How to clean bathroom tiles on walls and floors
To clean bathroom tiles, start dry: dust the walls or vacuum the floor so you're not turning dust into mud. Then wash with warm water and a cleaner that suits your tile, scrub the grout lines, rinse with clean water and dry with a microfiber cloth. Ceramic and porcelain can take a regular bathroom cleaner. Natural stone needs a pH-neutral stone cleaner and no vinegar.
Drying is the step that stops streaks.
What kind of tile do you have?
It decides what you can use.
- Glazed ceramic and porcelain: the usual bathroom tile. Hard-wearing, and fine with dish soap, all-purpose and bathroom cleaners.
- Natural stone (marble, travertine, slate, granite): porous and sensitive to acids. Use only a pH-neutral stone cleaner. No vinegar, lemon, bleach or scouring powder.
- Glass tile: treat it like a window. Gentle cleaner, soft cloth, buff dry.
- Older small mosaic tile: lots of grout, sometimes fragile. Go gentle.
If you're not sure, test any cleaner on a small hidden spot first.
What do you need?
- A vacuum or broom
- A bucket of warm water with a few drops of dish soap, or a cleaner made for your tile
- A second bucket of clean rinse water
- A non-scratch scrub sponge
- A grout brush
- A mop for the floor, and a kneeling pad for corners
- Microfiber cloths for drying
How do you clean bathroom wall tiles?
- Dust them with a dry microfiber cloth, top to bottom.
- Wash with the sponge and the soapy water, a section at a time.
- Scrub the grout lines with the brush as you go.
- Rinse with a cloth and the clean water.
- Dry with a microfiber cloth, buffing as you go.
Inside the shower, follow our shower guide, which covers soap scum and glass.
How do you clean bathroom floor tiles?
- Vacuum or sweep, including behind the toilet and along the tub. Hair collects in the corners.
- Mop with warm water and a little cleaner, working from the far corner toward the door.
- Do the corners and the base of the toilet by hand with a cloth.
- Scrub the grout lines where they're dark, on a kneeling pad.
- Rinse with clean water. Change the water as soon as it looks cloudy.
- Dry with a towel or microfiber mop, so nobody slips and nothing streaks.
On an old mosaic floor, don't flood it. Too much water can get under loose tiles.
How do you deal with mildew on tile?
Mildew usually grows on the grout and caulk, not the tile itself. Use an oxygen bleach or a bathroom mildew cleaner as the label directs, scrub, rinse and dry. Our grout guide goes through it step by step. If it keeps coming back, the bathroom is staying too damp; check the exhaust fan.
Why do tiles look streaky after cleaning?
- Too much cleaner. Use less.
- Dirty rinse water. Change it more often.
- Air drying. Buff them dry with a microfiber cloth.
- Leftover soap scum. Scrub it fully before the final rinse.
How often should you clean bathroom tiles?
| Area | How often |
|---|---|
| Shower tiles | Weekly, with a squeegee after every shower |
| Floor | Weekly |
| Wall tiles outside the shower | Every month or two |
| Grout | Monthly scrub |
Want the bathroom done for you?
Book House Cleaning or Deep Cleaning online, and put your bathroom priorities in your booking notes.
FAQ
What is the easiest way to clean bathroom tiles? Wash them with warm water and a few drops of dish soap or a bathroom cleaner made for your tile, scrub with a non-scratch sponge, rinse with clean water, and dry with a microfiber cloth so they don't streak.
How often should you clean bathroom tiles? Wipe the shower tiles weekly when you clean the shower, and mop the floor weekly. Give the wall tiles outside the shower a full wash every month or two.
How do you clean natural stone bathroom tile? Use a pH-neutral cleaner made for stone and warm water. Avoid vinegar, lemon, bleach and abrasive powders, which can etch or dull stone. Dry it after washing and keep it sealed as the installer or maker recommends.
Why do my bathroom tiles look streaky after cleaning? Usually leftover cleaner or dirty rinse water. Use less product, rinse with clean water, change the water often, and dry the tile with a microfiber cloth.
Book a cleaning
Our service area: every Philadelphia neighborhood, plus the Pennsylvania suburbs within about 30 miles of Center City, in Montgomery, Delaware, Bucks and Chester counties. Book online at phillyscleanteam.com/book-now, or call or text (215) 798-7576, 9 AM to 9 PM, every day.
