Clean Ceramic Tile

by: Tim Carter
Founder of CleanGroutNow.com and AsktheBuilder.com

©Copyright 2011

If you're like me, you probably want to know how to clean ceramic tile the easy way. I don't know if there is a truly easy way, but I do know a cleaner that works like magic. It's oxygen bleach.

I discovered the wonder of oxygen bleach and how it works on both ceramic wall and floor tile about 17 years ago. I was doing research for a column about deck cleaners and discovered this powder called oxygen bleach.

For nearly forty years, the only bleach I knew of was chlorine bleach. It smells horrible and comes in those plastic white bottles at the grocery store. My mother used lots of this bleach to keep her pharmacist uniforms clean. She used to save the empty bottles filling them with water in case the water main broke in the street. I used to make fun of her for doing that, but looking back she was one smart woman.

But back to oxygen bleach and your ceramic tile. The shiny glazed surface of ceramic tile is easy to clean. Everyone struggles with the grout, though.

If you were to look at either wall grout or sanded grout under a high-powered microscope, the texture of the grout would remind you of a cheap sponge. You know how sponges have all those different sized holes in them? Well, grout has similar holes and crevices.

Dirt gets trapped in these spots and can be tough to get out. Mold also grows in these places easily.

Oxygen bleach, and specifically my Stain Solver brand, is a non-toxic cleaner for ceramic tile. It's a powder you mix with water. When you do this, billions of oxygen ions are released in the clear solution. These odor-free ions attack dirt and mold breaking them apart making it easy to clean.

If you spill red wine, juice boxes, Kool-Aid or any other colored liquid on your grout, Stain Solver oxygen bleach will clean it with no trouble.

You might wonder if it's safe for colored or tinted ceramic tile grout. The answer is "Yes!" You can use Stain Solver oxygen bleach on colored grout with no fear. It will not remove the pigments in the grout like chlorine bleach might.

The same is true for your clothes. If you clean using chlorine bleach, you have to wear old clothes. Get a drop of chlorine bleach on your clothes and it bleaches out the color. You NEVER have to worry about that with oxygen bleach. You can use it dressed in your best dress or tuxedo and not worry about spotting!