Help! My Tile Grout is Beginning to Smell!

Is there a strange smell that assaults you as you enter your home? Are you embarrassed to invite guests inside for fear of the horrible smell? There is a reason for this smell, and it might not be as obvious as you think it is. Though it could easily stem from other areas of your home, your tile grout may be the source. In fact, it’s more common than you might think, but there are simple and easy solutions to remove this malodorous stench from your home instead of spending an exponential amount of money cleaning the wrong areas inside your house.

Much like other flooring types, tile and grout can lock in smells from your home that may be unsavory and unappealing. This can be caused by a variety of things. Some causes are as simple as dirt tracked into your home, spills, odors from shoes and feet, and even water from frequent mopping. Other causes may include smoking in the home, odors from pets, and children. Of course, there is no real way to prevent the smell from happening, but it’s good to know when it’s time for a deep cleaning of your tile and grout.

Sometimes this odor can be a sign of something more dangerous. It was recently found in a study done by the University of Arizona that tile floors are home to nine types of bacteria that can be harmful to you and your family. This can lead to a wide array of infections in your body. Most of these bacterias, they found, come from shoes. In fact, it was found that almost ninety percent of the time, the bacteria from our shoes transfers from our shoes and onto the tile. An easy way to prevent this is to keep people from walking on your tile while wearing shoes. It may be a nuisance, but it could eliminate the possibility of growth of certain types of bacteria.

Removing your shoes before you walk across your tile flooring may be an effective solution, but what about spills of beverages and other liquids? We clean most of those with our mops, and sometimes that can be worse than leaving the spill to sit and soak into the grout and tile. This is especially prominent in public restrooms, as the mops sit in dirty water while they await to be used in the next restroom. This may also apply to your home. As mentioned before, the bacteria from your shoes sit and wait inside the grout, and mopping up spills and liquids will only push and spread it around.

A prominent issue in the bathroom is urine spillage and mildew. This can be a major source of the horrible odor in your home. But mopping and scrubbing only moves that smell around, and without a deep cleaning of your tile and grout, it will stay embedded into the grout due to its rough surface. Grout can be incredibly difficult to clean, especially if you are using a sponge or something as flimsy as a paper towel. You are more likely to wear away the sponge and create flecks of paper towel residue than you are to make a difference in the awful smell plaguing your home. But fortunately, there is a solution to these smelly problems and bacteria factories.

Some things that can prevent this smell include removing your shoes, not smoking indoors, keeping trash and other related things away from your tile, and clean up spills and messes right away. But a more long term solution is to get your tile and grout cleaned. Only a good, deep cleaning can rid your home of the smell the tile and grout has trapped over time. With professional tile floor cleaning services in Chandler, you can renew the look and odor of your flooring to make it seem fresh and brand new. It is also an effortless, cost-effective way to refresh your home. Fortunately, Desert Tile and Grout Care is Arizona’s premiere grout cleaning company. With many services ranging from tile and grout cleaning in Chandler, brick restoration, and stone tile cleaning, we can help rid your home of the unpleasant smells coming from your grout and tile. Our family oriented business is sure to give you the customer satisfaction you’re looking for. For more information about our wide expanse of services, contact us at (480)-288-4475 or visit our website at desterttileandgrout.com.