Problems Using Acids

Problems Using Acids

Acids are often used to clean grout because it’s believed to be a seriously difficult surface to clean. The problem with this is that grout is not to be cleaned with acids according to the labels from the grout manufactures. Acids cause a variety of problems including:

1. Attacking many sealers used to seal the grout. Acids shift the pH to the point that the sealer will unzip breaking down.
2. Acids can leach out the dyes used to color the grout. In fact, often the lightening one is observing is due to loss of color, not cleaning.
3. Acids are used to clean excess grout from the top of brick and tile. If masonary acids are used in this matter, than the use of acids can indeed damage the grout.
4. If you are talking about grout around a marble, travertine or terrazzo floor then the very act of cleaning will dull your floor, as acids dissolve calcium carbonate the very chemical from which these materials are made.

Acids have been used since the times of the Romans who used vinegar as their cleaning agent, but science and understanding has advanced tremendously. Today, we have cleaners that are based on solvents and surfactants. When working with sensitive surfaces such as marble, travertine and terrazzo non-acidic surfactant based cleaners such as MARBLELIFE’s ready-to-use marble, granite and tile cleaners all act as worldclass safe degreasers and cleaners. They are designed to assist our more than 100 service technicians deliver beautiful results safely and effectively without damage to the tile, stone or grout.

That said, when you have tough grout, you want something that is formulated to break through years of build-up. For this purpose MARBLELIFE developed MAXOUT. This grout cleaner is so effective you will be able to see the individual quartz crystals in the sand shining back at you, if you care to get down close and take a look. Highly effective.

Save yourself some aggravation, and work with a proven ready to use safe and effective cleaner from MARBLELIFE’s line of engineered solutions. Start with Marble & Travertine cleaner for day to day work on marble, to our TILE CLEANER for your tile surfaces, following MAXOUT if you feel you have a need to address years of build-up.