While a typical floor cleaning and maintenance regime is often more than enough to keep any good set of floor tiles dirt free, sometimes, a professional clean is needed. Maybe something sharp has been dragged across your tiles and scratched them, or perhaps their seal is going. Regardless, it might be time to call the experts.
However, if it can be avoided, why spend excess money on a trained cleaning service if you can just take care of the problem yourself. So, to help you identify when an expert clean is actually required, here’s what to look out for when regularly wiping down your tiles.
Why hire a professional cleaning company?
Before touching on when exactly you’d want to hire professional cleaners, let’s first look at the benefits of doing so, specifically the lifetime extension this sort of service can offer your tiles.
Generally speaking, although regular cleaning and maintenance will ensure that your tiles look fresh on a daily basis, a professional can ensure that your tiles experience a truly effective clean, taking care of ingrained stains, grout mould and haze, and buffing your tiles to their natural shine once finished.
Professional cleans in particular also tend to be carried out using specialist anti-bacterial cleansers that won’t damage your floor, helping to get rid of all germs and fungus that can linger even after your own thorough clean.
And, lastly, your tiles will last longer and look better. It’s not common knowledge, but you may actually find that your tiles weaken quicker if not cleaned regularly. This is due to a build of dirt in hairline cracks and between grout lines, eventually resulting in your tiles lifting or cracking.
With a professional clean, you minimise the chances of dirt building up by ensuring that every nook and cranny is touched by a cleaning product. And as an added bonus, professionals will grind away any damaged surfaces so that scratches disappear, leaving your floor looking spotless.
When should you not call a professional tile cleaner?
So, with the benefits of a professional clean covered, let’s touch on when a professional cleaner simply isn’t required.
First things first, when it comes to getting a professional floor cleaner, you need to be sure that it’s actually worth the money. In some cases, the cost of a professional clean can be almost as much as the price you paid for your tile’s installation – it’s not a cheap service by any means.
So, if the only problems you’re experiencing with your floor are some mild staining and dull edges, then we recommend cleaning and buffing your floor yourself. It might take a little time and elbow grease, but doing this yourself will save you plenty of money.
How to clean tiles yourself
Of course, if you’re unfamiliar with how to do this, then we suggest learning how to go about cleaning your floors properly by reading our blogs on how to clean porcelain floors and how to clean natural stone tiles, which have all the information you need to know on this topic.
How to clean persistent stains and scuffs
What do you do if your tiles have been scraped by something heavy and their sealant has been damaged? If this is the case, you might be faced with some pretty persistent stains that are hard to get out. Well, the good news is that, whether these scratches are on polished porcelain or natural stone tiles, the scuffs can be removed by your own hand.
We go into all the details you need to know about this process in our scratched tile repair guide.
When should I use a professional tiling cleaning company?
If you’ve tried all of the above suggestions, including the tips and steps mentioned in our tile cleaning guides, then it could time to reach out for professional assistance.
In essence, you should only ever be calling a professional tiling cleaning company if:
- You can afford the cost of a regular service.
- You’ve left it a long time between floor cleans.
- You can’t get your floor clean without expert help.
Rejuvenating discoloured tiles and cleansing mould-ridden grout lines in particular are what professional cleaners excel at, so if these are particular blemishes you can’t banish then by all means get in touch with an expert cleaning company.
Of course, if your floor is just very dirty and you don’t have the time to clean it yourself, then a professional clean is the obvious choice to restore your floor to a showroom condition that you can be proud of.
How do professionals clean grout?
While it might come as a surprise to many, most professionals use a simple solution of white vinegar mixed with water to eliminate grout mould, as it tends to be more effective than a large number of dedicated grout cleaning products.
As for the pre-grout process, you can find out everything you need to know in our guide: how to clean tiles before grouting.
How often should you have your tiles professionally cleaned?
Unless you want to do all the cleaning yourself, we recommend booking a professional floor clean at least 1-2 times a year, depending on your preference and the overall state of your tiles.
You should now have all the information you need to make a decision on when to hire a professional cleaning company for your tiles. Of course, if you have more tiling questions, get in touch with our experts today – and don’t forget to browse our tile maintenance guides for more advice.