Tile and grout cleaning normally involves 4 steps.

1)Pretreatment of the entire area to be cleaned

2)Hand scrubbing of any problem areas

3)High Pressure Rinse and water extraction

4)Drying

While this is pretty much the standard process, the difference between clean, bright grout lines and just a wet floor lies with the pretreatment and the equipment used. Not all truck-mount machines can push the water pressure required to thoroughly clean tile and grout. Normally a pressure between 1100 and 1200psi is considered ideal and safe. The downside is that when that much water is pushed through a truck-mount machine, many can’t keep it hot. It takes a high quality machine to do the job right.

As far as what pretreatments are used, the big difference lies in the pH. Typically either very acidic or very alkaline cleaners are used. Acidic cleaners are effective because acid dissolves grout (which is basically just sand). So, when used properly, acidic tile cleaners dissolve a very thin layer of grout from the surface, leaving the lines looking clean. Unfortunately, if left to dwell too long, or if not completely neutralized, the acid can leave holes in your grout. Alkaline tile cleaner is much safer, but many times does not work as well as the acidic cleaner. In order to be completely effective it needs to be paired with a machine that can push high pressure while maintaining high heat. Really good equipment and a quality alkaline tile cleaner is the safest method, and still gets the job done right. Choosing a cleaner who has the skill to understand when and how to use each type of cleaner and has high quality equipment will give the greatest chance for stunning results.