Proper Care Tips for Tile & Grout…
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DO’S |
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We do not recommend using soap-based cleaners on tiles. It leaves a film, dulls the surface, and promotes mildew.
You should not use acid- or ammonia-based cleaners because it could affect the color of the grout.
Acid-based cleaners can cause etching and dull polished marble tiles. Do not use a vinegar and water mixture because vinegar is an acid.
Do not use steel wool or other abrasives on tile or stone. These can scratch and dull the surface.
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Vacuum your floor frequently to remove loose dirt and dust.
Apply pH-Neutral Soap-less Floor Cleaner liberally to your tile and grout and let soak for 5 minutes… then mop as usual.
Where soil is more concentrated or has accumulated, use cleaner undiluted. IMPORTANT: always dry with a towel or terry cloth to remove dirty water/cleaner residue that settles down into the concave grout lines. Otherwise, once the liquid residue evaporates, dirt will be left behind.
Shower stall and tub enclosures should be well-ventilated. Stagnant water breeds stain-causing mildew as well as other fungi. All vertical and horizontal joints/corners should be caulked with mildew-resistant caulk.
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Keep a Watchful Eye
Settling and other everyday stresses in the building frame of your home may eventually cause tiles and grout joints to crack, split, or even become crushed. Cracks in wet areas (kitchen back splashes, tub & shower joints) eventually lead to water damage. Water seeps under the tile and begins to rot the supporting wall or sub-floor. In extreme cases, a total tear-out and replacement is necessary. We often find that we need to re-caulk these areas to help keep your grout and tile properly sealed. Don’t wait until it’s too late and avoid expensive remodeling. Inspect your joints regularly and be on the lookout for mold and mildew.
What You Should Know About Restoring Ceramic Tile Grout
Sanded grout is a porous material and even under the best conditions will become soiled and stained. Eco Clean can eliminate this problem by “ColorSealing” your grout. Our sealer not only guarantees that you will have beautifully consistent colored grout but it will resist stains from food, drinks, and dirt.
Our cleaning and ColorSealing process restores your soiled grout lines to a beautiful “like new” appearance. They can protect new and old installations alike. In the long run, this process saves you time, money, and the effort of scrubbing your tile grout on your hands and knees.
Avoid expensive re-grouting . Let Eco Clean restore your grout lines to “like new” condition.
- Is ColorSeal hard to apply?
We always recommend our trained technicians for this type of work. It takes knowledge of what types of grout are sealable and, of course, takes plenty of patience and a steady hand.
- Can you match the existing color of my grout?
Yes. We have numerous ColorSealers for sanded type grout. You can have any color you wish. Even under the best conditions, grout (even new grout) has different shades. We simply match the color you desire to insure a consistent shade of grout color. Our ColorSeal absorbs into the pores of your grout for a long lasting/uniform finish.
- What is the dry time?
You can walk on it in 30 to 45 minutes, however it takes 48 hours to fully cure. Keep sealed areas dry for 48 hours to ensure best results.
- How often do you have to clean the grout once restored?
Experts agree, you should clean your floor once a week using a pH-neutral/soap-less Maintenance Cleaner. When cleaning the floor, it’s important to change your mop water when it appears dirty. Always use a mop to agitate cleaning agent on grout surface. Dry grout with towel or terry cloth. Should any area have dried up surface stains, simply spot clean with straight Maintenance Cleaner.
- How often do you have to reseal the grout after the first application?
Depending on conditions, with proper maintenance, a floor can last for years.
- How much does it cost to have my grout cleaned and ColorSealed?
Pricing is a function of total square feet, size, and type of tile. We’ll come to visit and give you a free written estimate.
- Why did my kitchen grout become so soiled in the first place… it’s only a few years old?
Rarely do tile installers seal grout. New grout needs to cure for several days before it can be sealed. Meantime, dirty mop water finds its way into the grout pores.
Thanks for checking in,
David Gargan
Eco Clean Carpet Solutions
www.knoxclean.com
Karastan rugs.
Karastan has always been known as a provider of high-quality machine woven wool rugs that replicate many classic Persian oriental rug designs.
Woven in America, made of high quality materials and construction. I’ve seen Karastans from the 1930′s still in very good condition. In fact, we had an older one come through our shop a few weeks ago, and it had an interesting – and outdated – care tag on the back. Right here:
Karastan rug care tag – be careful!
Here’s a blog post fro Lisa Wagner San Diego Rug Cleaning Company rug repair blog - with a point by point blow of the tag in question.
As Karastan has begun importing product from China, you can no longer say that it represents high quality in machine made product. For some unknown reason they have decided to create some blended rugs with wool and viscose, and as all frequent readers of The Rug Chick blog know – viscose is the worst rug fiber to ever choose for your home.
Karastan has only imported some of their studio collection from India over the last few years, but its still only a very small percentage of their sales. With the exception of a beligium wiltons and a few other Novelty rugs imported, Karastan’s sales remain strong on their orginal Spooler Axeminster style rugs and those will always be made here in the USA. Mohawk’s purchase of Karastan had forced some profit oriented changes like the studio series exeriement but with some new changes in Mohawk Management, Karastan has recommited in 2010 to only producing products in the USA, over the next year you will see any Karastan Imported products slowly phased out and the tried and true woven broadlooms and Axeminster will continue to dominate the total sales for Karastan rugs.
Here are two pictures of a tile & grout cleaning demo we did in a commercial building in Knoxville. The owner thought it was a lost cause but as you can see it is cleaning up great! I will post more pictures when the job is complete.
- tile cleaning demo
Please make sure to check back later to see more pictures.
David Gargan
Eco Clean Carpet Solutions
Tags: Tile cleaning Knoxville
How to Care for Your Ceramic Tile Floors
- Purchase a good quality dust mop and sweep your ceramic tile floors daily. This is especially important in new installations where the grout has not fully cured. Dirt, mud, and sand tend to ground into the grout mortar from heavy foot traffic.
- Dirt collecting carpet mats should be placed in frequently used entrances and shaken out weekly.
- We do not recommend the use of floor waxes as they can be difficult to remove from ceramic tile floors. As long as your floor is properly sealed and maintained, you should find no need for these products.
- Shower stall and tub enclosures should have proper ventilation. Stagnant water breeds stain causing mildew as well as other fungi.
- Many tile cleaners are acid based and their use should be limited. Always read the manufacturers label to find out. All acids, no matter how weak, will etch marble surfaces. Natural marble is commonly installed as thresholds in doorways and is also installed in window sills and shower curbs. In addition, avoid any cleaner that contains harsh abrasives.
- Mop or sponge your tile down 2 to 3 times weekly. Mix 1 capful of dishwashing liquid per gallon of hot water. Mop up excess water and allow to dry. Buffing with a dry towel will help to reduce spotting.
Get more information on tile and natural stone cleaning here.
Dust is so ultra common that people often ignore it, regarding it as more unsightly than unhealthful. It accumulates on floors, furniture, drapes, end tables, bookshelves, pictures, knickknacks, air conditioning intake and exit vents … on everything. How threatening is it? How does it get indoors? It rides on air currents and on our clothing. We bring in an estimated 35% on our shoes. And, it has been directly associated with…
. Cancer . Pneumonia .Skin rashes . . Allergies .Throat irritations
. Asthma . Bronchitis . Sinus infections . Eye infections. .Learning disabilities
Click here for full report.
Thanks for checking in on my blog,
David Gargan
Eco Clean Carpet Solutions
We are often asked by our customers what carpet is best to buy for their home or business. The answer to that varies depending on the owners needs, life style, and design taste’s.
Choosing the best carpet is really about finding the right combination of aesthetics, performance and budget to best meet the needs of your lifestyle.
Check out this report on different carpet types.
Green Solutions
3 Reasons to Get Cleaning NOW!
- Reduce permanent stains. Carpet, rugs, and upholstery need stains removed immediately. The longer you wait to remove them, the more possibility they could be permanent. Don’t wait another month!
- You’ll get a better deal on cleaning now. If you wait another month or two, you won’t be able to get your free gift or the 50% off specials.
- Your carpet will dry fast in the spring. Cool, crisp days have low humidity. Your carpet will dry much faster this time of year.
The following report from David Layton and Paloma Beamer, professors of environmental policy at the University of Arizona, shows the importance of cleaning your carpet, upholstery and other flooring for health reasons. Eco Clean of Knoxville has speciality cleaning processes to help improve indoor air quality and health.
As a general rule, the majority of household dust — about 60% — comes from outside, through windows, doors, vents and, significantly, on the soles of your shoes. Smaller dust particles — from 28 to 49 microns, or thousandths of a millimeter — tend to stay on your shoes. The rest is shaken off inside. A higher share of the dust that floats in the air gets deposited, but again, there’s a lot that determines how much any one home will get.
“Here in Arizona,” says Beamer, “where we leave our windows open most of the year and have an arid climate, we would probably have a higher ratio.” Industrial centers or sooty cities have plenty of dust too, though for different reasons.
There’s not much to fret about in simple particles of dirt or organic materials such as pollen (though they can trigger allergies), but lead, arsenic and DDT can be a more serious matter. About one-third of the arsenic in the atmosphere comes from natural sources — volcanoes principally. The rest comes from mining, smelting, burning fossil fuels and other industrial processes. Even in relatively low concentrations, arsenic is not without risk, especially to small children who play on the floor and routinely transfer things from their hands to their mouths. The same is true for lead, which comes less from wall paint — the source most people would expect — than from auto exhaust, smelting and soil deposits. “Lead loading on floors is a key determinant of blood-lead levels in children,” Layton and Beamer wrote in their paper.
Let Eco Clean Carpet Solutions help lessen the toxins in your home & business.
David Gargan
Owner
The Environmental Protection Agency and its Science Advisory Board have consistently ranked indoor air pollution among the top five environmental risks to public health. Also, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, 50% of all illnesses are caused or aggravated by polluted indoor air.
Over 40 million Americans suffer from allergies due to home bio-pollution. If you or your child has allergies or asthma, you already know that many things can bring on, or “trigger and asthma flare or episode. Some things that trigger asthma attacks are called allergens. Some people get symptoms from only one allergen-like dust mites. For other people, more than one kind of allergen can trigger an episode.
Click the link below for a free report on how to help reduce allergies in your home.
10 Steps To allergery relief
Report 101: Indoor Health Threats-Causes & Controls
Carpet is an important health function in preventing the spread of contaminants throughout your home. Of course, it restricts by collecting pollutants, just as your air conditioning filter. And, just as your air conditioning filter should be changed monthly, carpeting should be cleaned at regular intervals for health reasons-especially in high traffic areas.
Unfortunately, many people view carpet cleaning as a nicety, not a necessity. Even more unfortunate, children, having under-developed immune systems, are the first to suffer the consequences. They live closer to the floor. Still, continuous exposure to contaminants, day after day, wears down the resistance of all, regardless of age.
Consider that we spend 85% to 90% of our time indoors. Day after day, we are continually exposed to many organic, inorganic, and biological pollutants that steadily increase in quantity when we don’t keep our indoor surfaces clean. Regular periodic maintenance is necessary.
Dr. Michael Berry, a deputy director in the EP A, commented at a Denver symposium that the average family spends less than ½ of 1 % of their income on cleaning. This fact certainly explains why more and more people are getting sick, . . . why health care is a multibillion dollar industry, doesn’t it? Surly, the preservation of a healthy home environment is worth more than that.
Never forget that I’m here to serve you. My customers often call just for advice on removing spots, and I don’t mind a bit. Call when I can help in any way.
Sincerely,
David Gargan
Eco Clean Carpet Solutions
691-5556
