crevices, removing dust, limescale and other dirt.
The ratio of ingredients should be like this:
Before preparing the product and using it, you must wear gloves so that the composition does not cause skin irritation. Next, all components are dissolved in 1.5 liters of purified water (you can take chilled boiled water). Chemical reaction will begin immediately, so you need to mix the mixture very carefully so that splashes do not get on your skin or clothes.
The resulting product is rubbed into the seams. To do this, you can use a sponge with a hard side or a toothbrush. After about 20 minutes, the homemade cleaning mixture is thoroughly rinsed off with warm water.
The composition will be no less effective if you replace lemon juice with citric acid. For 1.5 liters of liquid you will need a tablespoon of crystals.
Lemon with baking soda and vinegar will help remove even old stains from tiles. Thanks to the use of ammonia, the tiles in the bathroom will not only be clean, but also get a dazzling shine. The product is prepared as follows: dissolve a tablespoon of the pharmaceutical preparation in two liters of water. Next, using a spray bottle, the resulting composition is applied to the walls and floor. The homemade detergent is left for 20 minutes and then washed off with a soft sponge.
Thanks to ammonia, you will be able to remove not only accumulated dust and dirt, but also get rid of mold that has appeared. In addition, the product has a powerful antiseptic effect and destroys various harmful microorganisms.
The bleaching agent “Belizna”, known since Soviet times, also helps to effectively cope with complex stains on tiles and joints. To prepare the detergent, you will also need regular soda. A paste is prepared from these ingredients. “Whiteness” is poured into a convenient container and soda is added until a pasty consistency is obtained.
Wearing rubber gloves, carefully apply the composition to the seams with a spatula and leave until completely dry. Since the bleaching component has a pungent odor, the face should be protected with a gauze bandage. Next, “Whiteness” and soda are washed off with water, using a hard sponge or brush for high-quality cleaning. This product even helps to cope with the black residue from nicotine on the tiles.
“Whiteness” will return the tile joints to their original color This is another one effective way tidy up the tiles and grout. To prepare the composition you will need:
Pour into the prepared container clean water, add all the specified components and mix thoroughly. Using a sponge or brush, rub the mixture into the space between the tiles and leave for half an hour. Then the tiles should be washed with warm water.
Hot steam - in itself effective remedy fighting dirt. A good one, releasing steam under strong pressure, softens the calcified pieces and knocks them out of the joints. Under the influence of steam, harmful microorganisms die: bacteria, fungal spores and mold.
The steam cleaner can handle even very strong fungal deposits. It is not always easy to deal with stubborn dirt using improvised means. In this case, to clean the tile joints, it is worth using special compounds developed for these purposes. However, it should be remembered that chemical substances, contained in them, are toxic. Therefore, when working with such compounds, it is necessary to use a protective mask and rubber gloves.
Below are the most common store products, allowing you to quickly clean out not only accumulated dirt, but also mold:
Products for cleaning joints between tiles Modern production facilities allow us to produce many varieties of tiles. Therefore, before cleaning the tile joints in the bathroom, you should choose the right detergents.
Using the tips above, you can easily get rid of existing stains and prevent the appearance of new ones. Regular maintenance of your tiles will keep them original appearance.
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Tile seams are the places most susceptible to various contaminations. If you care for them incorrectly, the coating is unlikely to last long; moreover, it will lose its original appearance and look untidy. Knowing how to properly clean seams floor tiles, you can successfully solve these everyday problems.
There is nothing difficult in cleaning tiles, but cleaning the joints can take a lot of time if you have little idea what kind of product is needed. The technique for performing such work is also important. But first you need to determine the type of pollution.
Tiles are usually used to cover the floors of kitchens, halls, and bathrooms; it is not surprising that they can suffer from many external influences, such as:
If you do not constantly clean the seams, in these areas tiles Mold and other pathogenic microorganisms may appear. Such intense absorption of dirt, dust and grease is due to the porous texture of the grout, as a result of which its color darkens.
Before you get acquainted with the main effective means, you should know general rules operation and maintenance of tile flooring.
Ceramics, despite its strength, can be subjected to negative impact, as a result of which its performance characteristics are reduced:
Exist different types tiled covering and a special one has been created for almost everyone household chemicals, which should be used. Do not immediately use aggressive compounds, sometimes it is enough to wash the joints between the tiles with ordinary water and a brush to remove the dirt.
It is better not to purchase products containing chalk - such solutions leave stains, which can be quite difficult to remove.
To clean joints on the floor in the bathroom or kitchen, various household chemicals are used, sometimes not even intended for these purposes. According to professionals, in some cases you can use detergents and bleaching agents, dishwashing detergents, and sink cleaning products.
Of course, the result depends on how dark the seams are:
You should not use bleaching compounds when the grout is colored; moreover, it has a porous structure and intensively absorbs odors that do not disappear for a long time.
Time-tested recipes include methods for cleaning seams using some pharmaceutical and improvised means:
To renew dirty seam surfaces, it is possible to purchase a cleaning marker that contains a waterproof dye. It is suitable for lightening, cleansing, in addition, it has bactericidal and antiseptic properties that are fatal to different types bacteria and fungus. It is safe for humans, has no odor and does not cause allergies.
The main advantages of the product:
The best brands such products - "Snowball", Edding 8200, inexpensive pencils are designed for all types of tiles and panels "Pufas", applied to the seams manually with a brush, their residues are easily removed from the surface of the tile.
A melamine rubber sponge in combination with polymer components allows you to quickly and effectively clean stubborn stains. The only disadvantage of this innovative product is its high price.
When nothing helps or dark spots on the grout appear again and again, this means that the material has been exposed to fungus. In such cases, there is only one thing left to do - update the seams by removing the old layer. The best choice would be a pencil marker with antimicrobial properties, which will also refresh appearance joints.
You can delete mechanical method, hand tools(with a spatula or a metal scraper) and carry out disinfection by treating all joints with antiseptic impregnation against fungus. You need to wait until the seams dry, and then start sealing the cracks. Before starting the work process, in order for the damaged material to be easily repaired, it is softened by walking over it with a solution of water and vinegar.
Deep penetration fungus and black mold covering is dangerous to health, so in an emergency it makes sense to re-lay the floor tiles.
Dirt in the space between the tiles makes every housewife think about how to clean the seams between the tiles in the bathroom. This is done using a variety of compositions. The editors prepared the website detailed instructions how to clean hard to reach places Right.
Read in the article
Cleaning the seams between them is dictated not only by aesthetic considerations. Timely removal of the resulting contaminants will protect households from possible problems with health. In the space between the tiles are created optimal conditions for the growth of bacteria and the appearance of black mold. We suggest further learning how to clean the grout between tiles in order to achieve a high-quality result.
Dirt is a serious cause for concern When starting to clean tile joints, you should decide suitable composition. Manufacturers offer a fairly large assortment, among which it can be difficult to choose the right option.
Among popular means For cleaning tile seams it is worth highlighting:
Review of HG product
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Review of ECO MIST
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To ensure that cleaning of tile joints is required as late as possible, pay attention to Atlas Dolphin. The product allows you to protect the surface due to the formation of a dense impermeable film. Apply immediately after cleaning the space between tiles.
Review of the product "Atlas Dolphin"
More details on Otzovik: https://otzovik.com/review_5256730.html
The use of household chemicals is associated with certain difficulties: a suitable drug may not be available for sale, or its cost may be prohibitive for a particular family. In such a situation, when deciding how to clean the seams between the tiles in the bathroom, you should use the means at hand. Often folk recipes turn out to be more effective than store-bought drugs. We invite you to get to know them.
If we talk about how to clean the seams between, you should immediately pay attention to soda. This substance has good disinfectant properties and will help cope with various contaminants at home. Just add a little water and use the resulting paste to clean off the dirt.
Prepare soda, water and brush If you want to not only clean the tile joints, but also add shine to the tiles, you should pay attention to ammonia. This substance will quickly cope with the task. Now about how to whiten the seams between tiles in the bathroom:
Rub the surface thoroughly If you don’t have the necessary household chemicals on hand, consider how to clean the seams between bathroom tiles with oxygen bleach. It should be diluted with water in equal proportions, and then spread with a sponge over the entire surface. The exposure time is 1.5 hours. Remaining dirt can be removed with a hard sponge.
If the listed options turned out to be ineffective, when deciding how to clean the seams between the tiles in the bathroom, you should pay attention to combined compositions. A paste consisting of powder containing bleach and soda is quite effective. This composition cleans the surface well and disinfects. Apply to the contaminated area, wait until it dries completely, and then wash off.
Attention! This composition should not be used to disinfect colored surfaces.
A solution consisting of vinegar, soda and citric acid, will also remove mold.
If the use of aggressive substances is impossible, and the question of how to clean the tile joints is relevant. It's worth paying attention to. Such a device is not only capable of creating a jet of steam and releasing it under sufficiently high pressure.
As a result, the dirt is first softened and then knocked out of the space between the tiles. Enough heat(150−170°C) allows you to cope with pathogenic bacteria and fungi. For allergy sufferers, the question of how to clean the seams between tiles in the bathroom is not worth it. For them, a steam generator is the only effective tool that they can use in their apartment. Cleaning tile joints mechanically
If the dirt has not penetrated deep enough, you can resort to cleaning the tile joints by mechanical impact. To do this, you will need paper containing abrasive. With its help, it will be necessary to process all the joints. After treatment, the entire surface is simply washed with water. Instead of sandpaper, sometimes a hard sponge is used.
Attention! Having decided to resort to mechanical cleaning, you should work very carefully so as not to damage the cladding.
If it is not possible to completely remove dirt, you can simply paint over it. To do this, a composition with suitable characteristics and the desired color is selected. The most popular ones include:
It would seem that such a simple question of how to clean the seams between the tiles in the bathroom is of interest to all homeowners who have such wall decoration in the bathroom and kitchen. By the way, the working surface of the walls of the latter also requires constant care and maintenance of cleanliness. It is usually the space between the joints that gets dirty, not the tiles. Cleaning this small space is quite difficult. Usage mechanized methods leads to deformation of the tile surface.
The seams between the tiles in the bathroom become dirty various reasons, the most significant are the following:
Irregular cleaning between tile joints leads to the development of fungus and bacteria
Cleaning seams, depending on the cause of contamination, has its own characteristics.
Rust
Depending on the type of contamination, they are used various ways cleaning. The most common are chlorine-containing agents, acids in various concentrations and various traditional methods, including soda slurries. There are several options for how to keep the tile joints in the bathroom clean:
It is possible to clean the seams between tiles using traditional methods, using products that are likely to be found in every home.
Red stains from rust are usually found not only along the length of the seams, for example, on the floor or wall, but also affect part of the tile. You can bleach the surface using readily available mixtures. The simplest gruel is prepared from ordinary baking soda and water. These two components are stirred until thick sour cream, after which they need to be applied to the rust stain. Often it is possible to bleach only after the third or fourth attempt, but this is fully compensated by the low cost of this method.
Baking soda is poured into a saucer, after which water is added. Its volume is approximately five times less. The resulting mixture is stirred. Liquid is added until you get a paste similar in consistency to homemade sour cream or puree. After this, it must be applied to the rust. After 15-20 minutes, rinse off and, if the stain has not disappeared, apply the mixture again. There are other ways to get rid of this type of pollution.
Making a paste
Apply to rust
This is not a concentrated solution; you only need 2% oxalic acid. Salt is often mentioned on specialized portals, but it does not provide such good result, if you need to get rid of rust, as you would like. A certain difficulty is that it is necessary to ensure constant wetting of the surface. The best solution for this is a regular napkin soaked in the desired solution. Its fixation is carried out using conventional or masking tape. The napkin must be applied to the area of contamination and left for 10-15 minutes. After this, the surface is washed generously with water. It is advisable to clean it additionally with a sponge. It is possible to completely whiten after the fourth or fifth time.
Is there a cheap alternative that allows you to clean the tiles from limescale with a minimum of costs? The easiest way to bleach floor grout is using a citric acid solution. Dry matter diluted with water in the following proportion: take three to four heaped teaspoons of dry matter per 1 liter. After this, the solution is heated and thoroughly mixed. You can simply pour it hot on the floor and remove it after 15 minutes.
It will be much more difficult to clean the walls with it, since they stand vertically relative to the ground. In this case, the solution is applied with a sponge. It is immersed in water with dissolved citric acid and lightly squeezed. After this, the sponge is placed on the surface of the seam and pressed against the wall. The dried grout used to process the seams has a porous structure. To bleach them using this method, you need to ensure that the liquid is absorbed. Therefore, simply running a wet sponge over the wall is not sufficient. It must be pressed against the wall and held there for about a minute.
Mix acid and water
Mixing the ingredients
Apply the composition to the floor
If the apartment has been idle for a long time, a layer of dust appears on all surfaces. Lack of timely cleaning leads to the fact that it “eats” into the surface of the seams between the tiles. Due to the porous structure of the surface, it is quite difficult to bleach it. Therefore, experts recommend using physical influence. To do this, it is convenient to use a brush or coarse-grain sandpaper.
The complexity of the work lies in the fact that it is done only by hand. It will not be possible to replace this labor with mechanisms, since their influence will at least help to clean large area seams much faster, but will disrupt the integrity of the top enamel layer of ceramic tiles in several places.
You can try to bleach contaminated grout with a slurry of washing powder for white things and water. Here it is better to buy expensive brands such as Tide, Ariel or Persil. The best way to clean seams is Tide for white items. Pour the powder into a small bowl and add a little water. Pour it in a thin stream and constantly stir the mass. It should be a paste, not a solution. To clean the seams from ingrained dirt, apply it to the contaminated surface in a layer of several centimeters. It is advisable to use a spatula to complete the work. You can also do the work directly with your hands, protecting them with rubber gloves.
In this case, the simplest and most effective method is used for cleaning, requiring a minimum of effort from the homeowner. Regardless of whether we are talking about tiles on the floor or walls, it gives the same successful result. Modern household chemicals are used to clean the surface. Any major supermarket offers special means for this.
Wash ceramic tiles in this case it is not so simple, since the fungus opens pores deep inside the materials. Neither boiling water nor acid will help here. Great alternative– prolonged exposure to a jet of hot steam. You will need a steam generator and an attachment in the form of a thin spout. After turning on the equipment, you need to slowly run the jet over the contaminated areas. Experts advise performing at least 5 treatments, and this does not guarantee that the putrefactive fungus will die completely. Its pores can remain deep inside the partition or wall.
Using a Steam Cleaner
Special products are guaranteed to help get rid of the fungus. They are sold in special bottles with a spray bottle, which allows them to be quickly applied to large surfaces. You can buy them at a construction supermarket, not at a regular one. This is because antifungal treatment does not apply to cleaning. This is the view construction work. It will not be possible to remove fungus from the walls without the help of special means. Only the visible result will appear, not the actual result.
This is not cleaning, in the full sense of the word. Here we're talking about that it is necessary to carry out secondary processing using grout. The old layer can be removed not completely, but partially. For this, fine-grain sandpaper is used. You need to work carefully so as not to damage the tiles. The next step is applying a deep penetrating primer. After this, you can carefully lay down a layer of grout. If it gets on the tiles, the excess should be removed with a damp cloth. It is advisable that the mixture does not dry out, as it is then difficult to remove.
Manual and electric tools for cleaning seams
Bathroom - warm room With high humidity. This is an excellent environment for the proliferation of harmful bacteria and microorganisms. Keeping the tiles and the seams between them clean is much easier if you prevent the formation of stains, fungus, and limescale. It is necessary to carry out sanitary treatment of surfaces in a timely manner. Professional cleaning products – optimal choice. However, substances in this category are quite expensive. A more affordable alternative is household chemicals. With its help, cleaning the joints between the tiles in the bathroom can be done quickly and quite simply.
The first time after renovation in the bathroom (and also in the kitchen, bathrooms, and home pools), all the joints between the tiles are perfectly clean and beautiful - at least send a photo to a magazine. And then somehow imperceptibly they lose their original perfection, darken, become sloppy, and black spots appear in places, despite constant care. This is especially noticeable primarily in places where the bathtub comes into contact with the walls and the podium. More worse situation happens in rented apartments, in old or country houses. And if you are a lover of cleanliness and are concerned about your health, we suggest you read the instructions on how to effectively clean the joints between the tiles and the bathroom yourself.
It is not surprising that tile and other joints in bathrooms become dirty. Even modern expensive silicone putties, which are truly the best among other sealants, have a fine-porous structure, plus - even very high-quality work on finishing joints by a master tiler under a microscope looks like a mountain landscape. It is in these depressions and pits that microscopic particles of dust, dirt, remnants of soap and shampoos and who knows what else collect. These places are constantly moistened and become ideal place for development mold fungi, which we notice first in the form of a dirty coating, and then in the form of black dots and stains.
If you do not take action in time and do not clean the joints between the tiles and the bathtub before the dirt and fungus eats deep, then in just a month they will become completely black and it will become much more difficult to restore them to their former beauty. But this task is not hopeless - we will tell you how to independently make your tiles as shiny and the joints as clean as they were originally.
We deliberately do not say snow-white, because today's abundance building materials and various design delights of many bathroom owners provoke them not only to choose tiles of fantastic colors, but also to cover the seams between them with colored sealants. Up to black. On black joints, the black coating is, of course, invisible, but this does not mean that it is not there.
Soda
You need to start with grandma's simplest method: baking soda. You go to the store, buy a pack of soda, find an old toothbrush at home. Next, the seams must be moistened and, without sparing, covered with soda. After a minute or two, when the powder gets wet, carefully clean it with a brush, centimeter by centimeter, paying attention Special attention places where black dots were noticed. Then do not rush to wash off the soda, but leave it for another 15-20 minutes.
This substance is an excellent antiseptic and will successfully destroy fungal germs.
During this time, using the same soda, only with a larger brush, you can walk over the surface of the tiles and clean the bathtub from plaque. Then rinse everything off with a stream of water - and your seams are almost perfect.
In the future, take this method as a preventive measure - if you treat the joints in this way at least once a week, then the fungus will never appear.
If, after treatment with soda, black and gray stains remain in some places, it means that the fungus has taken root deep into the putty and it is necessary to use stronger means.
Bleaches
There are two options: buy store-bought chemicals (Belizna, SIF, Domestos) and thoroughly moisten all the seams with the same brush, leave for 10-15 minutes, then brush again and rinse with running water several times. The result will be positive, definitely, but there are a number of big “buts” that force you to abandon this method.
Therefore, there is another method, invented by our home-grown chemist-inventors, which is not inferior in effectiveness to store-bought drugs, but is completely harmless. Although you must prepare the product extremely carefully and always wear gloves so as not to injure your skin and nails.
Folk remedy
Fill a small bucket with 1.5 liters of warm water (30-35 degrees), pour 150 g of baking soda into it.
1 tablespoon of almost all bulk substances with a small slide is approximately 25 g.
That is, pour 6 tablespoons of soda and place it. Next, prepare a solution of citric acid - dissolve 1 tablespoon in a glass of water and take half a glass of 9% vinegar.
Important! Pour in the acid and vinegar slowly, as a reaction will occur and there may be a very large release of gases. The window needs to be opened.
Mix contents wooden stick and use a paint brush to apply the product to all seams. Leave for 10 minutes, then, if any product remains, treat again and rinse thoroughly after 15 minutes.
More important point– Do not pour residues into the sink or toilet. Aggressive substances can damage sewer pipes, both plastic and metal, and literally dissolve rubber gaskets (especially old ones). It is better to pour everything that is left in the bucket somewhere in a vacant lot (but not under the trees). Or dilute it with water and flush it down the toilet.
A modern way to clean seams
If you have a steam cleaner, then you know that there is no better and least labor-intensive way. Follow the instructions. If you don’t have a steam cleaner, consider purchasing one.
If the condition of the joints is completely deplorable and it is not possible to wash them, the last resort remains - to remove all the affected putty mechanically.
This can be done quickly grinder or a grinder saw. Or longer - sandpaper. Then the cracks must be disinfected with a solvent, primed and new grout applied. This is a man's job and it is best to hire a specialist.
After cleaning all joints (or after repairs), they should be allowed to dry thoroughly - do not use the bathroom for at least 24 hours, and then treat them with special ready-made liquids that seal micropores. They are called liquid waterproofing– this is ATLAS DELFIN emulsion for unglazed tiles, CEREZIT CT10 Super for glazed tiles, Hyperdesmo-ADI varnish, CEREZIT Mapei Ultracolor, ViM grout and special latex compounds. After this, wipe everything thoroughly with a soft cloth and enjoy your updated bathroom.
