We installed a new porcelain tile floor in our kitchen about 1.5 years ago. It has held up beautifully, and I’ve never once regretted the color or style. The dark, varying color and rough texture hide almost everything, except for mysterious muddy boot prints that no one cares to claim responsibility for. (My booties idea? Never really took off.) And the darker grout color isn’t showing much staining despite the fact that we regulary spill coffee all over it.

We use a vinegar & water solution in our Swiffer WetJet to clean this floor about once a week; it’s high traffic (for both us and the dogs) and gets dirty pretty quickly. It’s recommended you reseal your tile floors every 1-2 years. Porcelain is less porous than most other materials, but since we’re rough on the poor floor I thought it was time to give it some TLC. With an entire free day laid out before me, I rolled up my sleeves for some real excitement. Floor sealing…….wheee!

First, I went to town with a broom and a vacuum to get all the dirt and grit up. Next, I made a very thorough pass with our Hoover Floormate and the Grout Cleaner that goes with it.  Using the Floormate is entertaining; you get to see all the dirt you thought didn’t exist suck itself up in liquid form. It collects it, so you can marvel over it and show your husband just how dirty the floors really were. It even found some dog hair the vacuum couldn’t locate. Amazing stuff.

During the Floormate scrub-down, I gave special attention to stained areas. An old toothbrush came in handy for getting gunk off, and I used Goof-Off for a few little paint smudges that couldn’t be scraped from the surface.

When I was confident I’d done my due diligence with the cleaning and preparation, I pulled out the AquaMix Penetrating Sealer (available at good ‘ole Lowes, and recommended by a tile pro standing in the aisle next to me!). I purchased the “natural look” version – no high-gloss sheen for this girl. One quart-sized bottle was enough to do two coats.

The process took about half a day, but it’ll keep our tile looking newer longer. Totally worth it, since putting the floor in was both back-breaking and pricey.

If you need to reseal your own tile floor, or are wondering about cleaning techniques and products, take a look at AquaMix’s website. They have a great “surface finder” feature that tells you what works best for every type of tile.

AquaMix Website: http://www.aquamix.com/