Can You Use A Carpet Cleaner On Your Tile Floors? Here's What To Know

If you're having a hard time bringing your grimy tile floors back to life, you might start eyeing your trusty carpet cleaner. If it can work miracles on carpets, surely tile would be a piece of cake. That may be true, but to avoid damaging your tile, it's important to use the right carpet cleaner — one that's gentle enough not to scratch the surface.

Using a cleaning tool in a way that it wasn't designed for is always a risk. From top to bottom, carpet cleaners are designed specifically to suck up all the dirt, skin cells, pollen, crumbs, and other debris from deep within a carpet. The bristles are stiff and coarse to agitate the fibers, and some even have metal pieces to get into the base of the carpet. They use a lot of water, with some models heating the water to high temperatures, and they have strong suction that draws the water and debris back into the machine for disposal.

Unfortunately, these features mean that carpet cleaners can damage other types of flooring. All that water can seep into hardwood or laminate floors, causing warping or swelling. And the stiff bristles or metal pieces may scratch wood, laminate, or tile floors, especially softer tile like marble or limestone. However, tile floors are water-resistant enough that it's safe to use carpet cleaners as long as the bristles aren't too hard. The same may be true for securely sealed stone, concrete, or hardwood, as well as some vinyl and linoleum floors.

Don't use just any old carpet cleaner on tile. First test your model on a small inconspicuous area to ensure that it doesn't leave scratches or residue. If you're on the market for a carpet cleaner – such as the Bissell CrossWave — and want to be sure it will work on tile, check that the machine has bristles without any pokey metal pieces that will damage your tile floors. To play it safe, you can also look for a model that has a hard floor mode. In addition to gentler bristles, this mode also uses less water.

Once you find the right carpet cleaner for cleaning your tile floors, make sure you switch it to the proper settings before getting started. Then clear the area of furniture and do an initial sweep or vacuum. Fill the cleaner with warm water and a cleaning solution for tile floors. As you begin carpet cleaning, make sure to go in even lines and leave yourself an exit path. It may help to do another pass with plain water to ensure no residue is left behind. Dry your floors thoroughly afterward.

If your carpet cleaner doesn't work on tile, don't fret — there are plenty of other ways to get a tile floor clean, including a simple mop and bucket. You can also opt for a steam mop or a wet-dry vacuum, which are both typically more gentle on tile than carpet cleaners.