[sandra adams]

hi can you advise me on what i can clean ceramic tiles with we have tried everythig we can think of and they still end up streaky,there isnt much room to get a buffer round and mopping it just leaves it dull there is a fair bit of dirt build up on the floor. ANY HELP WOULD BE APPRECIATED THANK YOU ONE AND ALL.

[Musicman]

Ideally more info on the floor type would help. Is it porous? Is it smooth or pitted?

You could try a small scrubber/dryer along the lines of a Nilfisk CA340, Numatic do a good one, have a word with Mike at Express Cleaning Supplies - this site's sponsors.

You could be using the wrong chemical when mopping. I'd recommend a twin bucket Kentucky mop system if that is what you are restricted to, and get your local chemical supplier to have a look and see what they recommend. It may be a case of trial and error until you get it right.

I hope this helps.

[sandra adams]

hi thank you for your reply. sorry i didnt explain the type properly. they are porouse and pitted. thank you for your help

[martin19842]

hi there,

and i would also expect that they an off white colour, which can look really bad if not maintained correctly.

i used to look after a couple of car showrooms when i worked on north london, we never machined them,we just did it by hand, the trick being to make sure that the water is clean.

but now we do a lot with microfibre, and you might be worth looking at that as an alternative.

regards

martin

[Musicman]

Sandra, I'm surprised to read that the tiles are both porous AND pitted. I'd have expected one or the other but not both.

Assuming they are pitted tiles mopping will only be useful for maintaining the floor in its current condition rather than remove the build up of dirt. Either go for a machine as outlined in my earlier post or use a contra-rotating brush machine (2 brushes rather than 1) as you will need something that gets into the surface rather than glides over the top. Machining will also remove the dirt in the grouting between the tiles.

If the floor is porous there is a strong possibility that too much chemical has been absorbed into the tile. This could cause streaking. If this is the case try flush cleaning (use just water every other night) to rinse the chemical out of the tile.

Despite the chemical manufacturers researching the best dilution rates cleaners usually go for the glug-glug method so the likelihood of too much chemical is quite high.

Let us know how you get on.