Cleaning tile floors by dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, and damp mopping sometimes is not enough. Problems with tile floors such as heavily stained grout and budding wax needs thorough cleaning with tougher cleaner than plain water. Although commercial cleaners are always available at your favorite store, they usually are expensive. With this article, I am trying to give you alternatives to commercial cleaners. Not only is it less expensive, homemade tile floor cleaner works as effective as the branded counterparts but friendlier to environments.
Recipe #1 – For mild cleaning, add mild dish soap to hot water with the ratio 3 tablespoons of dish detergent and 2 gallons of water. When mopping, discard the solution and replace with the new one when the mixture gets cloudy. Second rinse is needed after the mopping.
Recipe #2 – Mix and stir well a gallon of hot water with a cup of baking soda, a cup of ammonia, and ¾ cup of white vinegar. Pour some into a spray bottle while reserve the rest for later cleaning. Spray the solution directly onto the floor tiles, one squirt for one area. Afterward, mop the floor regularly by using a mixture of vinegar and hot water with 1:10 ratios.
Recipe #3 – To eradicate very heavy stains of grout, mix hot water and hydrogen peroxide into a spray bottle with 1:1 ratio and shake well. Squirt the solution directly on the grout and leave the solution on for half an hour before removing the stain. When necessary, repeat the step. However, instead of leaving the solution for 30 minutes, this second spraying takes 20 minutes prior to stain cleaning. Nevertheless, this solution is not applicable for colored grout since it will remove the color.
Recipe #4 – For aromatic tile floor cleaner, add 1/3 cup of white vinegar and a few drops of lemon or orange essential oils to 2 gallons of hot water. Besides cleaning the floor effectively, the essential oil mix makes the floor smells fresher. You can buy the essential oils in craft shops. Experiment with other essential oil aromas such as lavender or jasmine if you want unique scent.
Recipe #5 – When you need your floor to be disinfected, mix ½ cup of borax and 2 gallons of hot water. The mixture is a great disinfectant to any floors even the bathroom floor. You do not need to rinse the floor after mopping the floor with this solution. Borax is inexpensive and easy to find. Keeping generous amount of borax in your home can be an advantage since this mineral is a multipurpose cleaning agent.
