Tile & Grout Cleaning - Love It Or Hate It?

[TheCleaningDude]

As it stands I do no like cleaning tile and grout.

We use the Orbot and yes it works. But, it's kind of a hassle in my opinion. This is especially the case with the recovery process.

How many of you are using your Cimex, Orbot or 175 to clean t&g?

Any of you using extraction tools?

I'm on the verge of getting a Mytee Air Hog and Water Hog along with a spinner. This is - as far as I know - the least expensive way to clean t&g and avoid using an over sized porty at the same time.

Thoughts?

[NJP]

I use my rotovac cfx and the water otter with the spinner. Works great!

[rlord]

I recently got back int8 t&g cleaning after being out of it for quite a while, at the request of my largest commercial customers. It's certainly not easy $$$ like the cimex is. Having done tons of it in the past I bought a used t&g sporty with all the tools barely (if ever) used. Even with those it's messy either hoses, mops, buckets all over the place, making it difficult to keep a neat work ares. In my opinion adding things to the mix will make it very difficult.

[lee@deepclean.us.com]

I have used a portable in the past with a spinner. I am able to get the same results with a 175 and tile brush attachment along with a shower feed. I use real good chems and allow 15 minute dwell time. Then use a shop vac for pick up. Its a bit slow and not very glamorous but It works.

[Jamie]

I haven't gotten into T&G at this point but at a recent trade show I was told I don't need 1000psi to do T&G, which I thought you did.

Was told that a heavy brush on the rotary and a means to extract would do the job along with good chems.

For those of you that use a rotary with a brush, how do you find it goes on the grout lines? Do you also need to scrub the grout separately with a grout brush?

Cheers

Jamie

[Gkleen]

I don't mind doing tile and grout with my Orbot. I had a TM and a spinner at one time, and yes the spinner TM combo works better. BUT, draggin hoses and payin for an expensive TM kinda takes the fun out of it. Well I sold all of that expensive stuff a few years ago and now am a VLM cleaner and love it.

Just did some tile and grout this morning at a local bank. Orbot did a pretty darn good job. Here are a few pics.











In this next pic, the tile on the right next to the counter is the exact same tile that is on the left. Pretty major difference.

[NJP]

Very cool! what chemical did you use?

[Gkleen]

Hydrox.

[jtmellon]

Nice work Gkleen. What is a basic VLM set up, I have a 175 with tank what else would I need?

[TheCleaningDude]

Nice work, G!

I take it you used the Orbot with weights? How many plates?

Yes, you can use the Bot or any other rotary, but is a spinner faster and cleaner?

I ask because I have never used one. The nearest experience for me is a Gekko wand and I thought it was pretty good, but you still had a lot of recovery work to do.

What I like about the set up I am thinking about is:

-Modular. Two separate components - the Water Hog is about the size of a shoe box and the Air Hog is about the size of a spotting machine. These are two small pieces of equipment.

-Weight. The Water component weighs 40lbs and I think the Air Hog is the same.

-Price. The two pieces with a spinner would run about $2,100.00 which is less than any porty configuration with all the necessary options excluding the spinner.

-Auto fill and dump. The Air Hog has auto dump so we can run a line to the toilet or whatever....

However....if I am not saving a lot of time and the results are not dramatically better I'm really not sure if it's worth it.

[randyb4269]

I have been a VLM cleaner for only around 2 years. Prior to this (eight 8 years) I was a T/M guy that has cleaned many, many sq feet of tile/grout. I have cleaned carpet & tile/grout with a T/M, high pressure portable (1500 psi) & Little Giant Propane Heater and spinner.

Will a Cimex, low speed buffer or OP machine clean tile/grout? Yes, all will do a good job in certain situations, I have used all to clean tile/grout. Obviously, cleaning the tile is the easy part, cleaning the grout in a timely manner is a different thing. If you are cleaning restaurants with a heavy grease load in the grout lines, then invest in a T/M or high pressure portable with a spinner and a single jet hard surface wand. In residential tile/grout, you usually can get away without using a T/M or high pressure portable.

In my opinion, trying to get a rigid brush on either a cimex or buffer into a grout line is not an effective method. As far as chemicals go, if using hot water extracting with a T/M on tile/grout, I prefer Anvil or Shoreline 2790, for any cleaning using a cimex or buffer I prefer NCL Cyclone.

Keep in mind, when I cleaned a lot of tile/grout, it was in restaurants, if you would to see any before & after photos of tile/grout cleaning send me an email! I hope this helps!

[Gkleen]

Nice work Gkleen. What is a basic VLM set up, I have a 175 with tank what else would I need?

A good tile and grout brush. A good brush is one that is flexible enough to get into grout lines and angled outward on the edge to get next to baseboards.

We use old crappy OP pads to mop up the residue.

You can use the T&G brush as a pad driver for the mopping step.

Also, a good brush on a pole for detail work is helpful.

That's about it. You can clean T&G with the low moisture method just as good as you can with an extractor and spinner, just not as fast.

Here are a few pics of another job.














I have stopped using the amount of weight that I was using in these pictures. I discovered that it just isn't necessary with the Orbot grout brush. Two to three plates on each side is sufficient.

[encaped]

We use the king cobra 1200 pro with auto fill / auto dump with the Th-40 turbo hybrid, and Gecko 3 floor tool for edges and only use the Cimex on nasty kitchen or restroom tile.

Only commercial no residential

Looking to trade my Cimex for an Orbot w/ spraybog if anyone is interested let me know Located in Lake Mary Fl. / Orlando

GKLEEN, Why not suck-up dirty slop with a portable and a squeegee wand
Looks good.

Thanks

[katgraham]

Earlier, i used to do the tile and grout cleaning on my own using the extractor and the spinner but cleaning tile is much easier. The grout lines cleaning on the other hand is not an easy job. The brushes used must be perfect for the grout lining. As of now i have hired professionals for cleaning my carpets, tiles and grouts. I found this way beneficial as they have all the right equipments and the services are up to the mark as well.

[TheCleaningDude]

You're getting better results with the Cimex on nasty commercial tile then you do using the King Cobra?

We use the king cobra 1200 pro with auto fill / auto dump with the Th-40 turbo hybrid, and Gecko 3 floor tool for edges and only use the Cimex on nasty kitchen or restroom tile.

Only commercial no residential

Looking to trade my Cimex for an Orbot w/ spraybog if anyone is interested let me know Located in Lake Mary Fl. / Orlando

GKLEEN, Why not suck-up dirty slop with a portable and a squeegee wand
Looks good.

Thanks