What is going to be the best way to clean these tiles?

[gaggiagirl]

New house has tiled hall way, kitchen and dining room floor. The house was vacant for about a year before we got it. Hall tiles are dusty/muddy/dirty kitchen and dining room floor tiles are greasey/sticky/dirty. I presume they haven't been cleaned in at least a year but they look nice enough and good quality.
What's the best way to go about cleaning them?

What are the tiles made of? Can you post a photo.

Erm stone/ceramic maybe they are beige I think under all that grot! I'll dig out a pic.

They might be grey actually??? This is the best pic I've got I'm afraid.

Ah right - they look like standard ceramic tiles. I didn't know if you meant a Victorian style tiled floor, which can be cleaned and sealed.

I would brush or vacuum any dust and bits up then scrub them and dry them with an old towel. In the areas where they feel greasy, try using sugar soap to degrease them. Clean the skirting boards as well.

If you don't already have them, get some doormats for putting both inside and outside the external doors. We have rubber mats outside and coir or dirt trapper mats inside. Consider getting a runner for the hall as it's a high traffic area. The floor will probably need sweeping and mopping once a week once you've got it clean, especially in winter or if it's been raining.

For grease, think kitchen grease stains - washing up liquid in bucket of hot water for mopping with. Any worktop spray which claims to cut through grease. Something acidic - lemon juice or vinegar.

Very hot water is the key to shifting muck - I am sure I have read/been told that WUL leaves a film that means floors and other surfaces can feel sticky even when they are clean. I like Stardrops with ammonia for floor cleaning. Sugar soap is a brilliant degreaser for stubborn grime.

Brilliant thank you for all the tips! Here's a pic of kitchen tiles. They are very photogenic but disgusting. I shall defo use all the great tips here.
How do we feel about steam mops for long term maintenance cleaning?

MN LOVES steam mops. I don't have one (yet) but I'm pretty assured of that fact.

Thanks Bertie!

Sugar soap to clean. Steam mops are great as a finishing tool but I still dettol my hard floors first.

I see,so initial anti bac scrub/secondary steam?

Hot water and washing up liquid for anything greasy

I'm sure you can just steam if you want. But I personally like them smell of apple dettol

Jif (or Cif as its now called), on non-scratch scrubby sponges will work wonders on hard tile surfaces.

For the initial clean I mean.

Yep I love my steam mop. They are really good for keeping tiled / wooden floors clean. It might also help to get the grease off using a really strong solution of soda crystals. I find that this cuts through grease very well. Sugar soap is also your friend here.

All brilliant tips! Thanks all. I'm not allowed to start cleaning them for another week yet. I'm desperate to get stuck in!

Good luck when you do get stuck in. It's not necessary to use a specifically anti-bacterial product. Hot water and detergent - don't use WUL as it leaves a film on things like floors - are sufficient to kill most harmful bacteria.