Heavy cleaning in bathrooms

The most troublesome areas for cleaning in heavily used bathrooms are the areas surrounding the toilets and urinals; where urine becomes an extremely difficult odor and stain to remove, due to its unique chemistry.
Once the flooring, particularly the porous areas including unsealed resilient tile, unglazed ceramic tile and grout, becomes contaminated with uric acid salts it is impossible to remove by everyday mopping with neutral cleaners or detergent disinfectants.
The removal of this contaminant requires much stronger products and procedures than regular mopping and once done can allow the restroom to be kept odor-free and clean.
The following six-step procedure removes and neutralizes urine stains and odors, and serves as a preventive measure for future contamination:

1. Strip the floor of the existing wax or sealer by using professional strength stripper diluted according to the directions.
2. With a one to 20 dilution of a phosphoric acid based lime detergent, flood the area. Leave the solution on the floor for a minimum of five minutes in order for it to dissolve the uric acid stains and build-up.
3. Rinse floor two times with fresh water and allow it to dry completely. Remove any leftover detergent solution or rinse water from under the edge of the toilet.
4. Flood the area with hospital type disinfectant solution. Leave it in place for 10 minutes and use a wet vacuum to remove.
5. Rinse two more times with fresh water and allow it dry. Make sure you check the toilet base to be sure that it seats properly on the floor; re-caulk if necessary. If you need to re-caulk, allow the caulk adequate cure time.
6. Apply three coats of an acrylic-based stone sealer, which resists penetration by urine and will prevent future staining.
Once the floor is dry, the restroom can be reopened for use.
This process proves to be more labor-intensive up front, however its benefits are well worth the extra effort. The completion of the sealing job not only raises the appearance of the floor, but is a procedure that will last and save future time spent on regular cleaning and disinfecting.