Having a flooring that is nicely tiled and grouted is a great sight to see. However, not everyone is fond of cleaning it on a regular basis. Nonetheless, if you know what you should and should not do, you will be able to clean your grout and tiles with ease. Here are some of the things that you should avoid when cleaning your grout lines and tiles.

Grout cleaning and tile cleaning is a good idea, especially if you do so on a regular basis as this can actually prolong the life of your flooring and your tiles. Cleaning can maintain the flooring looking best all the time. You can find more about grout cleaning process here.

You also have to keep in mind that there are some activities which can actually shorten the life span of your tiles as well as the grout lines and some activities may even be extremely dangerous. Here are some of the things that you should avoid when doing tile and grout cleaning:

• Avoid using too much water.

Only use the exact amount of water that you need. Do not use excess water, as grout is tremendously porous. Aside from weakening the grout, it can seep into the grout and be trapped there. Once water gets trapped in the grout, mildew and molds may grow their causing issues in the future.

• Avoid using harsh chemicals and use light ones instead.

Bleach and ammonia are never good together if you meant to use them in cleaning your tiles and grout lines, as these two can create a type of gas – chlorine gas to be exact – which is quite poisonous and hazardous to your health. Do not use any harsh chemicals when other light chemicals can do the same job. Over time, these harsh chemicals can contribute in damaging your grout and tiles. Harsh chemicals can also weaken or lower down the durability as well as lifespan of grout and tiles.

Avoid using bleaching agents when cleaning, especially if your grout is colored. Bleaching it will wash away the original color of the grout by lightening or dulling the color.

• Your scrubber matters.

Avoid using scrubbers,which are coarse as these can damage the grout and the tiles. In many cases, it is suggested that a brush would be used instead. This will help in making sure that the tiles and grout will last longer.

Cleaning tiles and grouts is not really as hard as it seem. You just need to know the basic do’s and don’ts of cleaning so you will not go astray or cause damage to your tiles and grout.

Jason McCoy is an experienced contractor who enjoys working on DIY projects of all kinds. He maintains a Guru For Grout Sealing Blog, which contains all sorts of information related to grouting, cleaning and sealing tiles.