Knowing how to clean outdoor porcelain tiles is essential to make looking new again after some time of use. In addition, removing stains, mud, and other stains will make your space look organized and appealing.
Did you know that if you get the tiles on your patio or porch cleaned regularly, it will make a big difference in their appearance and durability? But unfortunately, the hassle of cleaning them can sometimes be as much of an endeavor, especially not knowing how to go about it.
Also, do you know that after deep cleaning your outdoor matte porcelain tiles, there is a need to seal them to make them shining and resistant to stain? We explain in detail how to clean and seal your outdoor space.
You can always make your outdoor clean, attractive, and organized with this. Then, using homemade cleaning solutions like vinegar, you can make your outdoor tiles clean and shining again. The various ways explained here are usable in cleaning indoor and outdoor tiles.
Below is a detailed guide, including the materials needed to clean your home without any further ado. You can also use one of the best cleaning solutions listed if you don’t have a homemade cleaner like vinegar available.
Regardless, it is always advisable to always have vinegar at home as they are suitable and usable for many other cleaning purposes.
Tools for cleaning outdoor porcelain tiles
Cleaning an outdoor porcelain tile is simple, and you can further make it simpler by getting the right tools, which include:
- Soft-bristled brush
- Rubber gloves
- Grout cleaner
- Pressure washer (optional)
- Leaf blower (Optional)
- Cleaner or Vinegar
- Bucket
- Stop dirt
- Stiff-bristled nylon brush
- Residue remover
Note that it is unnecessary to get everything here; it is fine if you have a few, you are good to go.
How to Clean Outdoor Porcelain Tiles With Vinegar
Outdoor porcelain tiles can get dirty easily, especially if they’re exposed to a lot of traffic, like on a patio or porch.
Cleaning your outdoor tiles can be a simple and quick process, and it doesn’t have to involve harsh chemicals that might harm your family, pets, or plants. This can be done by scrubbing your tiles with just a few common household ingredients until they shine.
Steps:
- Clean up any debris with a broom or wet-dry vacuum cleaner.
- Mix one part of distilled white vinegar and two parts of water. Stir the mixture well.
- Dip a mop into the vinegar and water mixture, then wring it out well, so it’s damp, not soaking wet.
- Mop the tiles with the mop in smooth strokes, working in small sections at a time.
- Use a soft-bristled brush to scrub any particularly dirty or stained areas.
- Let the solution sit for 10 minutes to let the vinegar work on any stains or stuck-on grime. After 10 minutes, dip a clean mop into a clean cold or hot water and mop over the tiles again to rinse off the solution. Read on how to kill weed with vinegar
Outdoor Porcelain Tile Cleaner
Outdoor porcelain tile cleaner is available to make your life easier. It takes the difficulty of cleaning outdoor porcelain tiles by combining a powerful cleaning agent with a convenient applicator.
This is a good alternative in the absence of vinegar or any other household cleaner. The special formula in these cleaning agents will dissolve stains and ensure that your tiles are sparkling clean. Below are some of the best outdoor porcelain tile cleaner
Black Diamond Stoneworks Limestone and Travertine Floor Cleaner
Black diamond limestone and travertine floor cleaner is a professional-grade limestone and travertine floor cleaner designed to bring back the natural beauty in your stone flooring.
This floor cleaner is best used with a mop or broom and can be safely used with virtually all stone types. The pH-balanced formula will not leave behind any residue while neutralizing the acidity of soap scum and hard water stains.
Aunt Fannie’s Floor Cleaner Vinegar Wash Concentrate
Aunt Fannie’s Floor Cleaner Vinegar Wash Concentrate is one of the best cleaners on the market. This concentrate is non-toxic, biodegradable, and contains no phosphates, bleach, or petroleum distillates as most other commercial cleaners do.
Suitable for many floors, including hardwood, porcelain tile, concrete, linoleum, bamboo, vinyl, laminate, and more.
This means it is safe to use in restrooms, kitchens, and anywhere else your floors or walls may get dirty with time. In addition, this concentrated formula can be used as a traditional liquid cleaner by diluting with water at a 1:32 ratio, making it safe for most surfaces.
Marble & Tile Floor Cleaner
Marble & Tile Floor Cleaner cleans, shines, and protects the stone, tile, and ceramic floors in bathrooms, kitchens, and wet areas. It also works great on vinyl, brick, and natural stone.
Hints of honeysuckle are blended with the light scent of lemon to create this clean-smelling house cleaner. The concentrated formula makes up to 4 gallons of ready-to-use cleaner that is safe on stone surfaces such as shower stalls, vanities, countertops, floors, and walkways.
How to Clean Tough Stains From Porcelain Tiles
Removing tough stains requires extra diligence; the first point here is that you cannot use any bleaching agent, as noted earlier, as it would damage the surface or color of your tile. Also, you cannot use acidic agents that may also cause similar damage; you are then left with any cleaning agent of choice that acts against tough stains without affecting the color of your tiles.
One of such cleaners is the Tile and grout cleaning agent. It is described as a powerful non-toxic, non-bleach agent that can help you with tough stains while maintaining the integrity of the color and scheme of your tile.
For the cleaning, mix your cleaning agent of choice as instructed on the package and apply it to the surface; make sure it centers around the target stain as much as possible and scrub after a while.
Note that this might not work for all cleaning agents. For example, some cleaning agents are to be used undiluted while trying to remove tough stains. Therefore, it is prudent to take time to read the instruction written on the specific cleaning agent you have chosen to use.
Check out how to clean outdoor rugs the right way using vinegar and other homemade cleaning solution.
Can You Pressure Wash Outdoor Porcelain Tiles?
Yes, you can pressure wash outdoor porcelain tiles. However, you have to take special precautions when doing this to protect it from damage and degradation. For example, you’ll need to ensure that the water pressure is low enough not to damage the tiles and that you don’t allow the pressure washer to focus on one area for too long.
You can also use a chemical-free method to pressure wash your outdoor porcelain tiles:
- Mix four parts of water with 1 part of vinegar and a few drops of soap.
- Use an ordinary garden sprayer and apply this mixture to the tiles you want to clean.
- Use a brush or broom to scrub them, and then rinse them off with your garden hose.
However, you have to be careful, and there are a couple of things to keep in mind.
- First, you’ll want to make sure your pressure washer is set to the appropriate strength. If you’re using a commercial product, follow the label instructions. If you’re using something stronger than that, look up the proper strength for your machine online. You don’t want your pressure washer to be so strong that it permanently damages your tile, but you’ll want it strong enough to get the job done.
- Second, make sure you only pressure wash when the weather permits. This means that you need to make sure there’s no chance of rain, but it also needs to be relatively warm outside (above 50 degrees Fahrenheit). Letting your tiles get wet and then freeze before they have time to dry out can damage them and leave them looking worse than they did before!
- And lastly, if you’re worried about any water getting into cracks in the ground underneath your tiles where it could cause damage over time, cover those cracks with plastic bags.
However, be careful not to cover any drains or other openings that water can use to escape. Check out how to clean outdoor cushions properly.
How To Clean Grout Joints on Outdoor Tiles
Grout is an essential component of any tiled area, as it protects and seals the tiles against dirt and moisture, and it is used to protect possible minor cracks at the bases and edges of tiles.
Despite all the perks offered by grout, it can become a breeding ground for dirt if you are not careful, turning your tiled outdoor area into an eyesore. Cleaning your grouts is easy and relatively cheap, using a natural cleaning mixture containing baking soda, water, and vinegar. This has proven to be one of the most effective ways to clean grout.
You have to rub the solution into them with a toothbrush gently. Once you’ve rubbed it in, wipe the solution away with a sponge and water, and you’ll notice a significant improvement in the appearance of the grout lines. Check out how to clean and keep bird water clean the right way.
Things to avoid while cleaning outdoor porcelain tiles
As noted earlier, outdoor porcelain tiles are more durable and stronger than other forms of tiles. Yet, there are a few precautions one has to take while cleaning it to avoid causing both long- and short-term depreciation to it; they include:
Avoid brushes with stiff bristles and scrubs.
The effect of these harsh brushes is that they remove your tile grout and cause streaks. Instead, you can get soft scrub brushes and ensure you don’t scrub too hard.
Avoid brushes made of steel.
Over time, it has been noted that steel brushes might leave particles that may creep into the grout. If care is not taken, steel particles rot and can also make your tiles rotten.
Avoid using harsh chemicals.
Some products have been recommended above, and there are several alternatives on the market; no matter what you finally settle for, avoid products based on acid, and contain ammonia or bleach. The effect of such products is often irreparable, such as alteration of your tile color and a permanent stain on the grout.
Avoid dye-based solutions for unglazed tile.
An unglazed tile has no coating, is made purely of natural clay, and is resistant to stain. However, despite all these advantages, it is very prone to stain, and as such, dye-based cleaning agents would be a terrible choice for them.
Finally, note that leaving fragments of some cleaning solution could cause a slow but long-term and noticeable problem for your tiles. Therefore, after every cleaning section, it is recommended to undertake general flossing with a hose and ordinary water.
Remove all excess water from the tile surface using a squeegee that you. Otherwise, the water on the tiles will attract dust particles from the air, and you’ll end up in the same situation as when you started.
How do I remove the mud stains from my new porcelain patio tiles?
Mud stains on new porcelain patio tiles can be removed using a damp cloth to dab the stain and then rinsing the area with water. If the mud stains are still present after that, try using a soft-bristled brush to scrub at the stain.
Suppose there is still residue from the mud stain, then it can be removed by using a Tile Cleaner or vinegar and water mixture. If neither of these methods works for removing the mud stains, you can use a professional cleaning service. Read on how to clean fabric sofa naturally using vinegar and other homemade cleaning solution.
Outdoor Porcelain Tile Sealer
After cleaning your porcelain tile, there is a need to seal them to prevent damage over the long run. But which of the best porcelain tile sealer is the best?
Miracle Sealants ANTISLIP6 Anti Slip Penetrating Sealers
Miracle sealant is one of the best outdoor porcelain tile sealers. This sealant is good for indoor and outdoor use and is usable on various surfaces such as ceramic, marble, granite, travertine, and many more.
This sealer is engineered to protect and increase the slip resistance of the tiles. Overall, this sealant is easy to use and resistant to weather elements. Additionally, this sealant is usable around pets and food, thus making it safe.
DRY-TREAT Porcelain Plus
DRY-TREAT Porcelain Plus is a clear, high-performance coating for porcelain and stoneware tile. It restores that brilliant like-new shine, resists dirt and stains, blocks moisture and water penetration, repels soap scum, oil, and grime build-up, and reduces the adhesion of dirt particles, which helps keep your space cleaner and can be re-applied in the future to maintain that new look.
This sealant is suitable for indoor and outdoor use with a low absorption rate. This sealant is also safe and easy to use.
This porcelain sealer protects quartz surfaces, polished and semi-polished porcelains textured, and comes with a unique molecular bond that gives Permanent and long-lasting protection.
Conclusion
After cleaning your outdoor porcelain tile, you need to seal it to keep it shining and resistant to dirt. With this, we hope this content will end your search on how to clean outdoor porcelain matte tiles.
Cleaning your outdoor tiles is an act of maintenance that you needs to be consistent with to keep your outdoor tile clean and shining.
