How to clean brick floors?

An interior brick floor adds an amazing look to your home. It is extremely durable and can withstand harsh conditions and a lot of foot traffic.

But do you have any idea what the upkeep of a brick floor is like?

Do you know how to clean brick floors?

In this post, we briefly touch on the upkeep of sealed floors and discuss how to clean unsealed brick floors. We have also added tips for removing difficult stains from the bricks and have given you choices for sealing interior brick floors.

Sealed brick floors are easy to clean with a soft broom or vacuum cleaner and a damp mop. On the other hand, unsealed bricks are more of a challenge to clean.

How to clean unsealed brick floors?

If you take a closer look at your unsealed brick floor, you will notice that they have a sponge look to them. Each brick has many tiny holes, the perfect place for dirt to hide in and for liquids to seep in and stain the brick.

Cleaning a brick floor starts the same way you would clean any other type of flooring. You would begin by removing the loose dust and dirt with a broom or vacuum cleaner. 

Step 1 – Remove loose dirt from brick floors

Cleaning brick floors always starts with removing the loose dirt from the brick surface of the floors. Use a regular good quality broom and sweep most of the dirt into a dustpan. Then get out your vacuum cleaner, make sure that you have the option of cleaning hard-floors. Then vacuum the floor thoroughly with the correct accessory, such as a brush. Make sure you get into the corners and between the bricks as dirt collects and builds in these tiny spaces.

Step 2 – Scrubbing and washing brick floors

Before you begin scrubbing and washing the brick floors. Prepare a solution of your choice that will help get the dirt off. This solution can either be a commercial brick floor cleaner such as Better Life Concentrated floor cleaner or a homemade brick cleaner.

Some very useful homemade cleaning remedies that you could use:

• Vinegar
• Baking soda
• Borax

The strongest of these three products is Borax. It has been around for many years and is an effective cleaning product.  It not only disinfects but also helps get rid of stains around the home. It is best to use only a small amount such as two tablespoons dissolved in about a gallon of warm water. 

Baking soda is a milder alkaline than Borax and it does a great job of removing odors and difficult stains. Dissolve one to two tablespoons of baking soda in a gallon bucket of water. Mix the two well before washing the floor.

If you prefer using, white vinegar and are interested in knowing how to clean bricks with vinegar. All you do is thoroughly mix a gallon of water with a half a cup of vinegar, soak your mop in the solution, ring it out, and wash the brick floors. Cleaning bricks with vinegar is a great way to disinfect, get rid of odors, and to leave the bricks clean and with a shine.

Once you have chosen your cleaning solution, it’s time to start washing and then gently scrubbing the floor.

• Wash the main dirt off the floor with your mop and clean water (no solution).
• Once the brick floor is dry, add your cleaning solution to clean water and gently scrub the floor.
• Rinse the floor off with some freshwater.

Using a Steam cleaner is a great alternative

A steam cleaner is a great brick floor cleaning machine as the steam is forced into those tiny holes of the brick cleaning the dirt and grime out. Steam cleaning brick floors are also a great alternative for dealing with difficult stains. Stains are caused by liquid and other daily spills.

Step 3 – Removing difficult stains

Once you have completed the Interior brick cleaning by washing the floor thoroughly and have waited for it to dry properly. On inspection of the floor, you notice that there are still a few difficult stains. 

You can remove these stains by making a paste with dishwashing soap and baking soda. Mix into a thick paste half a cup of baking soda with three to four tablespoons of dishwashing soap. Rub the paste onto the stain and leave it for 10 to 15 minutes before scrubbing it off with a brush and then rinsing it off with clean warm water.

If the stain happens to be oil-based, you can mix ¼-cup bleach to one-cup water and cover the stain with the mixture. Leave for half an hour before wiping it off with a cloth and then rinse the area with fresh water.

Using the bleach mixture is also an effective way of cleaning if you want to know how to clean white brick. It will remove dirt marks and stains leaving your white bricks looking clean.

Step 4 – Cleaning the grout

The next step to cleaning your interior brick floors is to clean the grout. The grout will soak up any liquids and spills, which can discolor them and leave them looking horrific.

There are three options to getting your grout looking as good as new:

• Apply a grout cleaning product directly to each line
• Use the Baking soda and water paste option, or
• Steam cleaning it

If none of the above work, then your best option would be to completely remove the old grout and reinstall new grout. 

Sealing interior brick floors

Sealing your interior brick floor not only makes cleaning them a lot easier but it also protects the bricks from dirt and liquids. Finding out how to seal brick floors is a great idea, but you have a choice to make, as there are many brick sealers on the market. 

There are mainly two types of brick sealers, one type the bricks absorb and the other type is a film coat that is applied to the surface of each brick.

The absorbed types soak into each brick and block all the tiny little holes so that liquids and other substances cannot get in. With this sealer, the bricks keep its natural look but might not be as smooth as the film coat sealer.

The film coat type is also water and stain-resistant but gives the bricks a smooth and glossy finish. But with this type of sealer, it might end up changing the look and color of the brick.

You Might Also Like: