I have an opportunity to bid a very large tile and grout cleaning job. The tile is in public areas and bathrooms of a hotel where the grout has discolored. Are there tile and grout scrubbing attachments for the Challenger and if so what type of cleaner and sealer do you use?

Challenger sells a Tile & Grout brush attachment for $35. I generally use the Home Depot TILE LAB products. You can learn of more specialized T&G products by visiting John Rupich's www.dirtygrout.com.
I also keep a deLonghi steam vapor machine for some of my smaller T&G jobs. With 300 degrees of live steam at 60 psi, no cleaning product is needed. The steam and brush nozzle do a great job of cleaning dirty grout lines.

Hi John, yes you can use your challenger for tile and grout. We sell a tile and grout brush for the challenger, it cost $35.00 plus shipping. You will also need a splash guard because the challenger will fling the solution on the walls, and cabinets, etc. You can buy one at Meyers Ent. 714/544-4818 or you can make your own out of plastic lawn boarder. Email or call me if you are going to build your own and I will tell you how, very simple, but it is a must have. You will also need a tile and grout brush, preferably on a poll. You can buy them at Home Depot, Lowe's, janitorial supply stores and some carpet cleaning supply stores. Get the real narrow one. You will use this to clean grout that the challenger could not reach, like against walls, around toilets, etc. You will also want a shop vac.
You will need a tile and grout cleaner, we sell a product called Anomaly stone,grout & tile cleaner, here is some info on it.


Prices

1 gal: $28.50
4 gal case: $110.00

select size
1 gallon or 4 gallon case


A·nom·a·ly = “departure from the usual”
Stone, Tile, and Grout Cleaner


Benefits:

Contains NO BUTYL, yet cuts through grease and soil like butter.

Formulated to clean Marble, Granite, Limestone, Slate, Terrazzo, Travertine, Sandstone, Ceramic Tile, Saltillo, Clay Products, and GROUT.

Free Rinsing.

Very LOW foam.

No Sticky Residue.

Non-Etching on Polished Surfaces.


Ingredients: Proprietary... Unique, blend of degreasers and surfactants.

Application:

Apply with a clean mop, sponge or sprayer. Keep product off surfaces that are not to be cleaned. Five to fifteen minute dwell time is highly desirable.

For best results, agitate with a OP machine, floor machine or scrub brush.

Remove solution and dissolved soils with a wet/dry vacuum, damp mop, sponge, etc.

Do not allow to dry before rinsing.

Rinse well with clean water.

pH: 11.5 - 12.5 when diluted

Cautions:

Do NOT mix with other cleaning agents or chemicals.

We HIGHLY recommend you read the MSDS before using this product.

Always test in an inconspicuous area prior to using.

Keep out of the reach of children.

Corrosive. Direct contact may cause severe eye and skin burns. Wear protective gloves while applying this product. On accidental contact with eye or skin, flush thoroughly with water for 15 minutes, get medical attention.

Never take internally.

Do not re-use container. Dispose of this container according to government regulations.

Use in well ventilated area.

For Professional Use only.

We also sell a sealer called SeaL-Gurad, emial or call if you are interested in this product. There are many sealer out there. This one is guranteed for 10 years, but will last even longer.
It can be sprayed on, rolled or painted on, and you can apply it on the tile and the grout if you wish.



Here is a simple 5 step grout cleaning and sealing proccess.

1. Vacuum floor if needed, should be free of hair, loose dirt, and other debris.

2. Apply the cleaner to the floor by pump-up spray, electric spray, mop or brush. If spraying becareful not to over spray onto cabinets, walls, or carpet. We usually use a drop cloth to protect carpet and use as a walk off area. Let cleaner dwell for 15 minutes or so, but do not let it dry on the floor. If it starts to dry just mist it again with the cleaner to keep it wet. This dwell time is vital, it makes all the difference in how easy and clean the grout lines are going to come out.
3 After the cleaner has dwelled take your challenger with the tile and grout brush on it and scrub the entire area you have applied the cleaner to. The machine will actually pick the dirt out of the grout lines with its vibrating and oscillating action. Use the grout brush to clean the grout lines where the machine could reach.
4 Take a shop vac and suck up the wet debris as best you can. Sometimes we will use a pump up sprayer with water in it to spray on the tile to be able suck up more of the cleaner off the floor. Then replace you tile and grout brush with the pad driver on your challenger. Take a fairly wet cotton pad and go over the entire floor changing pads as necessary. This will really clean the floor up. Then you can go back over the floor with a barely damp pad for the finish rinse.
5 Apply sealer to the floor, depending on the type of sealer you use, you may have to wait for the grout lines to dry good before applying the sealer. Our sealer can be applied while the grout lines are still damp. If you have to wait for the grout lines to dry, you can use an air movers to speed the process up. That's it! It really doesn't take long to clean tile and grout, particularly after you get used to the process.

Jim,
Thank you for the wealth of information. Since getting awarded this Tile and Grout cleaning bid I'm amazed to learn how large the tile and grout cleaning industry is. I'm told that in Arazona, Nevada and New Mexico the Tile business is almost as big as the carpet business.

I ordered the grout brush for my challenger but will use extra pure Oxy Clean as the cleansing agent. I'll try this and see how it works. Thanks for the info on the splash guard and yes I would like details on how to make one.

I also invested in a commercial power steamer to clean the verticle tile and tile in hard to reach places. This bid is large enough to justify the investment.

Thanks for the info!

please post your results John...or reply to my email if you would

thanx --- Dk.

Tile and grout results!!
I purchased a steam cleaner from www.refreshyourhome.com and have made over $3,500 cleaning tile and grout in hotel public areas and bath rooms. I spray on pure oxy clean mixed in water and then go over the tile with the steam machine about an hour after the oxy clean solution has softend up the dirt. I tried the brush attachment with the challenger and didn't see the results i'd hoped for as the grout lines are recesed below the surface of the tile so i've found that using a steam machine to blast away the dirt really worked nicely. Occasionally I use lime a way on hard deposit stains around the toilet and beneath the sink along with a razor blade scraper to get some of the worst deposits. The challenger in combination with the brush attachment is OK when surface dirt needs to be wisked away but steam worked best for me.
I charged $37.00 per hotel bathroom and it took between 20 to 40 minutes per room to complete depending on how dirty they were. The Holiday Inn I completed told the Country Inn in town what I did and now I'm going to be busy working on their tile as well as getting all of their carpet business.
Best of luck to all of you and thanks again Mark for helping me get involved in this wonderfull business!
John

John did you seal the grout to? or did they only want it clean?

I sealed the lobby and public area grout with a product called Stand N Seal but I did not seal the hotel bathrooms.
John