So, you want to know how we are cleaning our 100 year old hex tile. No, you cannot power wash indoors I'm sorry to say. That would make life so much easier wouldn't it?
The only power we are using so far I'm afraid is the good old power o' elbows and the other old stand by "hands and knees."
Here you see Steve using his "power washing" technique. He galantly offered to take this job off my hands (and knees) because this solvent our contractor got us is very noxious (worse than denatured alcohol) and I have sensitive sinuses.
One of our little dogs came upstairs and started sniffling within 5 feet of the bathroom poor thing. And yes, I have delicate sinuses and I sanded wood all summer.
So we're trying this nasty solvent Omni MR186.
..and we're also trying this one from Home Depot. We used this for the first floor and it seemed to work pretty well. That and bleach. And Comet.
Steve is also cutting out the grout lines with a razor blade. Boy these tenants better appreciate all this.
But maybe we will look into some kind of power scrubbing tool. There has to be something out there. So many people find themselves in this situation dealing with grime-there must be something out there. If we find it, I'll let you know.
But for now, it's hands and knees.
7 comments:
You should ask Merideth and Beth over at house-made. They did an excellent job on their bathroom floor this summer and they had the same issue...
I'd recommend using the magic eraser some also. Our grout lines were horrible and the bathtub was black after the tenants moved out. (yep-tub was only a year old). Nothing would work. I used the magic eraser and it did a bang up job.
Hi - and thanks! I was really unimpressed with that home-depot "stripper" stuff. Regarding grout lines, lots of people told me there's a dremel attachment for cutting out grout. (I just had to scrape the grout between the subway tiles, the hex tiles weren't too bad, and I used a grout saw.)
takoma-bark.com
my nephew says he has used a steamer to clean grout in a few rehab houses - haven't seen the results but I am going to look for one and try on my hex tiles.
I once used an old insecticide sprayer (releases a mist instead of a power spray) filled with boiling water and bleach. Made those tiles sparkle and left minimal mess to clean up after.
Good luck, that's an unpleasant job for sure. I thought I had it rough scrubbing the grout between octagon tiles when we were getting ready to sell our ranch house. No advice, except to mention that I would work on a spot for 2 hours and get less done than Darwin could in 10 minutes. Guess it's that pesky upper body strength.
ughh those tiles!!! i would kill for those hex tiles! they are beautiful
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