"Wally" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello.
I have a ceramic tile floor in my kitchen which also spills over into
my connected breakfast room. The tiles are a light beige/taupe color.
When we had it put in several years ago we obtained 16"X16" large tiles
that did not have a glossy/shiny surface, at least not entirely.
They've always been a challenge to clean and keep clean.
We would have preferred, in retrospect, to have gotten and installed
the shiny/high gloss tiles simlar to what we have in our bathroom
(12X12 tiles).

My wife has tried using bleach on a few tiles which really do seem to
clean them rather well. I question whether the bleach might be doing
surface damage, even over time, to the tiles. If we did all the tiles
I have a feeling that we'd be forced to clean all the tiles using
bleach every few months....forever. I was thinking it might be better
to bite the bullet and have all new tiles installed (of course
obtaining the shiny tiles we should have gotten in the first place).

Any thoughts on the best most effective way to clean non-glossy ceramic
tiles? Also any thoughts on if using bleach (other than the problem
with toxic fumes) would damage the tile surface over time?

Thanks for any suggestions!
Walley


My previous house had those hexagonal white matte finish tiles that were
popular in the 1940s. I found that toothpaste cleaned them well, but
obviously, that gets expensive. So, I tried two scouring powders:
Barkeeper's Friend and Bon Ami. Both work well, if applied with a sponge
mop. When you use them on dishes, they can leave a slight powdery film, so
you have to follow with the usual sponge & dish soap. For the floor, you
might have to rinse a couple of times with the mop and clear water.