Saltillo Tile Floors

My mom has these in her home too & they can be a pain & stained. Those yellow steamers work well. A vinegar & water solution is a healthy way to clean with out build-up. Using rugs & runners throughout helps with the dirt. Being "Chinese" LOL & leaving all shoes at the door AT ALL TIMES ...REALLY HELPS!!! I have found the little electric brooms are great for quick sweeps as well as the infamous Swivel sweepers IF it is not used for a floor/dirt/stains that does need a "a little elbow grease" because it just goes right over. The Roomba robot self floor cleaner IMHO is more money & takes longer.

We have brick floors, same kind of problem. I just have a simple vacuum and had the same problem you are talking about, I took it to a vacuum shop and got a special attachment for the hose to vacuum the floors with, it cost 15$! I use it for everyting, bricks, tiles, wood and the area rugs!!

I don't have saltillo, but I have lots of tile in my house and I would HIGHLY recommend getting a Shark (it's a cordless vacuum that is rechargeable). You can get them at Home Depot, I think and they're around $50. I've had mine for over a year and it works great. I personally hate sweeping, so I love my shark, and then I do a good mopping once a week with vinegar and water.

I think a new vaccum will totally save your sanity! Finding the easiest, quickest way to snork up dust, dirt and crumbs will really help.

Someone mentioned steam cleaning, and that's a great idea for the grime you describe. I used Vapor Professionals ###-###-#### for our showers and bathroom floors.

Hi F.,

My name is L. Gonzales and I own a small business too. I know how hectic the schedule can get. I am a Mom too so I can relate. But about your floors... I use to be in business with my sister and we specialized in floor refinishing, mainly saltillo tile. Saltillo can be a really beautiful floor covering but it is also one of the most high maintenance floors you can have installed. I know you purchased the house with the flooring already so this was not a full I want it kind of choice. F. you have three choices: 1. Call a professional, my sister still is in business. Her name is Gail Gonzales of Custom Floor Finishers ###-###-#### she is the best in town. She is the person most contractors call when someone else has made a mess of thier customers floors. It does cost a bit more to have anybody come in and do the work but with saltillo this is your best choice. 2. You can take care of the floor yourself by cleaning or stripping it down and refinishing it with a special waterbase or solvent based sealer. But here again if you don't know what you are doing or know the products it can be very intimidating and time consuming. 3. Give it a good clean with an industrial strength cleaner and seal it very well. The thing about saltillo is that once you get it cleaned up and sealed right it can be as low maintenance as using a dust mop daily which is much quicker than sweeping. and maintenance cuts back once you have layered enough sealer properly to coat the floor good enough. I said saltillo is high maintenance earlier because it is if it is not sealed properly. once it is then you can drop maintenance to the regular dust mopping and once a year sealing in high traffic areas. Should you have any other questions regarding your floors I can be reached at ____@____.com or you can give Gail a call and she could answer or give you a free quote on your floors.

Hi F., I feel your pain. I have saltillo also. It doesn't matter what you do it always will appear to have dirt on the floor because it is made of mud. The only thing that we had found that changed that was to seal it. That makes it very slippery. (Can you tell I just love my floor) You can actually seal it yourself. Good Luck!!

RUGS, lots of huge and runner rugs!

I think you might need a new vacuum. I vacuum my tile floors all the time and don't have a problem. I have large area rugs so I vacuum everything. I used to have wood floors in another house with a cheaper vacuum and it also worked fine. Just make sure the vacuum has a "bare floor" setting.

Hi F.,

If you are referring to Mexican Saltillo Tile, I use a shop vac to vacuum it then I mop it with a cap full of Pine Sol added to a bucket of water. I then go over it with water only to kind of dilute the Pine Sol.

I don't have saltillo tile, but I have well over 1000 sqare feet of ceramic tile and know what a pain it is to try and keep clean. You've already rec'd many great ideas on how to clean it, but I have to say that in place of sweeping I HIGHLY recommend a canister vacuum that has a hard floor attachment. As you well know, saltillo has such deep grooves in the grout that a good vacuum is really going to be your best bet. No swiffer or broom will ever do a good job on it. I rarely sweep because it's such a daunting task, but I get out my hoover windtunnel canister vac and go to town. And I swear that vacuuming it is so much faster and more effective than any broom you'll find. I have 3 ACTIVE little boys and 2 cats. I vacuum my tile floors no less than once a day and it is done lickety split. Good luck!!

A.

I have been using baking soda on my tiles in my home. Although they are a different kind, try this first. Get warm water in a portable, plastic tub and pour baking soda. Mix it around, but you want the water gritty for scrubbing action. Using a large scrub brush and scrub the tiles! Use a large sponge to wipe up. You may not see anything at first, but the baking soda will work after you stop scrubbing and when i have used this on my tile and grout, they look like new!

Have you ever tried the "swivel sweeper"? I love mine. it's convenient,quick, and kids love to use it too. I don't know if it would work on your particular floors or tile. I think their website is swivelsweeper.com good luck!!

I would buy a different type of vaccum. I think they make one that works on tile. I think it will actually be cleaner than having carpet that holds dirt and everything else. Although it is a pain to sweep everyday it shouldn't take too long. I have to sweep and mop my kitchen every other day because we have dogs and two kids. I think it is great that you have a home with no carpet. Good Luck!

Be thankful you do not have carpet. Get yourself one of those long droopy looking mops( very wide one) and eithr spray it with furniture polish or just a cleaning solution and go over the floor once every other day. Make sure to do this before or after the kids are in bed. Things will not stick to the floor. One thing I found to be very helpful is to let the kids be involved and get a reward system so they will be willing to help you and get something in return. Whatever you do since you are stuck with the floor do not see it as a downer, enjoy it I know I enjoy mine.

all the tile that is used in phoenix is about the only thing I hate about arizona it is so hard to clean and keep clean

my first place in phoenix had tile all over the place and I swear the people that lived in there prior to us never cleaned it. the cleaning will consist of lots of work (hands and knees) I used hot water and there is a wall cleaning solution in a pinkish box (in a box similiar to a spic and span box only much smaller) it is made to clean walls no streaks because it has no actual soap in it. get the floor sopping wet and scrub on your hands and knees in fact if you use hot enough water it will actually clean itself. use a second bucket for dirty water pick up and I was able to do a 10 x 20 room in about 20 minutes. make sure the floor is really dry. the next time you scrub you can use a swiffer type mop with the same solution
do you use a vacuum or do you use an electric broom ? an electric broom will work wonders--- even a dust mop will work great and if you decide to use a solution to attract the dust make sure you use ENDUST not pledge. or you will be on the floor and do not use generic dusting polish. endust is made for floors. I cleaned for a convent and accidentally used pledge on the floors and it was really slippery I learned my lesson quick thank goodness no one got hurt first. I cleaned for the older nuns so someone would have really gotten hurt if they fell.

and sorry with kids you will have to sweep everyday unless of course you can get 1 of them to sweep for you LOL

Hi F.,
We had saltillo tile in our previous home, and although I liked it initially I really hated how it always looked dirty (and I think the previous owners never cleaned it or sealed it correctly, so that didn't help). Anyway, I wanted to warn you that the Hoover Floormate will not work well for you because of the unevenness of the tile. It will only "mop" the high areas of the tile and never reach the grout and lower areas. We had one and sold it after using it only a few times. I would recommend an electric broom (I think the one we used was Eureka) or a good vacuum that does well on tile (we use an Oreck these days and LOVE it for our tile and carpet). I think you just have to keep up on the vacuuming and give it a good old-fashioned mopping once a week or so. We also looked in to having our tile steam-cleaned. I would recommend it to get a really clean baseline, instead of always feeling like you are mopping up dirt from the previous owners. We didn't have the steam-cleaning done because of the cost, but looking back I think it would have been worth it (we had a demonstration, and it was very obvious that it works well).
Good luck!

Mopping with warm water is usually best for tile, but you will have to sweep first and switch the water when it gets too dirty otherwise you will just spread dirty water around and not make much headway.
We have a lot of light-colored, dimply tile with light-colored grout and it is not easy to keep it that way. We just went for a "reset" and had a tile cleaner come by. We used C & J Carpetcare and they were great. Very friendly, fast and great results. We will definitley call them back in 6 months or so. So, in short I would recommend them if you wanted to get your tile back to great before you start your own mopping routine.

Good luck!
D.

flylady.com has the greatest dust-mop. I don't have one (LOL) but I've heard so many testimonies (because I get her emails) that I'd even swear by them. I hope to get one some day but I don't have as much tile as you do. Good luck!

Hi F., When I had tile the best way to clean the tile was to use vinegar with hot water. That worked best for me. I do suggest a Dirt Devil Vacuum Broom. That little thing is very handy. Its a broom that vacuums!! Pretty cool for cleaning the messes that are made all day. Well good luck and I hope this helps. P.S. Everyone always asks about having to smell the vinegar and I actually think it makes the house smell clean because its diluted w/ the water its not bad at all. Good Luck!

Be careful with vinegar. It works really well, but it can eat away your grout over time, especially if you don't dillute it well enough.

Go to Lowes or Home Depot and ask their people in the flooring department what they recommend for the tile and the painted floors. As for the hardwood floor, if it is say Pergo, use Pergo or Bruce cleaner it sprays on and you use a soft cloth flat mop don't use water on hardwood floors it will dull them. I got a garden sprayer and put the cleaner in it, works great. Also get an electric broom, Electrolux makes a great one.

F.,

Your vacuum shouldn't be spitting out little peices unless it is partially clogged. You may want to check the hose and see if there is an obstruction. If not you may need a new one. Not having carpet you could get an inexpensive stick style that you empty the cup and doesn't require a bag. Mainly I wanted to respond to washing your floors. I used to clean houses for a living and I always liked the way white vinegar in warm water cleaned tile floors. I used between 1/2 to 1 cup vinegar to 1 gallon of warm water and used a rag rope style mop. If you have a lot of all floor cleaner soap residue you may need to do this twice the first time or two. The vinegar cuts any grease or body oils that may be on the floor and leaves a nice clean feel under your feet. No your house will not smell like a pickle jar from the vinegar. It may take a short time to dissapate but I never found it offensive since it is diluted. The vinegar is inexpensive and doesn't contain any harsh chemicals either. This is much safer for all of you. Good luck in your new home.
J.

actually, water is good maybe a mild disinfectant that is very diluted. if you use anything stronger it will wear out the finish on the tile faster. i use the swiffer sweeper on my floors and found it works the best. to clean up the messy stuff i use the swiffer mop. it doesnt affect the finish and it cleans great. i also have one for the wood floors, they have a special cleaner for that one . i have 3 of them. the wood floor one, one for the kitchen and bathrooms and one for the rest of the house. they are really inexpensive. i got mine at the dollar store. also you dont have to wring out a nasty mop you just throw the pad away and replace it. hope it works

I would use a swiffer wet jet or a clorox ready mop they are really good at getting the crumbs and the sticky spots. i had the same kind of tiles and some wood floor in our house when my youngest was 4 months old and if i set her on the floor to play her clothes would be black after a few minutes. The clorox ready mop was a little better for me the floors seemed a little sticky after the swiffer dried.

My mom has alot of tile and she uses a steamer. She found this to be easiest for cleaning (once a week) She also has a shark sweeper and this works well on tile and hardwood. When she sweeps she uses a dusting syle broom not a traditional broom. It looks like a mop kind of and keeps everything form just being spread around. Good luck!

I have mostly tile throughout my house and I got one of the Hoover Floormate cleaners, you can use it dry, like a vacuum or in scrub mode where it squirts out water and cleaner and there are scrub brushes that clean the tile. I like mine. Also on most vacuums there should be a bare floor mode in which the brush will lift up so that all the dirt doesn't shoot out the back. Best of luck w/ the tile! I have a love/hate relationship w/ mine.

Not sure how they'd do on uneven flooring but have you tried the Swiffer products? You could use the dry cloths to get up dust and the wet cloths to clean the floor. I have ceramic tile floors and I like Swiffer for the most part. It's really quick and easy to use especially for daily spot cleaning. The scent is nice and fresh too. Only problem I have is that the wet cloths leave a bit of cloudiness on the floor so about every week or so I use Pledge with Future Shine which is an acrylic that you mop on and let dry for about 15 minutes. It leaves your floors shiny and clean looking. I imagine this would work fine with your saltillo and concrete. Not sure about the hardwood though.

Sounds like you might need a new vacuum or one that is specifically for bare floors. I have a Eureka Boss SmartVac that has settings for both bare floor and carpet. The best feature is that for bare floors you can turn off the brush so it uses just suction and won't flick dirt everywhere.

You need it to be professionally steam cleaned before the cleaning tips will help. I just had mine done, it was expensive, but worth it. I used Dr Clean in Tucson and it looks like new. to maintain it he says you need a neutral cleaner as most of the cleaners leave enough of a residue that it actually attracts the dirt or break down the seal on the tile. his cleaner is from (I believe) theclean team.com and he said there is a comparable one at cosco in the commercial cleaning supply section. you use it very diluted with one of those terry cloth swivel mops(also at the website) and do not have to rinse. My tile is actually ceramic, but I had the same black feet thing going on and could not take it anymore! good luck! A.

I have all Saltillo in my house with 5 people as well. I use the vaccums that have the bare floor option and then I will use the swifter on the floors almost everyday but it fast and keeps them somewhat clear throughout the work week. On the weekneds I will use the hose on the vaccum to get the corners and then use the good ol fashion soap and mop. It also helps to have someone or yourself strip them down (they have the stuff at home depot) and then reseal them it helps to keep them clean as well, good luck I don't like to have dirty feet either.

Vinegar in water works well for ceramic tile, so I believe it should also work for what you have. You can still use soap with it, but soap leaves a residue and vinegar doesn't. Vinegar is also used with baking soda in laundry to help with stubborn odors.

I feel your pain! We have 0 carpet in our home too! I have a set of 1 yr old twins & 2 dogs and it seems like the floors are always filthy!We have the same saltillo tile and I have found that vaccuming helps keep the crumbs off the floor. There is a cleaner called 'Brite' (it is in a yellow bottle) - and I have only been able to find it at WalMart. It really works awesome!! I shines the floors right up!

A little about me:
My hubby & I are the proud parents of a set of identicle twin boys.