You have just finished your new build or renovation and your tiles are looking great!
Before you know it, there is a scuff here and a stubborn mark there. One of the benefits of tiles are their longevity and durability, however, they still need to be cared for and maintained to prolong the aesthetics that produce a worthy return on your investment.
We have listed here a few considerations to keep your porcelain tiles in mint condition for as long as possible:
Immediate Protection
The moments after your tiles are installed leave them the most vulnerable to irreversible damage. With the construction process still ongoing on and around your tiles, it is easy for paint, dirt, or worse to compromise the tiles. It is highly recommended to clean the tiles and place protective sheeting over them especially in high-traffic areas, walkways, or areas where heavy construction work is still taking place.
Initial Cleaning
All tiled areas need to be specially pre-cleaned prior to hand over. As a norm the floors have been exposed to cement and grouting residues and purging of the floor is required to remove the residues from the micro-pores of the tile and reduce further re-soiling; the appearance of the tile through this process will also be restored to showroom condition.
The above process should only be done by a company that is familiar with the purging process and should not be attempted in-house.
Day to Day Cleaning
After the construction process and initial clean detailed earlier, removal of dry dirt is still of paramount importance and therefore the use of the Masslinn-system still applies. Correct usage of Masslinn cloth ensures that the fine dirt is collected and not re-distributed across the floor.
Wet spillages are removed using a combination of a “Baggy” (Squeegee and bag combination) and a Microfiber flat mop system. This combination ensures that dirt and the original spillages are not spread unnecessarily across the floor surface. It is recommended that water is applied to clean first and chemical only if required. We recommend that large area wet mopping should be kept to a minimum and “spaghetti mops” should be used in your next winter bonfire.
Periodic deep cleaning of entrances and heavily soiled areas may be necessary with varying requirements between home and commercial environments.
Dust Management
Removal of dry dirt is critical as this dirt can lead to premature wear due to the fact that the dirt is abrasive and also results in slippery floors on smooth tiles; especially around entrances as this reduces the amount of grit that is tracked or blown onto the internal tiles.
The humble entrance mat plays a key role in protecting your tiles and the size and technical ability of your matting needs to suit the traffic and application of your property. Just remember that a dirty entrance mat creates a bigger problem than it should be preventing.
Polished Tiles
And finally, allow us to set the record straight: “All polished tiles will dull over time.”
This is not necessarily a failure of the tile itself, instead this is a reality of a glossy surface applied to a floor. This does not mean that we should fear polished tiles on the floor but that we should rather place them in strategic areas and take the above mentioned measures to delay the dulling of the gloss as far as we can.
