Resistant beauty with Porcelain Tiles

The success of porcelain tile floors and walls is certainly linked to esthetic factors. Atlas Concorde's modern technologies allow you to choose from ceramic surfaces featuring the look of wood, stone, marble, concrete, and even metal with an extraordinary realism, as well as a large selection of colors, thicknesses, dimensions, and finishes for all uses. But it must be said that their ease of maintenance and cleaning is also a very good reason for choosing this material. In fact, porcelain tiles have technical characteristics that don't require any special maintenance, unlike other materials. Being non-absorbent and pore-free, just a few simple steps are all it takes to have floors and walls that are always shiny from the bathroom to the kitchen, living room, terrace, and shower. Not to mention public spaces and work surfaces.

The cleaning of porcelain tiles, understood as daily maintenance, must be distinguished from the cleaning done after installation to remove any residue of professional glues and grouts. If this cleaning is done properly, the removal of dirt due to foot traffic and daily use of the tiled surface will not create any problems. First of all, remove any dust with a vacuum cleaner and proceed to wash them with hot water using a good quality microfiber cloth. Every once in a while you can add a mild, wax-free detergent to the water and then rinse it off. But the type of dirt changes depending on whether you're in the kitchen, bathroom, living room, or bedroom and therefore the detergents used and the frequency of cleaning will also change. In any case it's a good idea to never exceed the amount of detergent to be diluted in the water, unless the floor is very dirty and you plan on rinsing several times.

Ceramic tiles are resistant to the most common chemicals and detergents, so you don't have to worry about ruining them. Alkaline detergents are great for colas, coffee, fruit juices, wine, and fats. Acid detergents are recommended for limescale and rust, and solvent-based detergents are best for ink or marker stains. Dark marks left by rubber soles require dry rubbing using dry sponges or abrasive brushes commonly used for cleaning shoes. Porcelain tiles don't require the application of waxes or detergents with polishing additives, even when they have a shiny surface. These substances build up on the floor and form patinas that provide a grip for dirt, staining them, creating halos, and altering the brightness of the colors. Because they're non-absorbent and fire-resistant, ceramic tiles can be cleaned with steam cleaners, a very effective cleaning method, or with floor washing machines.

What if you want to do more than just clean, for example in the bathroom, on the kitchen counter, or because you have children crawling around the house? How do you sanitize porcelain tiles? In this case you need to use products classified as sanitizers containing a certain concentration of substances capable of eliminating germs and bacteria from the surfaces. Porcelain tiles are extraordinarily easy to sanitize thanks to the physical and mechanical characteristics of the material. In fact, “If you magnified the surface," points out Andrea Gilioli, our Quality Manager, "you'd see that since they're fired at very high temperatures they are totally pore-free, which prevents molds and bacteria from proliferating.” By choosing floor and wall tiles from the many Atlas Concorde collections you can forget about any concerns related to their maintenance and focus on appearance. Knowing that for particularly tough stains you can always check out our cleaning guide.