How do I clean bathroom tiles? Our 6 tips

Tiles are the most commonly used material for bathroom floors and walls due to their aesthetic variations and numerous benefits. However, they require continuous maintenance, which can become costly if professional cleaning services are constantly needed. Thankfully, natural, reliable, and effective hacks exist for cleaning bathroom tiles of all types of dirt. This article from Eau de Maison provides you with some of these methods.

Eco-friendly Ways to Self-maintain Your Bathroom

Caring for your bathroom like a professional while adopting eco-friendly measures is possible. There’s no longer a need to rely heavily on many chemical products. Natural solutions (lemon, sodium bicarbonate, white vinegar…) exist and guarantee the same results as commonly used substances that pose a health risk. You need to master the recipe, and you’re good to go.

Tip #1: Using Lemon for Bathroom Tile Maintenance

The citric acid (from lemons) has numerous properties beneficial for maintaining tiles. This active ingredient of the citrus fruit has a decalcifying effect on all surfaces it meets. It dissolves, for example, the limescale that dulls tiles while restoring their original shine.

Moreover, citric acid has antiseptic and deodorizing virtues that eliminate bacteria and unpleasant smells in bathrooms. For more details on the procedure to follow, please take a look at the detailed operational method provided below.

Tip #2: Baking Soda for Cleaning and Disinfecting   

Alongside citric acid, a well-known ecological solution exists baking soda. This environmentally-friendly product is ideal for dislodging dirt from your bathroom tiles, whether in powder or crystal form.

With its cleaning properties, it restores shine to your tiles. Similarly, its alkalizing effect protects your flooring from erosion due to the acid found in conventional toiletries.

Added to this is its antiseptic characteristic that disinfects as you scrub your tiled surfaces. It’s an indispensable product for your bathroom hygiene. However, don’t confuse it with sodium hydroxide, which is dangerous to the organism, better known as caustic soda.

Tip #3: White Vinegar, a sugar vegetal by-product

Also known as distilled vinegar, it’s the ideal bathroom cleaner for shining up filthy shower tiles. It also cleans tiled floors covered in grease. And if its decalcifying effect is already known, it’s worth noting that white vinegar also disinfects and deodorizes. It thus becomes a reliable ally in taking care of your bathroom’s unpleasant odors.

Tip #4: Black Soap, Effective and Less Expensive

You probably know that black soap is used in beauty routines as a natural cosmetic safe for the skin. But did you also know that it serves the same way in maintaining the cleanliness of your bathroom tiles?

A mixture of oil and black olives, salt, and potash, black soap effectively cleans tiled floors and walls. It degreases the tiles and removes all possible encrustations.

However, when purchasing, remember to specify to the retailer that you are looking for black soap for cleaning purposes. It usually comes in liquid form and sometimes as a paste, unlike cosmetic black soap which is always pasty.

Tip #5 : The « Blanc de Meudon »

Rich in calcium carbonate, this natural product is used for bathroom tile maintenance. It is slightly abrasive and highly absorbent to shine your tiles without risk of scratches or damaging them.

Likewise, its 100% natural characteristic makes it an eco-friendly product safe for humans. It’s straightforward to use, as it comes as a powder to disperse. However, distinguish it from « Blanc d’Espagne,» which is of clay origin.

Tip #6: Refillable Bathroom Cleaner

As a cleaning product manufacturer, we’ve been formulating high-quality, eco-friendly products for a year and a half. Natural products without controversial ingredients allow easy cleaning of surfaces without streaks and without rinsing.

Besides being effective, the refillable powder system of our products allows zero-waste use thanks to its reusable aluminum bottle. This creation aims to obtain an effective product while totally respecting the environment.

How to apply each of these Ecological Solutions

In addition to their availability and excellent efficiency, these solutions are very economical. Everyone can take advantage of them and achieve the same results. For this, make sure to gather the necessary cleaning kits, namely:

• protective gloves: it’s always a plus to have them for all household chores
  
• a toothbrush for the tile joints ;
• a mop and a clean cloth, chamois, or microfiber sponge;
• a container ;
• a sprayer ;
• water ;
• One or the other of the following elements: lemon, baking soda, Blanc de Meudon, black household soap, white vinegar;

Instructions for Lemon and Baking Soda

To effectively apply lemon and baking soda to clean your bathroom, follow the procedure below:

Heat some water, then pour 1 liter (32 oz) into the container. Add a reasonable amount of lemon juice, then use the brush to scrub the floor and the broom for the wall. Dip them into the aqueous solution and then thoroughly clean the concerned surface.

In the end, rinse thoroughly with a mop and clean water. The concentrated lemon juice will polish the flooring after everything is clean. A careful application on every millimeter followed by polishing after 1 hour with a chamois or cloth should suffice.

As for baking soda, the procedure remains the same except that you should replace the lemon with soda crystals here. Remember to put on your protective gloves.

Instruction for White Vinegar and Bland de Meudon

The aqueous mix should contain 3/4 solute for 1/4 solvent concerning white vinegar. Dip a clean mop in it, then clean the tiles. Now rinse with simple water and wipe everything with a clean, dry cloth.

However, you can make a mixture with baking soda (2 tablespoons of each element). The solution obtained proves to be more formidable against embedded dirt, mold, and tartar.

As for Blanc de Meudon, mix it into a cream with water. Using a cloth, apply the pasty material to the tiles by lightly scrubbing. Then let it sit for 1 to 2 hours before rinsing with clean water.

Note that you can use white vinegar instead of water to obtain the pasty mixture for more efficiency. The cream obtained removes all stains, even those that seem indelible.

Instruction for Black Soap

Heat some water to a warm temperature and pour a certain amount into the container. Add two tablespoons of black soap and, if possible, some lemon juice. You can scrub the dirty surfaces using a brush or a broom brush soaked in the prepared solution. Once you’re done, rinse thoroughly with water. Finally, dry the tiles with a clean mop and admire the result.