Three Tips for Getting Dirty Grout Clean Faster!

Using professional Tile/Grout Cleaning equipment & chemicals - still not getting it clean?

Hard surfaces now represent over 50% of the flooring sold today. Among the many hard surfaces your customers have in their homes, businesses, and facilities are ceramic tile and grout.

The introduction of tile and grout cleaning tools that attach to carpet cleaning equipment has allowed cleaners to clean this very popular flooring surface with relative ease.

Its important to say "relative", because cleaners often call when they are frustrated by grout lines that just won't come clean, even though they have used what seem to be the right products and equipment.

--------------------------------

WHY WON'T IT COME CLEAN? . . .

These are the three most common reasons that grout doesn't come clean, and what to do about it:

#1. Restaurant Grease: 
Layers of grease will fill up a grout line to the extent that your standard spinning extraction tool and grout cleaning prespray will not be able to remove the heavy build up.

SOLUTION: - Mechanical Agitation
[a] In small, limited areas, use a grout brush. These brushes are mounted on a handle with a pivot, and are designed to dig deep into the grout line.

[b]. For large areas, a mechanical scrubbing tool is more efficient. If you own a Brush Pro for encapsulation cleaning of carpet, you can put stiff grout brushes onto it in place of the carpet brushes. These counter rotating brushes will dig deep into the impacted grease and make the subsequent extraction step go a lot faster. 

#2. Floor Finish:
Floor finishes that are made for VCT should never be used on tile and grout flooring, but often are.

SOLUTION: - Inspect & Test
If you don't know that floor finish was once applied, you will be frustrated at the poor results that come from the barrier the soiled, yet hard to remove finish creates.

Always test the grout before you give a firm price on the job to determine if floor finish is present. The time and material needed to strip floor finish out of grout can be cost prohibitive, and its better that the cost be your customers', and not yours!

#3. Stains:
Things that stain grout and will not come out with standard cleaning include: Urine, calcium deposits from hard water, soap  scum, rust, and other materials that are not soluble in cleaning detergents.

SOLUTION: - Chemical Activity
Use an acid cleaner, such as Viper Renew, to remove these stains. NOTE: If you use an acid “cleaner”, you need to understand that it doesn't “clean” the grout, it etches it and reveals grout that was not damaged by the surface staining. This etched grout is more likely to absorb soil and stains, and should be neutralized and sealed afterward. Hard surface floors are here to stay, and will only become more common. If you wish to succeed and continue to grow in the cleaning industry, you must be able to deliver the very best results in all surfaces that your customer asks you to clean.

*********************************************

NOTE: Membership Has its Advantages -

For total access to Pembertons eCleanAdvisor,    CLICK & Join Now before rates go up!

Pembertons eCleanAdvisor is dedicated to sharing knowledge with customers and industry friends -- Join Now!  For a membership of under $20.00 per month, which you may cancel at any time, you get uninterrupted access to our private, member's only, eCleanAdvisor site - Joining now ensures that you'll immediately receive access to valuable information you may need for keeping up-to-date with the professional cleaning industry, no matter where you are.

*********************************************