To clean tile floors, sweep or vacuum first, then mop with warm water and a small amount of pH-neutral floor cleaner, changing the water when it turns grey. Rinse with clean water and dry the floor so no film is left behind. Glazed ceramic and porcelain are forgiving. Marble, limestone and travertine are not: keep acids like vinegar off them.
The step most people skip is the first one. Grit on a tile floor acts like sandpaper under a wet mop, and mopping a floor you haven't swept just turns loose dirt into grey streaks in the grout.
Which cleaner for which tile#
Find out what your floor actually is before you buy a cleaner. Marble-look porcelain and real marble can be hard to tell apart, and they react very differently to acid. Check a leftover box, the invoice or the builder's paperwork if you have them.
| Floor |
Routine cleaner |
Avoid |
| Glazed ceramic or porcelain |
Warm water with mild dish soap or a neutral tile cleaner |
Oil or wax-based cleaners, abrasive powders |
| Unglazed or textured porcelain |
Neutral cleaner and a soft-bristle brush or deck brush |
Steel wool, colored cleaners that can stain |
| Marble, limestone, travertine |
Stone soap or neutral cleaner made for stone |
Vinegar, lemon, bathroom descalers, most bathroom sprays |
| Slate, granite, quartzite |
Neutral stone cleaner |
Rust removers and toilet cleaners (see below) |
| Cement grout (all floors) |
Same neutral cleaner as the tile |
Vinegar, regular bleach |
The tile maker Daltile says neutral cleaners or warm water and mild soap are enough for tile floors and that harsh chemicals or abrasive cleaners can damage tile. The Natural Stone Institute says marble, limestone and travertine are sensitive to acids, and that products with lemon, vinegar or other acids can dull or etch them. It also warns that many rust removers and toilet bowl cleaners contain trace hydrofluoric acid, which attacks every kind of stone, granite included. If you have a stone bathroom floor, wipe up any toilet cleaner drips right away.
How to clean tile floors step by step#
- Move mats, bins and anything light off the floor.
- Sweep or vacuum, including under the toe kicks and behind the toilet. Use a vacuum on the hard-floor setting so the beater bar doesn't scatter grit.
- Fill a bucket with warm water and the cleaner at the dose on the label. More soap isn't better; extra just stays on the floor as a sticky film.
- Wring the mop until it's damp, not dripping. Start at the far corner and work back toward the door.
- Change the water as soon as it looks cloudy. On a muddy kitchen floor that may be after every room-sized section.
- Go over the floor again with a mop rinsed in plain water. If your cleaner says no-rinse you can skip this, but do it anyway if you see haze.
- Dry with a clean towel or microfiber pad, especially polished tile, which shows water marks.
Ryan Marino, who manages standards and research at the Tile Council of North America, makes the same points in the Why Tile guide to cleaning ceramic tile: rinse thoroughly, remove all residue, and dry the area well. He also says not to use oil or wax-based cleaners, because the residue they leave attracts dirt.
A microfiber flat mop is easier to keep clean than a string mop, and it puts less water in the grout lines. Whatever you use, wash the head afterwards. A sour mop spreads its smell onto the next floor; our guide to cleaning a mop head covers how.
Why does my tile floor look hazy after mopping?#
Almost always, it's residue. Either you used too much cleaner, the water was dirty, or the floor dried before you rinsed. Mop once with clean warm water, wring often, and dry it with a towel. If the haze is only on new tile, it may be grout haze from installation, which needs a specific grout haze remover from the tile shop, not more mopping.
Can you use vinegar on tile floors?#
On glazed ceramic tile the glaze itself won't mind, but the grout will. Marino says vinegar is an acid and can dissolve the cement in grout, and almost every tile floor has cement grout between the tiles. Use a neutral cleaner and you don't have to think about it. On marble, limestone or travertine, never use vinegar.
Bleach is the other one people reach for. Why Tile says bleach shouldn't be used on tile and grout on a regular basis. Save it for a specific mildew problem, follow the label, and never mix it with other cleaners, which the CDC warns can release dangerous fumes.
How often should you clean tile floors?#
| Room |
Sweep or vacuum |
Mop |
| Kitchen |
Every day or two |
Weekly, plus spills as they happen |
| Bathroom |
Weekly |
Weekly |
| Entryway or mudroom |
Every few days, daily in wet weather |
Weekly |
| Low-traffic room |
Weekly |
Every two weeks |
Marino's guidance is to sweep and wipe tile at least weekly or as needed. Kids, pets and muddy seasons push you toward the more frequent end. A good doormat inside and out cuts the grit a lot.
Cleaning the grout lines#
Grout is porous and sits lower than the tile, so it collects what the mop pushes into it. Every month or so, scrub the lines with your neutral cleaner and a stiff nylon grout brush, then rinse. For stains, mildew and resealing, see our grout cleaning schedule. Why Tile recommends a penetrating sealer for floor grout because surface sealers wear off under foot traffic.
Cracked or crumbling grout is a repair job, not a cleaning one. Water gets under the tiles through the gaps, especially in bathrooms. Get it regrouted.
ChoreLists.com can remind you to mop weekly and scrub the grout monthly, so the deep job never gets big. If you have other hard floors in the house, wood and laminate need much less water than tile; see how to clean laminate floors.