Maintenance

Ceramic tiles are basically a low maintenance product, but some basic rules need to be followed:

Bathroom, kitchen and laundry wall tiles need only be cleaned with a mild detergent or household cleaner. There are really only two rules to follow:

1. Don't use an abrasive cleaner such as a powder or gritty cream. These will cause minute scratches in the surface and make the tiles harder to clean next time.

2. Clean the tiles regularly so dirt doesn't build up. Tiles are a great product, but they don't stay clean by themselves.

A few other points are:

Be careful of gold or silver finishes on your tiles. These are very delicate areas and easily damaged, especially by abrasive cleaners and scourers.

An important note on seasonal movement. As the walls of your house move against each other, the seal between the bath, shower base, basin and tiles may be broken. This may also occur on the vertical internal corners. You may have to put a flexible sealant in, but this can become brittle or come away with age and must be replaced to ensure moisture doesn't leak through.

This can have disastrous consequences. This is as much a maintenance job in a house as repainting timber surfaces. When you see that the sealant is lifting away, replace it as soon as possible. To replace it, remove the whole lot, then thoroughly dry the joints using a hairdryer or similar, wipe the tile faces clean with a little metholated spirits on a cloth and then simply reseal.

Maintaining ceramic floor tiles

The same basic rules apply to floor tiles. Don't use abrasive cleaners, or any sort of polishes or additives. They will only build up and cause problems later. Wash your tiles regularly using hot clean water with a little neutral (not acidic or alkaline) soapless household cleaner.

It may be possible that a very thin film of grout has been left on the surface of the tiles making them appear dull. In this case, we recommend the use of Aqua Mix Heavy Duty Tile & Grout Cleaner. Make sure you try it out first on a less noticeable area (behind a door or cupboard for example) to ensure it does not damage the tile and make sure you rinse the floor throughly with clean water after treatment.

Tiles can become scratched by grit, especially highly glazed ones. To minimise this, ensure a door mat is used just inside any exterior door. If you have very highly glazed floor tiles in you bathroom, avoid walking on them with harsh footwear.

One or two tiles in your floor may become chipped or cracked. Please make sure you have kept some spares, as tile batches vary in colour and fashions come and go, so it's very unlikely that you could ever match your tiles up a few years later. Store them away in your ceiling space.