[kinder clean]

I was chatting to a guy over Manchester way at the CCDO and he was telling me they now offer tile and grout cleaning, seems to be good money to be made ( He mentioned £16 - £20 per sq mtr !! )

Just be interested to know if anyone else offers this service and how much work they get in comparison to CC.

What equipment do you need?

I've got a cimex cyclone CR48, does anyone use this machine for tile and grout ?

P.S. I'm not truck mounted.

Paul - Kinder Clean

[Shaun_Ashmore]

I don't think you need to be TMed Colin in Blackpool only uses 400psi, it's the chemical and scrub that does the work, I do bits but it is a tough add on because customers don't see tile and grout as value unless you get that special customer.

Personally I'd get a gekko wand so you can use it to the corners aswell as using it to bick up the water and it can be used to rinse at upto 3000psi.

Shaun

[sherco]

You need a rotary scrubber, wet vac etc....you cant do it properly with cc machine, i do miles of tile cleaning, if you need nymore info let me know.

[richy27]

Some thing i have been thinking about offering any ideas on training anywhere

[COLIN BRIGHT]

Shaun is right
i cleaned some tile and grout last week using only 400 psi
came up like new
pre vac, pre spray, rotary in with my Victor scrubber i bought off of Shaun at last years ccdo left to dwell for 15 mins
(just enough time to drink my tea) and rinsed off, pre sprayed the Mankey bits again, a quick scrubb, left a couple of mins and rinsed
my custy was jumping through hoops
£100 for about 45 mins

[ryan mca]

 What chemicals do you recommend

 cheers Ryan

[craigp]

Alltec do a range called SPINERGY

[Dave_Lee]

I clean tile and grout, for ceramics and other non porous HARD tiles, I use 1,000 to 1300psi for softer natural and porous stone I use 800psi as recommended by by one of the most experienced guys in the States. He owns the Magic Wand company and you can download loads of usefull information from their website.
www.magicwandcompany.com
the direct link to the article from the website is:-
www.cleanfax.com/article.asp?indexid=6636035
One thing that he does make clear in his DVD is that with all the cleaning solutions agitation etc the most important thing is PRESSURE. Sure on ceramics with medium domestic soiled grout you can get away with lower psi as a flush out, but on other stuff especially in the commercial sector, if you dont have the pressure, it will be a case of constant respraying and further agitation to get those grout lines clean, and that just adds time.
Dave.

[derek west]

dave
how do you actually know what certain tiles are made of?
is there a certain test you can do?
derek

[COLIN BRIGHT]

Dereck, Alltec do a stone cleaning course run by Keith Robinson
you should find out about stone ID from that
well worth the trip
Also Hydramaster/solution s uk do one as well

[derek west]

not ready for cleaning hard floors yet colin but doesn't hurt to ask a few questions til i am ready.
derek

[will_turton]

aqua mix are doing one in july, bring there man in from the states ,

[Andrew Briscoe]

I went on a course a couple of weeks ago at Leicester run by Steve Carpenter.

It was hands on and we used an oreck orbitor, low speed rotary with black XR scub pad,
1200 psi extractor with a spinner and vac attatched and a trucmount on full heat with the spinner.

There was no difference in quality of work from any of the machines, a wet vac was used to pick up slurry from rotaries.

A second hand rotary and wet pick up could be used, so set up cost could be from a couple of hundred quid.

Lots of stone floors around, its just getting customer to have it done, most commercial will expect cleaning staff
to mop, its up to us to sell and demonsrate the differance in quality from a mop.

Andrew

[craigp]

I clean tile and grout, for ceramics and other non porous HARD tiles, I use 1,000 to 1300psi for softer natural and porous stone I use 800psi as recommended by by one of the most experienced guys in the States. He owns the Magic Wand company and you can download loads of usefull information from their website.
www.magicwandcompany.com
the direct link to the article from the website is:-
www.cleanfax.com/article.asp?indexid=6636035
One thing that he does make clear in his DVD is that with all the cleaning solutions agitation etc the most important thing is PRESSURE. Sure on ceramics with medium domestic soiled grout you can get away with lower psi as a flush out, but on other stuff especially in the commercial sector, if you dont have the pressure, it will be a case of constant respraying and further agitation to get those grout lines clean, and that just adds time.
Dave.

Would you reccommend the DVD Dave?

[sherco]

You have to be careful what pads you use,  as when you start using cleaning chemicals with them the colour comes out of them and can stain the tiles....You have to use a neutral cleaner on natural products, as some cleaners can react with the stone, and etch it and it will feel like sandpaper.....I done loads of repair jobs where the wrong cleaner has been used, you need to diamond polish the stone, then you are talking £30-£50 sqm to rectify this problem. Ceramics and porcelain tiles are pretty much bullet proof on what cleaner to use, unless you need to start doing things like removing grout residue, breaking down the polymers in the grout to remove from tile etc. If anybody needs advice let me know as specialise in natural stone fixing and cleaning etc.

[Hamilton smith]

Sherco I have just started to clean tiles and stone floors, I live in west yorkshire so there are stacks of yorkshire sandstone flags - some sealed some unsealed, i am getting quite a few enquiries now have you got any advice for dealing with flags? Some people say clean them with a roto and black pad but this does not get down into all the joints and general undulations so I have been using a stiff brush attachment + any advice as to what products to enhance clours any reseal?

[sherco]

I mainly only use Aqua Mix products for cleaning and re sealing. I use a soft scrub brush on my rotary, more like a tampico brush. I use a powerful 3000w, triple motor wet vac as i find this combination works the best. Also you need to let the cleaner dwell on the stone to break up the dirt etc.

[Hamilton smith]

Ever cleaned quarry tiles? do you use the same method as  cleaning stone? I've been speaking to a company off the web called Extensive who sell lithofin products.

[sherco]

Yes have cleaned quarry tiles, same way, you just have to be careful what sealers you use,  as some of these are laid directly onto earth so they need to breathe.

[clinton]

Sherco

Good advice and how do we contact you,there again you might get bombared with mail

Do know somebody that cleaned tiles and two cracked because of the softening of the tile after he used a solution so guess we have to know what were doing.