What machine do you use to clean tile?

[joeynbgky]

I have been using my spinner... But it doesn't get up close to walls and baseboards.. And it leaves a dirty mark, so then I have to do them by hand..

What do you use?

I am going to be doing 6k square feet of tile in a mercedes and bmw dealership..

The Show room is tile. The service area.. And believe it or not the mechanics work shop is tile and grout.. I havent measured that part yet either

 

[Ross Buettner]

I did one with someone once in a showroom. The tire dressing (armor all ) refused to come out of the tile no matter what we did.

Never again.

 

[J Scott W]

Your spinner, SX-12, Turbo or similar tool is going to be the fastest way to clean the open areas. You can get a nice corner / edge / coving tool that will get up close to the wall and if you wish do the cove molding at the same time.

 

[Jeremy]

I have had the Redline and the turbo... I like the T handle grip better on the Redline...

 

[Johnny]

I attended a IICRC uph class taught by Doug Heiferman about 6-7 years ago. (Greenie and Lisa were classmates.)

There was an old-timer there who had been cleaning only tile and grout for decades. He told me that spinners were toys and the big boys used Gecko-type wands.

So I bought a Turbo-Hybrid spinner and a Gecko with a 14-inch head and a Cobra hand-tool.

The old man was right. I never use the spinner. The Gecko is MUCH faster, more manouverable, gets in corners and under cabinets, less tiring, lighter, used with one hand vs. two with the spinner, and you can run higher pressure.

Does anyone here that has used both a spinner and a Gecko really prefer a spinner? Why?

 

[GeneMiller]

i had the original steamway tile tool. it needed some mods like recessing the bolt heads so it didn't scratch everything . we got rid of the 01 jets and went to 04 jets and it cleaned great . it had some drawbacks but it got into corners better. i like the turbo mainly because of the plastic body. turbo tilt for edges. if you change out the jets to 1002 you won't have to tilt as far.

gene

 

[Royal Man]

Does anyone use a rotary brush or pad first or post pad?

 

[Johnny]

Does anyone use a rotary brush or pad first or post pad?

Somestimes use brush on CCS Brute.

 

[daniel@procarpet]

i had the original steamway tile tool. it needed some mods like recessing the bolt heads so it didn't scratch everything . we got rid of the 01 jets and went to 04 jets and it cleaned great . it had some drawbacks but it got into corners better. i like the turbo mainly because of the plastic body. turbo tilt for edges. if you change out the jets to 1002 you won't have to tilt as far.

gene

How does going to higher flow jets clean tile better and how much better does it clean? I need some new jets. Mine are pretty old. I have the sx-12.

Won't the pressure drop off really low?

I can crank the pressure up to compensate, but guys using 1000psi machines are not going to be able to maintain anything over 600 psi.

 

[GeneMiller]

daniel,

unlike the turbo that spins, the original steamway was like an enclosed wand. all that came out of the 9501 was a mild mist but when you went to the 04's it was a hard stream because of the larger flow. i think i only had 3 jets on the original tool so you couldn't use a narrow jet like the 0502's on the turbo.

gene

 

[Mikey P]

Turbo Hybrid
Gecko
Glided Ti wand


the ol' Turbo Tilt will clean most edges.

 

[BLewis]

Joey,
Did a large showroom back in Dec. Turbo'd most of it. However, had to use the 175 rotary with brush on 2k-3k sq feet then turbo again. Used the chemical I referred to u. However had to use Restore from BP on a few areas.

Scub edges and turbo tilt and that should not be a problem at all. Once we have done a floor once we never have to scrub grout or edges again.

 

[Jamesh921]

175 rotary brush and a glided wand. Works great, gets in corners and you can tilt the wand to get up to really dirty edges.

 

[daniel@procarpet]

I agree with the 175.

I have a hard time getting a lot of tile cleaned if it is not scrubbed.

When I scrub everything turns out perfect.

When I don't scrub I make excuses.

I have tried all the chems.

Prochem tile cleaner is one of the best. That and floor stripper.

I am not a big fan of the sx-12 even though that is what I have.

I think it has two 1502 jets.

I have a gecko with the small detail head. It is ok. I haven't tried it with the wide 4 jet head with brush skirt. Does it work better than the rotary tools. I can see it would be better for getting into corners and under counters/cabinets.

 

[joeynbgky]

Do you use a pad with your 175? if brushes what kind?

 

[Jamesh921]

Stiff horse-hair brush or long bristled nylon brush.

The stiff brush works best on grout lines that are close to the same height of the tile.

The nylon brush is softer and will get further down on deeper grout lines. Takes longer to clean, but is sometimes needed unless you want to get down on your hands and knees and scrub by hand.

Chems - we use Cobb's Powermax. One chem to clean carpet & tile. Especially great when you're cleaning both - no need to stop in the middle of prespraying to change over to a different chem - just keep on spraying.

Meanwhile, your helper starts cleaning the carpet while you start scrubbing the tile. Quick, easy, great results. Then go deposit another check. Works for us.

 

[KevinL]

I just got some overspray of Grease eraser on a tile floor of a pizza place and the grout came perfectly clean with my wand in 2 seconds. I love this stuff. I think we'll be cleaning the tile next time.

 

[Art Kelley]

I just got some overspray of Grease eraser on a tile floor of a pizza place and the grout came perfectly clean with my wand in 2 seconds. I love this stuff. I think we'll be cleaning the tile next time.

Chemeisters makes a tile cleaner (Floor Meister) that uses Grease Eraser and powdered peroxide. Works even better.

 

[Ron Werner]

I'm using Mytee's Spinner. Cleaned my first T&G last week. Used O2 and Hotsauce plus some Attack (Cleanco). scrubbed with a WHittaker, stripped 99% of it away. I touched up with a pressure wand with a 01jet in it. Pressure was 1000pSI, temp was ~240-250ATM.
The Spinner got right up beside the wall, no dark lines left. It has 015jets I believe.

 

[NobleCarpetCleaners]

Raptor 4 jet here. My Turbo collects dust. After thinking my Turbo was the end all to my jobs I shifted to more dwell time with my chems and light agitation with 2-3 different brushes. I don't rely much on agitation from water jets and that's allowed me to rinse with significatly less water pressure.