We clean the bathroom: how to clean the seams between the tiles?

The tile in the bathroom can look expensive and elegant. But over time, she risks losing her appeal. High humidity, poor ventilation and temperature changes often affect the appearance of the tile. To restore glossy shine and a neat appearance to such a coating, you need to not only wash to shine and rub the tile itself, but also update the tile joints.

Over time, stains from dirt appear on the tile: lime deposits, traces of shampoo, and even cleaning products, but, much more serious, from mold and mildew. If you devote little time to caring for such a coating, traces of black plaque become very noticeable. This blackness is a sign of the spread of fungus and mold.

It is impossible to look at this indifferently, not only because the tile looks dirty and groomed, but also because the presence of “self-proclaimed neighbors” (mold and fungus) adversely affects the condition of all households. The fungus cannot penetrate the immune defense of a healthy person, however, if the body is weakened, then the spores penetrate the body through the skin and respiratory tract, so you need to pay close attention to the cleaning of tile joints and do not delay cleaning.

There are many ways to wash tiles. To do this, you can choose a modern detergent. Fortunately, the market has a wide range of effective drugs. You can also adopt traditional methods in the battle for perfect cleanliness in the bathroom, as well as wash or clean the tiles mechanically with the help of scrapers, spatulas and other simple devices.

Contaminated gaps between tiles are the first thing you notice in the bathroom, as in the kitchen. If initially they were white, but now they have acquired a grayish or yellow hue, then try to take advantage of the achievements of the chemical industry.

To clean the seams with the help of household chemicals, it is better to choose a potent agent, since the dirt between the tiles in the bathroom, as a rule, clogs very deeply, and chemical solutions that work gently work well with the tile itself, but do not give a full-fledged result in the fight against tile pollution.

The basis of such chemicals are strong acids. To clean the tile spaces, the chemical mixture is applied to the seams and wait for it to work. After some time, the seams are washed with warm water. If necessary, wipe off any remaining dirt with a brush.

It is possible to return the aesthetic appearance to the tiled coating mechanically, although this process is laborious, requiring thoroughness and care. But unlike a chemical agent, the tool penetrates to any depth of the seam in which the dirt has settled.

In this case, such simple devices as a kitchen scraper or sandpaper are useful. To effectively remove dirt in the seams on the floor, you can use a non-rigid brush for metal. Although in this case there is a risk of spoiling the flooring, as this tool removes the old grout with strips, and they can be noticeable. It’s safer to use a semicircular chisel, which is used in the work of woodcarvers.

To get rid of traces of limescale on the tile and in its seams, you can use special household chemicals that are applied with a sponge or brush, wait a few minutes and rinse with water:

• A modern means of removing dirt from tiles is melamine sponge. It is created from a special material (a modern type of plastic), which, like an eraser, cleans hard surfaces from impurities, which allows you not to use chemicals when cleaning;
• If you don’t feel like spending extra money or if you don’t trust special store tools, take advantage of what any housewife will find at hand. Can do a mixture of soda and hydrogen peroxide. Given its required volume, it is necessary to select the composition so that four parts of soda account for three parts of peroxide. If desired, add the product you are using to this mixture to make it easier to wash the dishes. It perfectly removes fat. The resulting composition must be applied to the tiled coating. After a couple of hours, it remains to clean the surface of the tile and seams with a brush and wash it thoroughly;

• If this recipe does not suit you, make a solution toothpaste, mustard and lemon juice. For fidelity, it's nice to supplement this combination with ammonia. The composition is coated with seams and incubated for 10-20 minutes. Then thoroughly washed with water;
• A reliable combination is a solution lemon, vinegar and baking soda. For 6 glasses of water, take half a glass of soda and a third glass of vinegar, then add the same amount of lemon juice. Apply the fluid to the seams for 10-15 minutes. In order for the result to be truly reliable, it is better to help penetrate the liquid mixture into the grout with a brush. Such a procedure must be carried out at least 2-3 times, in order to surely get rid of all the accumulated dirt.

It is important to observe safety precautions when processing tiles, since almost all effective compounds (at least homemade, at least store-bought) can burn the skin and are harmful to the respiratory system, so you need to work with rubber gloves and a protective mask.

If, when processing tiles in the bathroom, the housewives take on “heavy artillery”, then, as a rule, this is not about simple removal of dirt, but about the fight against fungus. The same lemon, vinegar, soda and hydrogen peroxide give a certain effect in the fight against this scourge:

• for example, an effective antifungal agent can be prepared from improvised means: mix ammonia and vinegar (for a tablespoon of both), add a teaspoon of emollient, which is used when washing clothes, and two-thirds of a glass of water. All this mix and work the seams with the resulting composition using a stiff brush;
• You can use modern means. The same special felt-tip pen with waterproof dye, which quickly kills the fungus and also hides the resulting color defects;
• if the blackness in the bathroom has appeared recently, you can take into service chemical agents, which include chlorine. This, for example, "White". It is used in folk recipes against the fungus, and independently. To achieve the desired effect, it is enough to process all the tiles with this liquid, including the seams;
• fit for business and oxygen bleach. It is diluted in warm water at a ratio of 1: 1. The tile is treated with a sponge, carefully lubricating the tile joints. Then leave for an hour and a half. During this time, the active substances penetrate into inaccessible places of the tiled coating and kill harmful microorganisms and fungus. After the completion of the process, the chemical itself is calmly removed with a stiff brush.

Some people react very poorly to chlorine-containing and other chemicals. If there is a chance that one of the residents of the house will end up in a hospital bed because of this, then you can use a pao-cleaner in the fight against fungus. This appliance releases high pressure steam. Thus, without the use of chemistry, it is possible to reliably clean the tile itself and the intermediate seams. A steam jet softens the dirt, kills the fungus and other bacilli.

There are also quite neglected situations when the fungus in the joints “double blooms”, and the grout itself is already crumbling.

There are many types of tiles. Depending on what material you are dealing with, appropriate cleaning agents should be selected:

• glazed tiles do not tolerate acids. From contact with substances containing acidic components, it fades;
• matte tiles after cleaning must be treated with special mastic, which forms a film. It makes it possible not to get dirty on the surface of the tile for a long time;
• if a mosaic or glass tile is used in the bathroom, do not use potent agents containing a large percentage of alkali and acid;
• when cleaning a tile coating, it is preferable not to use granular powders and especially hard brushes;
• Get an epoxy grout. Such materials are resistant to the penetration of dirt, as well as to the formation of fungus and mold;

• regular maintenance of tiles with chemicals is necessary with the beginning of its operation. The use of special tools is most effective when the contaminants do not sink deep into the tile joints and are not rooted in them.
• the systematic use of special chemicals in cleaning the bathroom will make it possible not to start this situation, and the tile will look like new for a long time;
• the state of the tile coating directly depends on the microclimate in the bathroom. It is necessary to ensure that in this room it is as dry as possible.Properly designed ventilation system will help to ensure this; moist air must be forced out of the room. Even better, if the hood will start to work when you turn on the light in the bathroom;
• a simple rule should be worked out: immediately after one of the household members has taken a shower or bath, the tile is wiped with a cloth that absorbs water well so that the dampness does not linger in the tile joints;
• the walls under the tiles should not be cold, otherwise condensation is inevitable.

You will learn more about how to clean the joints between tiles from the next video.