How to wash the seams between the tiles in the bathroom
The bathroom is often finished with ceramic tiles. This popular building material not only gives an attractive appearance to the whole room. It is very important to be able to quickly and efficiently clean the walls, which are traditionally affected by high humidity and evaporation of detergents.
A dark coating on the seams between the tiles is formed due to high humidity and the effects of cleaning agents.
But there are special places in the tiling that require more attention. Whenever the question arises, how to wash the seams between the tiles in the bathroom, you have to take into account a variety of nuances, not limited only to a rag and water. Consider these features.
Instruments
The pledge of cleanliness of the walls in the bathroom and, as a consequence, a healthy atmosphere in the bathroom is a regular washing of the wall tiles with mandatory cleaning of the seams. Do this at least once a week. To maintain the cleanliness and pleasant shine of the entire cladding will help the following set of adaptations:
- warm soapy water;
- spirit ammonia (vinegar);
- chemical reagents against mold and fungi;
- protective gloves, rubber;
- respirator;
- rubber spatula for plastering;
- woolen (felt) rags;
- non-rigid sponge;
- a toothbrush with a fairly long bristle.
The owners, who can find a saturated soap solution an option ineffective, you can recommend any special chemical intended for washing seams. Only in this case it is necessary to make sure that it does not contain aggressive impurities and abrasive particles that can damage both the masonry itself and the seams between the tiles.
Instruments и материалы для чистки швов между плиткой: перчатки, губка, чистящие средства.
But what if the specific gray-whitish coating accumulates on the tile and in the joints, which is formed because of the increased hardness of the water? In this case, a solution with additives containing chlorine can become a good antidote.
This chemical is effective in combating limescale and rust. In addition, chlorine is a good bactericide, which is of particular importance for the treatment of rooms with high humidity.
Cleaning of seams
Despite the fact that the bathroom itself is designed to take cleaning baths and showers, periodically its walls are polluted.
And especially risky in this sense are the seams, in the depressions of which the dirt accumulates, it must necessarily be removed.
But before you start cleaning, you need to determine the cause of the characteristic darkening of the joints. Such a form they can take both from normal pollution, and from the fungus. Here it is necessary to understand that both variants differ in nature, and if you do not establish the cause of the darkening, you may wash the seam off dirt, but do not remove the dangerous mold, which can adversely affect hygiene in the future.
Universal cleaners at home (not counting the special cleaning products purchased in the store) are warm soapy water, as well as solutions based on vinegar or ammonia. However, they are used at different stages of contamination of the walls of the bathroom.
Scheme of removing the old grout.
A saturated soap solution demonstrates its effectiveness when the joints of the tiles are not very contaminated and the fungus does not start under the seams. In this case, their cleaning can be combined with a general wash of the entire tiling. And wash the bathroom wall is recommended from the bottom up, and wipe dry with rags in the opposite direction - from top to bottom.
If the wall is contaminated strongly enough, it is worth turning to vinegar or ammonia. They are bred in the proportion of 200 ml of cleaner per 1 liter of warm water. The resulting solution is impregnated with a bath sponge, which is abundantly moistened with contaminated sites. Soaked stains are allowed to settle for a few minutes, after which they are wiped with a rag until the stains are completely eliminated. The vinegar essence can also be applied to the toothbrush and wiped by the seams between the tiles.
In the event that this does not help, experts advise you to try stronger means. Such, for example, may be sulfuric or hydrochloric acid. Two important points must be taken into account. First, all acid-containing substances are capable of destroying the structure of the joints, if the joints between the tiles are not previously coated with an epoxy sealant. Secondly, in order to avoid acid burns of the upper respiratory tract, it is possible to work with acids only if the room is simultaneously forcedly ventilated.
One of the most inexpensive methods is cleaning the joints with a mixture of bleach and baking soda. The resulting paste-like mass is applied to the joints of the lining with a toothbrush or spatula. After the mixture dries, you should wash the seams with a brush moistened with warm water. It should be borne in mind that this mass can not be used on colored seams, otherwise the bleach will inevitably neutralize the color pigment.
Elimination of the fungus
Table of means for combating the fungus.
This aspect should be given special attention, since it is for bathrooms with high humidity that fungal formation in tile joints is more characteristic than for other rooms. This contributes to the deposition of residues of cleaning chemicals, soaps, shampoos, drops of fat, which regularly affects the dampness.
Usually the presence of the fungus is detected after the stitching of the joints with means for removing the calcareous plaque. If there are few dark spots and they are small in size, you can confine yourself to using a special covering marker or chlorine-containing cleaners (for example, the standard "White").
If it is necessary to wash the seams, strongly affected by a fungus or mold, you can try a time-tested and practical cleanser - a solution of alcohol. For maximum effect, it is necessary to pour half a cup of alcohol into 4 liters of water. The resulting mixture is carefully wiped with tiles together with the seams. It should be noted that such an alcohol solution in the case of cleaning joints between tiles is preferable to any soap solution that does not exclude the appearance of fungal formations in the interlace grooves.
But it also happens that the seams are badly affected by the fungus. So strong that the suture grout begins to crumble from the slightest touch. In this case, we will have to resort to a more radical method.
Update of seams
Substantially ingrained in the trowelling mixture of fungus, when other cosmetic methods do not help, most often physically removed together with the old trowel. This operation is completely simple and can be carried out even by non-specialists who never put a tile in the bathroom.
Replace the old grout with ordinary cement mortar or special trowelling mixes sold in building materials stores. But before this infected with a fungus and sprinkling mass, it is necessary to remove carefully from the auxiliary tools from the seams. After the master has ascertained that there are no signs of fungal formations in the joints that have been released, the seams should be carefully treated with a liquid primer into which antifungal (fungicidal) preparations are added.
Prepare a special trowelling paste is recommended in a small plastic container. All stages of grout preparation must be carried out strictly according to the instructions attached to it.
It is not recommended to immediately dilute with water a large amount of paste. Since it quickly hardens, there is a risk not to have time to work out its entire volume. Therefore, it is advisable at a time to prepare the pasta as much as enough for a relatively small portion of the wall. At the same time, the trowelling material must be sufficiently thick so as not to drain down at the seams.
When all the joints and new grout are prepared for work, they begin to fill the seams. Using a rubber spatula, the finished plastic mixture is deeply rubbed into the embroidered joints. Then, as a finishing treatment with a moistened sponge, excess paste is removed, protruding onto the tile from the filled grooves.
Meanwhile, at the present time, a new grout can be performed not only by trowelling mixtures, which are diluted with water before application. To do this, special means are available to update the suture joints. They are sold in tubes in building materials stores. And directly from the tube, this mixture is squeezed out onto the seams previously cleaned from the fungus and contaminants.
If the plaque on the seams appeared recently, then it can be cleaned with a cleanser.
Helpful Tips
When cleaning the surface of a tile with chemical reagents it is always necessary to protect the seams from the ingress of these substances into them. It is possible that some components of cleaning products can cause damage to the integrity of the suture material.
When cleaning and washing seams, you can not use hard bath sponges and brushes with metal bristles. It is best to take a second-hand toothbrush with a long bristle for this.
A good hydrogen peroxide bleaching agent may be hydrogen peroxide. After processing the contaminated joints, the peroxide is not washed off.
If there was no vinegar or ammonia in the house at the time of washing the tiles and seams, ordinary lemon juice can replace them. It works well against limescale.
Sometimes, if conditions and equipment permit, joints are cleaned with water vapor. Dense hot air removes virtually any type of contamination.
Thus, having listened to the above recommendations, each landlord can easily wash interliter seams in the bathroom and make the use of this room comfortable, safe and durable.