Day 10. Reseal Grout Lines or Condition Treat Floors

Day 10 of “A 30 Day Guide to Spring Cleaning“.

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Alright, so yesterday we cleaned out grout, and today it’s time to seal our grout and tile! How often should you reseal your grout and tile? It really depends on the use of your tile and the quality of your sealer. Typically, you can get away with resealing your grout every 2-3 years. Especially when the grout and tile are on a backsplash, wall, or something that doesn’t see a lot of traffic. On the other hand, I personally would recommend sealing floor tiles every year for best results.

Floor tile gets walked on and used regularly. The use is harder, and especially in bathrooms, you get soap, water, cleaners, urine (especially if you have kids). All of these things can eventually wear at your sealant, and you will want to reseal.

Yesterday I used a vinegar mixture to clean my grout, knowing that I would be sealing it very soon. We just moved into our house not too long ago, and between the wedding and the new baby, I surely haven’t gotten to all the things I should have by now! Sealing my tile and grout is one of those things, and let me tell you, IT NEEDED IT!!!

What is a good way to tell if your grout needs to be sealed? Get it wet! Wipe over it quickly with a wet cloth. Did it instantly change color all over? You need to reseal your grout and tile. If you wiped over it with the wet cloth and maybe a couple spots changed color slightly, your sealant is still properly doing it’s job.

Additionally, your other floors need care in your home as well! If you have hardwood floors, although durable, they still need care. Laminate floors are also very durable, but with loose their luster over use and time from wear and tear. So many things can affect the finish of our floors, shoes (especially heels), dogs/pets, moving furniture, dropping things, kids in general! Conditioning your floors properly will allow them to be protected properly, and to stand up to the wear and tear for much longer.

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What you will work on:

• Grout and tile (all areas)
• Conditioning floors
  • Hardwood
  • Laminate
  • Vinyl
  • Engineered wood

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Supplies needed:

(some convenience links below may give commissions, but this does not affect your purchase or price)

• Vacuum or Broom and Mop
• Gloves
• Envirocloth
• White cotton towels
• Bowl
• Microfiber Cloths and/or microfiber mop (unless your product comes with one)
• Envirocloth
• Recommended:
  • Tile and Grout Sealer, Wood Floor Conditioner, and universal floor treatment Restore-Eez or Universal Floor Restorer Rejuvinate
• Alternative:
  • Any brands of a tile and grout sealer, wood floor conditioner, and/or universal floor treatment

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Sealing Grout and Tile

Step 1: Remove everything sitting on your floor and ensure that your floor is entirely clean, otherwise you will be sealing in the dirt and grime! Yesterday, we cleaned our grout and tile very well, so today should be easy. I used my envirocloth with just water to ensure that no cleaner residue was left over. I wiped down my tiles to remove any residue, and I specifically wiped along with my grout lines being sure to get the cloth down into the grout line to remove anything that got in there, or any baking soda that may have remained.

Step 2: Read and follow all directions and warnings on your tile and grout sealer. Many times these sealants can be an irritant, either to the skin or to the airways. Be sure to read and understand any warnings and directions before starting, and if you are concerned of skin irritation, wear rubber cleaning gloves.

Step 3: Get your supplies ready! This is a very simple step when sealing grout and tile. Of course, follow your sealants directions, but typically this is just adding the solution to a bowl, and getting a few clean white cotton towels.

Step 4: Allow your tile and grout to DRY COMPLETELY after one last cleaning. You DO NOT want to seal in moisture!

Step 5: Following your sealants directions, apply the sealant to an inconspicuous spot to ensure that the sealant you have doesn’t negatively affect your tile type or grout such as changing colors. Once you have tested a spot and let it sit for a short time, you know you are set to move forward. Following your sealants directions, you will start applying the sealant to the grout and tile. Many people want to soak the grout and tile with the sealants to “be sure it’s covered”, but this is not necessary and will actually leave cloudy residue and poor finishes. You want to wet your towel, wring it out until slightly wet, and then start applying the sealant. I prefer to work in a pattern to be sure I don’t miss any spots. I find it best to work the sealant into the grout lines in an area, and then wipe over the tiles in that area, and then move to the next area. You should be able to tell when the sealant is impregnating the grout as it will change to a slightly darker “wet” looking color. If your previous sealer is still working, it may take a couple passes to see this “wet” look.

Step 6: Use a dry, white cotton towel, to wipe off any access sealant. You want to allow the sealant to have a lightly wet coat over the grout and tile, and allow this to dry. Any pools or puddles will need to be wiped down with a dry towel to avoid build up and residue. You can clean residue noticed after drying with a soft nylon pad and water.

Step 7: Allow the sealer to dry. Follow your products recommendation. Typically sealant will require 3-5 hours of drying time prior to walking on the surface, and recommends to avoid water, spills or stains until at least 72 hours after application.

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Conditioning Floors

Conditioning floors can really be a daunting task, so I want to make this is as easy as possible for you, but first…. determine what kind of floor you have! Is your floor hardwood, laminate, vinyl, engineered wood, or other. This will be important in determining how to proceed with conditioning your floors!

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Hardwood Floors

When conditioning hardwood floors, the first and most important step is determining the already existing coat on your floor. There are typically two types of floor coats applied to hardwood floors, a wax treatment, or a top coat treatment such as polyurethane. These two different types of floor treatments have entirely different methods of conditioning.

Step 1: Determine the type of coating on your floor. To test this, find an inconspicuous spot on your floor, preferably under a piece of furniture, take a knife (I know this sounds awful!) and gently scrape at the coating on your floor. If a clear crumbly and hard substance starts coming up, this would be a top coat such as polyurethane. If you get a thick sticky/waxy substance, this would be a wax finish.

Step 2: Determine your conditioning solution based on your existing coating on your floor. For wax coated floors, you will want to use a hardwood floor wax treatment such as the one in this paid link, Wood Floor Conditioner. For poly coated floors, you will want to use a more universal floor conditioning treatment such as Restore-Eez that is actually a polyurethane floor treatment.

Step 3: Remove as much furniture as possible from the room you are treating. The more floor area you can treat, the better (especially under frequently moving furniture such as kitchen tables/chairs).

Step 4: Clean you floors! I recommend vacuuming because it removes more particles and dust than sweeping does. After vacuuming/sweeping, mop your entire floor and let it dry (you can use water or cleaner). If you mopped with cleaner, proceed to water mop your floor to remove any cleaner residue left over.

Step 5: Follow the directions on the solution you have selected. Some universal floor treatments come with a pre-provided application tool such as a microfiber applicator or mop head. If your solution doesn’t come with an applicator, a microfiber towel/cloth or a microfiber mop are excellent choices for application! (You can use a floor buffer as well, but honestly I don’t want to spend the money on one!)

Step 6 (wax treatment): If you have purchased my recommended wax treatment above, this comes with a cleaner and a beeswax treatment. First, start with the cleaner. You can spray this directly onto the floor, or onto a microfiber cloth. Use a microfiber (scratch free) cloth to scrub your floor with the cleaner. You can buy a bulk amount of this cleaner to be able to actually mop your floor with it if needed. Once you have used this cleaner you will apply the beeswax treatment to a microfiber cloth and apply the wax in 4×4 areas at a time following the grain of the wood. After letting this sit for at least a few hours (if not over night) work the wax into the floor using a microfiber cloth (buff the floor) using circular motions until you start to see a shine (or use a buffer, which I am sure is easier).

Step 6 (polishing treatment): The universal treatment I have recommended above, Restore-Eez, actually does not require buffing, which I LOVE! This floor treatment requires a microfiber mop to apply the solution in 4×4 sections. All you have to do is pour the solution onto your floor, and then spread the solution out with a microfiber mop in 4×4 sections. Allow this product to dry for at least 3 hours before walking on it.

Step 7: Allow your treatments to dry and set. Each solution will likely have it’s own recommended drying time, so please follow the directions specified by your solution.

**NOTE: you will know either treatment has been applied properly by placing water on the floor, the water should pool into globules/bubbles instead of soaking in or spreading out.

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Laminate/Vinyl/Engineered Wood

Laminate, Vinyl and engineered wood floors can all be treated similarly when conditioning them. Conditioning these floors is just as important as hardwood. Over time they can become drab, dull, scratched and worn, they need love too!

To provide a treatment for these floor types, follow the steps above (step 3 – 7) in the “hardwood floors” section for the polishing treatment/universal treatment. The recommended universal treatments I have noted will work beautifully for laminate, vinyl and engineered wood floors. The best part, application is SUPER EASY!

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Now it’s time to enjoy your lovely, bright and shining floors with this ultimate floor refresh!

If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments and I would be happy to get back with you.

Check out Day 9. Clean Tile Grout and/or Clean Corners of Floors/Counters here.

Check out Day 11. Cleaning Your Refrigerator here.

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