Short answer: vacuum, apply an alkaline tile cleaner, let it dwell, scrub tiles and grout with a stiff nylon brush, pick up the dirty solution (don’t mop it around), rinse with clean water and pick that up too. Work in small sections. The pick-up and rinse are the steps most people skip, and they make the biggest difference.
What you’ll need
- Vacuum cleaner
- Alkaline tile cleaner / degreaser
- Stiff nylon deck brush
- Narrow grout brush
- Two buckets, flat microfibre mop
- Wet vacuum (or plenty of old towels)
- Gloves, knee pads
- Fans or open windows for drying
Step by step
- Clear the room and lift rugs. You’ll be working across the whole floor.
- Vacuum thoroughly, edges and grout lines too. Grit under a brush scratches.
- Test your cleaner in a hidden corner.
- Apply the solution to 2–3 m² and leave it for the time on the label. Keep it wet; don’t let it dry.
- Scrub the tiles with the deck brush in two directions, then the grout lines with the grout brush.
- Pick up the dirty solution straight away with a wet vacuum or towels.
- Rinse with clean water and pick it up again.
- Move on to the next section, overlapping slightly. Dry with fans and airflow; keep off it until dry.
Ceramic vs. porcelain
Glazed ceramic: the glaze is the cleanable surface. On worn glaze, scrub gently; you can’t scrub shine back into worn areas. Porcelain: dense and hard-wearing, but polished porcelain can show fine scratches if grit is dragged across it, and textured porcelain needs a brush to reach into the texture. More: ceramic · porcelain.
Greasy kitchen floors
Grease needs a stronger alkaline degreaser and longer dwell time. Scrape off any thick deposits first, work in very small sections, and expect to repeat. In a commercial kitchen with anti-slip tiles, hand scrubbing rarely keeps up with the build-up. See restaurant floors.
Mistakes that make floors worse
- Too much product. Leaves residue that attracts dirt.
- No rinse. Same problem.
- Mopping the dirty solution around instead of picking it up. The dirt goes back into the grout.
- Strong acids for everything. They eat cement grout.
- Wire wool or metal brushes. They scratch glaze and polished porcelain.
- Bleach mixed with other products. Dangerous; don’t.
Rotary scrubbers can be hired. They work, but they take practice: the machine pulls to one side if you’re not used to it, the wrong pad scratches, and you still need a wet vacuum to pick up. On a small floor the hire and the learning curve are often not worth it.
Why DIY may stop working
Hand scrubbing works on a bathroom or a small kitchen. On a full villa floor, two things go wrong: you can’t keep even pressure across 100+ m², and the solution dries before you pick it up. A rotary machine gives steady, even agitation and a wet vacuum takes the dirt away while it is still loose. That is the whole difference. How our machine deep clean works →
€15/m², grout included. +€2/m² very dirty, +€5/m² extremely dirty heavy-use floors. Minimum job 50 m² (€750). Get a quote or send photos.