Do you find your shower tile looking stained, dirty and moldy? These areas are always exposed to water. Most people use natural stone, porcelain or ceramic tile for their showers floorings. Natural stone is porous and tends to absorb water leading to mold and mildew formation. Ceramic and porcelain tiles, although non-porous, do get stained easily. This article will guide you how to clean a shower tile surface properly to ensure you get a sparkling and hygiene area.
Mentioned-Below are the Common Issues Faced by Shower Tile:
- Mold and Mildew:
Mold and mildew breed on dampness and moisture and therefore showers are their favorite place. Mold not only stains the tile with its dirty black residue, but also causes health hazards. Mold causes health problems like wheezing, runny nose, eye infections and other respiratory problems. Removing mold from shower can be a tough job and has to be done methodically.
- Etching and Staining :
Natural stone tile tends to absorb all kinds of liquid into its pores because of its porous structure. Non-natural tile also tend to develop dense and stubborn stains on their top surfaces. Acidic cleaners also cause etching of the tile. Staining easily occurs on all kinds of shower tile due to soap scum and dirty accumulation.
- Efflorescence:
Many people face efflorescence on their shower tile. It is nothing by a layer of cement-like buildup traveling from beneath the tile surface on the shower tile. It flows through the drain or any other group gaps and ruins the look of your tile. Efflorescence occurs when too much water has been left beneath the tile at the time of installation or when the tile and grout are not sealed.
How to Clean Shower Tile Surfaces?
- Professional Services
There are many professional companies offering expert shower tile cleaning services. They have highly-trained artists and patented procedures to remove all the stains, mold, mildew, etching marks and efflorescence from your shower tile. You can hire such experts for cleaning your shower tile thoroughly well.
- Do-It-Yourself
If you want to clean your shower tile yourself, you can definitely do using the right tile cleaners. There are many tile cleaners available on the market, but most of them are acidic. Acidic cleaners cause etching on the surface and may ruin your shower tile completely.
Tips to Clean and Maintain the Beauty of your Shower Tile
- Keep your Shower Tile and Grout Dry
After every use of your shower, you must make it a point to mop the water and keep the surface dry. This will prevent water to get stagnant on the shower tile and lead to germ breeding.
- Clean Mold Buildup
Mold and mildew breeding on the shower tile or grout should not be ignored. These spread quickly and cover the entire area. You should clean this regularly using a good shower tile cleaner.
- Keep Your Shower Tile Sealed
Only cleaning stains and mold from shower tile does not guarantee that it will not form again. Shower tile is permeable and you need to close this permeability. After a thorough cleaning using a quality tile cleaner, you should seal your shower tile and grout using high-quality stone sealers as these form a waterproof layer on the surface. A natural stone sealer forms a hydrophobic layer on the natural stone, making the water sheet off the surface. The sealant gets inside the pores and shuts them permanently, thereby preventing moisture absorption and subsequent mold breeding.
- Seal your Grout
Not only your shower tile, you also need to seal your shower grout separately. After shower tile cleaning, you need to first seal your grout before sealing the tile. If you do not do so, the moisture present in the grout may give a hazy appearance to the top sealant coat and invite mold breeding in the grout that will spread under the tile sealant coat.
- Maintaining Tile After Sealing
Even after sealing shower tile and grout, superfluous stains and mold cannot be avoided. You need to regularly clean your shower tile with a maintenance cleaner. Use mild cleaners that do not rip off the tile sealant.
If you follow these steps, you can clean your shower tile surface efficiently.