Sometimes we wonder what would be the best cleaning agent for cleaning the tiles at home. Don’t get me wrong, there are many cleaning products available. But it’s saddening that most of them can’t give the tiles floor the cleaning we expect.
That’s why we like to experiment with certain products which are used for other purposes. So, in this article we will come up with step-by-step methods of how to clean tiles with vinegar solution. Before you can start cleaning ceramic tiles of your room or bathroom tiles with a cup of vinegar, specifically white vinegar to get rid of the stubborn stain, let’s find out whether vinegar can do it or not.
Can you clean tiles with vinegar?
There are many types of vinegar available in the market. White vinegar, brown malt vinegar, etc. As cleaning agents, we mostly know of two different types that are used regularly.
- Cleaners
- Disinfectants
What is what? Cleaners are basically those solutions that can power through dirt, debris, and a few germs. Disinfectants on the other hand, may not be able to remove dirt but will surely kill a lot of germs, viruses and bacteria that can cause harm in many ways.
Now, vinegar is a cleaning agent, not a disinfectant. It contains acidic properties which can cut through dirt and debris. But white vinegar can hardly kill certain germs like
10% malt vinegar can get rid of Influenza A virus. Other than that, the most dangerous virus as per the current timeline- SARS-CoV-2, which is the cause behind COVID-19, cannot be killed with vinegar.
So, vinegar might be a quite good cleaning agent. But definitely not an ideal disinfectant. If you are looking for a cleaning regime, vinegar can be a choice. But for disinfecting the tiles, forget about using vinegar.
How to clean tiles with vinegar
Nevertheless, I will show you two ways of how to clean tile floors with vinegar and how you can get rid of grout stuck in between tile floors with vinegar with a little help from excess baking soda. You’d be surprised to see that even cleaning kitchen tiles with vinegar is a piece of cake.
For regularly keeping the tile floor clean, you can get yourself a Multi-Surface Hard Floor Cleaner. Using these machines, you can keep the tiles clean enough not to waste so much vinegar while trying to clean the tiles after a while.
Cleaning the tile floor with vinegar
Prerequisite
Before starting with a procedure, there are a few prerequisites that you have to maintain-
- Take out all the furniture from the room that you will clean
- Keep the expensive objects off the floor because they might get damaged because of the vinegar
Step 1
Get a bucket full of warm water. Two or three gallons of clean water will do. Make sure the plain water is really warm. The heat of the fresh water will help with loosening the stubborn stains and dirt from floor tiles.
Step 2
Add distilled white vinegar to the bucket with the water. The ratio should be 1/2 to 1 cup of distilled white vinegar for one gallon of water. Some people prefer keeping the ratio of the vinegar higher. But the problem is, as vinegar has acidic properties, the acid in the vinegar can damage the color of the tiles. That’s why the dilution is important and you should maintain the ratio for not damaging the floor tiles. If you don’t have access to white distilled vinegar, apple cider vinegar will do.
Step 3
Drench the mop into the vinegar diluted water and run it over the tiles. As it is hot water and vinegar is pretty strong against dirt, you will see the results almost right away after mopping. If the mop is not working, you can wear plastic gloves, use a soft cloth or a scrub brush to rub the hardened areas. The damp cloth can take care of the stubborn stains. A little elbow grease for 5-10 minutes can make the floor tiles look like new.
Step 4
As vinegar has an acute smell and can leave that smell a long time even after you are done, this step is important. Get rid of that vinegar diluted water and bring a bucket full of fresh water. Now, mop the floor with the fresh water. You could add a small amount of the commercial cleaning agents for better results if you are cleaning bathroom tiles with vinegar.
So, this is how you can clean the floor tiles. But with this method you can’t get rid of the tile grout. Vinegar with bleach would be very helpful against that. But as we are using household items, let’s walk you through the process of removing tile grout with vinegar and baking soda.
Cleaning tile grout with vinegar
Step 1
Pick up a spray bottle. Inside, make a solution of warm water and distilled white vinegar. You can make this solution in a normal bottle without having a spray head. But as we are working with porous material to clean, a spray bottle is a better choice. If it were soap scum, we could’ve skipped the spray bottle and gone for a bucket of it.
Step 2
Take the jar or packet of baking soda and start sprinkling it over the grout lines between two tiles of your normal floor or bathroom floor. In case of bad and stubborn bathroom grout, you can make a paste or cleaning solution of baking soda and water, apply it using a scrub brush and leave it overnight.
Step 3
Now, start spraying the vinegar solution on the baking soda. To get clean grout, you need to leave the vinegar after spraying for at least 5 to 10 minutes so that chemical reaction can take place. If it were harsh chemicals, it would’ve taken much less time. As these are home ingredients with mineral deposits instead of toxic elements like toxic chlorine gas, it’ll take 5 to 10 minutes.
Step 4
Now, using a scrub brush, give the tile grout a thorough cleaning. Make sure the bristles of the brush are stiff and hardened for better results. After giving a proper scrubbing, just run water using the shower head over the bathroom grout. In other rooms, use a damp cloth to clean out what’s left of the vinegar and baking soda solution. You will definitely see results.
FAQ
Yes, vinegar definitely is good for “cleaning” tiles. But as of disinfecting the tiles, vinegar is as bad as it is good with the cleaning part.
If you are cleaning the grout from the tiles, you should let vinegar sit for 5 to 10 minutes. If you are just cleaning the tiles to get rid of the stains, you don’t have to let vinegar sit. You can clean using a mop with the cleaning solution you made using vinegar.
The best cleaning solution for ceramic tiles would be hot water with and added half cup of vinegar along with a 1/2 or 1 tablespoon of dish soap.
Final Words
So, here you go. Now you know how to clean tiles with vinegar. And also, you can get rid of tile grout by adding baking soda to that mix. It is not a tough job to do so. All you need is the proper materials and mixing them in proper proportion to make the best out of the cleaning solution that you make.
If vinegar solution is not working, you could try adding some extra vinegar with the solution to increase its potency. Vinegar fights well against dirt. More vinegar would ensure better cleaning. But it can be bad for the tile, use it at your own discretion.