We hired a cleaning service. One of the main reasons I hired them is to clean the floors and bathrooms. I do not care about dust, but I do like a clean kitchen and bathroom. My husband’s disability is such that he can no longer reliable clean floors or bathrooms. So, I am pleased with their work, except, they cleaned the bathroom and the ceramic floors of the kitchen and bathroom with Mr. Clean and did not rinse them. This has left the surfaces with a gritty feel, a mat sheen, a detectable smell, and on the dark brown tile, a white haze. I hate smelling cleaners, I don’t want to see their residue either, to me it is just another kind of chemical dirt. The tub also is mat and not shiny so I think it has that residue as well, but it is easy enough for me to rinse.
When I mop floors I use plain ammonia (no fragrance, no suds) and hot water. I mop until it looks clean, changing buckets of water and ammonia if the solution gets too dark from filth, and then I mop once with clear water to rinse. Now, I am not insisting that a housekeeping service use ammonia on my floors, but I feel reasonable in insisting that whatever they use, they rinse the residue off so that I can’t smell and feel it. I walk around barefoot all the time in my house (no, I do not make my guests take off their shoes); the cleaner residue is gritty and it irritates my skin.
The supervisor for the service is coming back today to rinse the floors, but she clearly thinks I am insane for wanting my floor rinsed and has repeatedly stated that they do not rinse the floors as a standard practice.
How do you clean ceramic tile floors? What cleaner do you use, and do you rinse them after?
I use those swiffer thingies these days, and I don’t rinse. There is no detectable residue and the smell isn’t nearly as chemically as some (and fades quickly).
Back in the day, I was definitely a rinser. Some things leave a sticky residue and that drives me nuts. You can tell your service what products to use (or provide it to them). They have to take into consideration that some people have sensitivities to that stuff and cannot justify using a single product.
Yeah I use Swiffer too and don’t have a problem. Of course, this is in my tiny bathroom and I put a rug over it when I’m done but still, it doesn’t seem like a problem. Swiffer solution dries pretty fast.
Swiffer caveat: The ease and simplicity of the Swiffer doesn’t eliminate the need to get your grout cleaned. I’ve let mine go too long and I think I’m going to have to hire a pro to get it back to it’s lovely wedgewood blue color.
If the floor is gritty, they might be damaging the grout, or the grout might be less than perfect. During aggressive scrubbings, tiny am’ts of grout are getting out, especially if strong chemicals are being used.
Generally, surfaces like tile don’t need alot of chemicals, and do better with a light soapy water cleaner.
If the tile or grout isn’t resisting stains very well, you should consider sealing them with a high quality sealant for floors and grout. It’s a bit of effort and small expense that will keep your floors cleaner, make them easier to clean, and make your grout look like new for a lot longer.
There were no stains on the floor or the grout, just general dirt from not being scrubbed for a couple weeks. The people we bought the house from kept is very clean, and the tile seems recent. I will think about sealing the grout though, that is a good suggestion. The haze seems to be on the tub too, so that and the smell is why I assumed it was from the cleaner.
No ceramic (wood and vinyl tile), but I’m with you. I always rinse after I mop with cleaner. (Most times I just mop with water.) I would do the same on ceramic tiles.
I would complain about the smell, the haze, and the feel, if I’d paid someone to do this. If they’re unwilling to solve it, I’d find someone else to do my cleaning. If they’re not even rinsing the tub after they’ve used cleaner on it, they’re just lazy. No one wants to climb into a tub full of chemicals.
I’m almost always barefoot at home and am very sensitive to chemical smells. I spent a lot of work getting my hardwood floors nice and shiny and pretty; if I’d wanted a hazy matte look, I would have one.
Try the Swiffer. I don’t do the spray one; just the “wet diaper” model. It’s quick and easy to clean up. The convenience is totally worth it, but the floor comes out nice and clean, too.
(Note: I am not a clean freak. I don’t scrub on my hands and knees evah.)
I use Armstrong Floor Cleaner and never rinse. My tile has a matte finish and it always has a lovely sheen when I’m through mopping. The only time that I had a residue was once when I accidentally tripled the amount of cleaner in the water.
I use pine sol diluted in a bucket of water. I don’t rinse.
To me, the gritty feel indicates an abrasive cleaner, like “Soft Scrub” or something similar. I don’t use those types of cleaners on my floors.
Too much liquid cleaner (unrinsed) can look hazy, but the gritty thing is an indicator of an abrasive. You could pour pure pine sol on your floor and leave it there and it wouldn’t feel gritty – sticky, yeah, gritty, no.
If they are using an abrasive cleaner, then yes, they need to rinse it off. For that matter, if they’re using too much of a liquid cleaner so the floors are sticky, they need to rinse it off. But properly diluted liquid cleaner doesn’t require rinsing, IMO.