A safe and really powerful cleaner! Penetrates the millions of pores in tile and releases the dirt and residues left behind from previous cleaning attempts. Grout will be restored to its original color and because there is no soapy, sticky residues left behind, the tile won't get slippery when wet.
to get right into the most narrow of grout surfaces. This is a great tool for getting edges and behind things in awkward spots.
No more scrubbing on your hands and knees! Our Corner Brush is a high quality triangular shaped brush head with side-mounted, chemical resistant poly bristles. Designed to easily and effectively clean along baseboards, cove base, and in tight corners. Comes with a fiber core pole and non-slip grip.
Cleaning Tough Tile and Grout
• The "Old Way"
The old tried-and-true method of cleaning hard surfaces like ceramic tile and murderous grout have been lots of work, lots of smelly products, and lots of elbow grease. If you were lucky to have a carbon-impregnated or bassine rotary brush ? Click to check them out if you've never seen them. They are great to have not only for this work, but for stripping floors in general. and a shampoo tank on your floor machine, you could usually get decent results. But then you had to mop it all up or vacuum it. More often than not, it was always very hard work and there were always problem areas left behind. The problem areas were almost always the grout. If you were skilled at operating a rotary floor machine, you could "heel" it and get better results on more defined problematic areas. Although the industry now sports a more easy way to address the cleaning of tile and grout, there are still many challenges out there. For this reason, it never hurts to have a rotary floor machine around.
For those of you who have tile and grout cleaning tools for your truckmount, or even those who do not yet own them... how are you doing with it? It's a pretty easy cleaning procedure to pick up for sure, but let's review some basic procedures in this article to clear up some things and to respond to some common remarks we get. If you are not familiar with tile and grout cleaning, you can very easily get results like below. If you would like some great ideas on selling this neat service, please see our current sales article.
click to see the detail
• What Do I Need?
Having the right tools is paramount to being successful in performing and selling this service. You will need a hard surface spinner tool and you will need a corner and edge tool. Anything else you have of course will just add to your expertise. There are all sorts of tools and products available, and you can even offer tile and grout sealing also as an add on service. You can also expand your service to clean vertical surfaces too, like restroom and kitchen walls. You can employ smaller detail tools to clean countertops and small areas as well.
The corner and edge tool shown below is needed because all of the large spinner tools out there will never get this close to the edge. Additionally, you alone with a brush on your knees will never get it as clean as the center of the floor. Spend the money and get one and you will not be disappointed. They are also ideal for effortlessly cleaning baseboard heating systems, edge moldings, behind toilets, and even for scaring away pesky pets -:)
• The Cleaning Procedure
First things first, guys. You need to sweep the floor. Although you can slam through the entire job quickly and aggressively, you will quickly learn that those powerful spinner tools are fantastic for removing water, but not so great at removing sand, gum wrappers, and other loose dry debris. A fairly quick sweep or vacuuming with a brush attachment will save you a lot of grief and will not prematurely wear out the bottom of your spinner tools. The more they get scratched, the more hazardous they become when it comes time to transition from a filthy restaurant quarry tile floor to Mrs. Hezzleworth's beautiful marble foyer.
Although there are plenty of tile and grout cleaning products out there, the best place to start is here with us with the following cleaning agents:
- Viper Venom - diluted easily as you need it, this product is high alkaline with high solvency and a pleasant scent, and will clean even the most nasty floors you come across.
- Viper Renew - an aggressive acidic product, this is a last-resort product to address discoloration and years of abuse on the worst floors you will encounter.
- Procyon's Tile, Grout, and Stone Cleaner - a great green alternative for your environmentally discerning customers, this product will not make floors slippery when wet and has absolutely no odor at all. Ideal for low to moderate soiling, like in a home or well maintained office and public places.
• Next: The Chemical Warfare
Deploy your products in a way that fits the size of the job, but not over such a huge area that parts will dry before you get to them. You can fill a mop bucket and mop it on if you'd like, but really the easiest way is to use a pump-up or electric sprayer. Apply the product very coarsely so it reaches 100% of the entire part to be cleaned and is very wet. Leave the product to do its magic for at least 5-10 minutes. This dwell time is crucial.
While it's dwelling, you may opt to use a grout brush to address really bad areas. You can even run a rotary floor machine with a stiff brush over it. Those machines are VERY handy. Unless the floor is extremely nasty, you usually do not need to do these steps if you are mixing your product correctly and allowing for proper dwell time. Even very grease-laden grout will start to get cleaned while you wait. The soils just dissolve before your eyes.
• Then Clean Corners and Edges Out to 4-5 Inches
This will save you the hassle of dealing with them after you use your large spinner. Your spinner will get near the edge but not right up to it. Even edge tools need to be tilted back to get that last little 1-2 inches near the wall. While you're at it, consider cleaning the edge moldings too; it makes the whole job look better. Use your corner and edge tool in a quick back-and-forth motion. Use it very slowly over problematic grout, as they spray over a very narrow path.
... and go at it with your spinner
Your spinner will effectively pressure wash the floor in a small enclosed space (12 inches or so). For it to work right, crank up your machine pressure to at least 800-1,000 psi and get that water burning hot. Truckmounts work best, but a powerful portable will do perfectly fine too (ask us what we have here).
Proceed back and forth or side to side, working fast or slow as you need to get the best results. Check out this video and you will see how nice it works with our Viper Venom and our very nifty SX-12 machine:
cool, huh?
• Afterward...
Although not much else is needed to finish the job, you may wish to mop the floor quickly just to finish it off and pick up any stray water droplets. The floor will look really clean and complete now. If you find there are a few problematic areas remaining, just repeat the cleaning procedure beginning with the product application mixed a little stronger. That's pretty much it, guys. Once you use one of these things, you will wonder how you ever got along without it. It's easy to sell and a very inexpensive add-on for you that gives you tons of opportunity.
Frequently-Asked QuestionsCan I use my spinner at less than 700-1000psi? |
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