How To Make Bathroom Tiles Last
In all reality, there is no good reason why your bathroom tiles can’t outlast just about any other piece of your home. Not only are these tiles made of durable material that can and should stand up to the test of time, but they’re also super easy to maintain and keep looking great for years and years.
BATHROOM TILE MAINTENANCE FOR THE AGES
Have you ever set foot in a bathroom that you knew was not recently updated, but still felt entirely new? While bathroom colors, styles, and patterns have evolved over the years, some things are simply timeless; cleanliness, functionality, and a nice shine on bathroom tiles can elevate your bathroom from looking flat to appearing fresh and inviting.
KEEPING OFF MILDEW AND MOLD
There are a few products that are absolutely invaluable in keeping mold and mildew away from your bathroom tiles. In fact, our previous blog expands on the importance and methodology of safeguarding your bathroom from these pesky – and dangerous – fungi. In case you’re pressed for time and can’t flip back to that blog, the three key products you want to look for will use one (and only one) of the following three chemicals as a base: Bleach, ammonia, or vinegar. While these are highly effective, you should never combine them to clean your bathroom, as they can create hazardous fumes when mixed – even on the wall. Once you have your chemical of choice, you’ll find that keeping your bathroom fungi-free is surprisingly simple.
AVOID HARD WATER
Nothing quite says “aged bathroom” like that grimey, filmy look that comes from hard water stains. These can appear as a pinkish hue to a white grout, a milky white glaze over your bathroom’s tiles, or even solid lyme accumulation on your showerhead and within nooks and crannies. Certain areas of the country will suffer from more or less hard water damage than others, but all homes are susceptible to this damage given enough time and exposure. Anyone that has owned a home for years already can likely attest that water will invariably find a way to wreck and ruin your home if left alone; not even bathrooms are exempt from this entirely, unfortunately. The only really reliable way to “treat” hard water staining is to soften your water with an aptly named water softener and/or make it a point to regularly wipe and clean your wet spaces. In any case, you’ll be glad you did, as hard water stains can make an otherwise attractive bathroom look completely distasteful.
APPLY A SHINE
There are a few tricks to be learned from professional house cleaners; not least among these is the ability to leave a tile shiney and breathtaking after cleaning. After all, you’re not only cleaning your bathroom to make it cleaner, but also to make it look and feel cleaner. To best achieve this, you need to master the shine. There are plenty of tips and tricks out there for you to try in your bathroom, but our favorites have to include the use of a microfiber cloth to “buff” tiles after cleaning using a lemon juice solution or lemony-scented furniture polish. Somehow, nothing quite says “fresh and clean” as well as a lemon-scented room, so why not match up the shining qualities of a buffing microfiber towel with this extrasensory pairing? This one-two punch of shine and a clean smell will make your guests and family members alike stand a little straighter and take notice of just how nice your bathroom feels. Over the years, we’ve found these little things make all the difference in how tiles of any age are perceived.
TAKE CARE OF GROUT
At the end of the day, your tiles will more or less keep themselves clean enough. While a nice shine can make them look truly fabulous and hard water stains make them look diminished and dingy, the more common state they will live in is somewhat normal. The grooved grout between these tiles, however, is a completely different story. Your grout will act as a perfect hiding place for all kinds of buildup, gunk, and even bacterial or fungal growth – yuck. Also, grout lines are generally tougher to clean than tiles themselves, yet make just as much of an impact on the overall appearance of your bathroom as the tiles do. So, how do you get serious about cleaning your grout? Simply put: Brush them out. The reason they become and remain dirtier than tiles is also what makes them tough to clean out, so you need to utilize a brush or two to scrape and scrub free these tough-to-reach surfaces – even employing an old toothbrush for those especially pesky spots.
CLEAN REGULARLY
Finally, it is most important that whatever you do to keep your tiles clean, you keep up on it. Whether that means breaking out the lemony-scented polish for a shine after a deep cleaning every month or two or dabbing dry your shower walls regularly to prevent the threat of build-up, you had best commit to the idea of keeping up on it. Of course, the alternative is that you’ll have a sometimes-great, sometimes-less-than-great looking bathroom for your guests to ponder over, which is a pretty crummy option. On the plus side, by keeping up on the cleaning, you save yourself the effort of doing a truly deep cleaning, as you’ll always catch your grime before it builds up into a truly epic mess. While nobody wants to hear they need to clean their bathroom more regularly, we can bet that you also don’t want to hear that their bathroom looks “just okay,” so we’d recommend you find a cleaning method and schedule that works for your household – and stick to it!
VISIT TRANSWORLD TILE
At Transworld Tile, our entire staff is committed to helping you find the best possible flooring, kitchen, and bathroom tiles for your home and helping you maintain them to keep your family spaces, keeping them happy, healthy, and welcoming for years to come. Each member of our team is well-versed in home bathroom tiles, as well as how best to maintain them, so you can rest assured that the advice and inspiration you’re receiving is based upon years of successful service to the local community.
Stop in and visit our showroom to see the best selection of bathroom tiles in the San Fernando and Thousand Oaks area. Here, you’re sure to find the perfect tiles to complete (or begin) your next home project!
