Everyone wants a bathroom that is easy to clean, and your tile choice influences how easy it is to keep this room clean. So, what color tiles are the easiest to keep clean, especially when it comes to bathrooms?
The easiest tile colors to keep clean fall within the cream to tan range. These colors don’t show lint, water spots, or hair well, although up close people will still see them. Too dark or light will show grime; dark tile will show water spots and soap scum, and white tile will show hair and lint. Also, patterned or multicolored tiles are easier to keep clean than solid-colored tiles.
Cleaning tile can be easy as long as you use the right products, but the color of tile that you have in your bathroom will influence how often you have to clean to keep your home looking beautiful and tidy. More information about how easy it is to clean white and black tile is included below.
If you’re about to order tiles, be sure to download my free tile calculator. It will tell you exactly what you need to order and what it will cost, helping you keep to your budget.
The Best Color Tile to Hide Grime
Bathrooms can look so sleek with black tile, and white tile can often bring a sense of freshness and order, but these tile colors are not so great if you don’t want to be cleaning them constantly.
In fact, the best colors to have your bathroom tile be are colors that will make things like dirt, grime, and hair blend in. Any tile colors that fall in the cream to tan range are great for bathrooms, since they will hide dirt and debris. Oatmeal color is a great color to consider.
You will still need to clean your tile off, no matter what color it is, but if you have a neutral color tile, like oatmeal or off-white, then you can get away with going a little longer in-between cleaning sessions.
By the way, if you’re picking new tile, be sure to check out my ultimate guide to bathroom tile. It includes resources about bathroom tile materials, tile sizes, bathroom tile finishes, how to waterproof bathroom walls before tiling, as well as info about grouts and sealants.
Keeping Tile Clean and Dry
When it comes to cleaning tiles and extending their lifespan, the most important thing that you can do is to dry them off whenever they get wet.
Prevent Bathroom Mold
While tiles and the surrounding grout may be waterproof or moisture-resistant, if you clean up water spills quickly, you can prevent the grout from darkening and growing unwanted things like mold and mildew. You can remove water from tiles with a squeegee or a clean and dry towel.
When cleaning tile and grout, you will want to make sure that whatever type of cleaning product you are using is evenly spread over the area you are cleaning.
Use cleaning products that will not damage the grout or scratch the tile. If you want to use an all-natural solution that includes vinegar, be sure that your tile material and finish can handle it. For details read my post: Will Vinegar Destroy Your Bathroom Tile?
Let the product sit for a few minutes so it can be extremely effective.
Next, use a sponge of a soft cloth to remove the dirt. After you’ve removed all dirt, debris, and mildew from your bathroom tiles, rinse off all residual cleaning products, because leaving any cleaning agent on tile can leave soap scum and potentially damage the grout.
Lastly, dry off all of the surfaces that you recently cleaned so the grout doesn’t darken and mildew and mold can’t form easily.
How to Clean Tile Floors
Sweep and mop tile to clean it if you have tile flooring. Sweep before you mop so you can remove hair and other dry debris from the floor. Use gentle cleaning products when you mop tile flooring. You can let tile flooring air dry, but if you want to preserve the grout, dry the flooring with a squeegee or dry towel.
Also, be sure to read my post on bathroom mold to find out how to prevent a problem before it occurs.
Is White Tile Hard to Maintain?
Are white tiles hard to keep clean? Yes! It’s quite hard to keep white tile clean because white tiles show dirt, hair, and other types of debris easily, especially if those who use the tiled shower have dark-colored hair. This means that you will have to clean a bathroom with white tile more often than bathrooms with slightly darker tile.
While white tile makes a room seem bigger and brighter, it also is quick to show off the dirt that is on it. If you have white tile in your bathroom, plan to clean it 2 or more times per week to keep these areas looking clean.
Overall, when it comes to white tiles, it’s easy to clean them because you can see the mess and bathroom cleaning products work well. However, you’ll need to clean them more frequently than other colored tiles.
Is Black Tile Hard to Keep Clean?
Black tiles can create a stark contrast in your bathroom. With glossy black tiles, you can make the bathroom appear bright while still using a darker color that adds character to your home. Here are some pros and cons of black bathroom floor tiles.
Black Bathroom Floor Tile Pros and Cons
When it comes to keeping your bathroom floor clean, it’s much easier to make a black-tiled bathroom appear clean because hair and other debris are more likely to blend into the tile.
However, water spots and soap scum are typically white and show up easily on black tile. If you want to avoid seeing water spots and soap scum in your tiled shower, dry the tile after you finish showering with a squeegee or clean towel.
Black tiles show dust easily as well, so while you may go longer without noticing dirt on your black tiles rather than white tiles, you are still going to notice dust. However, if you use your shower often, dust won’t accumulate quickly.
You will likely have to clean black tile two or more times per week if you want to prevent water spots and soap scum from accumulating.
Is It Hard to Clean Tile in Other Colors?
There are many other tile colors that people enjoy using in their bathrooms. Colors like grey, blue, pink, green, and more can be just as easy or hard to clean as black or white tile.
When it comes to the lighter tile colors, you will notice dirt and debris accumulate at a similar rate as white tile, so you will clean light-colored tile as often or slightly less often than white tile.
Tile colors like dark grey, deep-sea blue, pine, or seaweed show water spots, soap scum, and dust as easily as black tile does, so you will clean it just as often.
Patterened tiles or tiles with a variety of shades or colors on a single tile will hide the dirt much better than a solid-colored tile.
And tile that is cream, tan, and oatmeal is light enough to not show any watermarks while still being dark enough for dirt, dust, and hair to blend in. Many people use white tile alongside a slightly darker colored tile to create a pattern.
Other Considerations for Choosing Tile Color
There are many considerations beside ease of cleaning that go into choosing a bathroom tile color. You also need to consider the mood you want to create in the bathroom, whether your home will be on the market in the next five years, and whether you’d like your bathroom to appear bigger or smaller than it actually is. Get all the info in my post Tricks to Pick the Best Color Tiles for Your Bathroom.
Note: If you’re about to embark on a bathroom remodel, be sure to get the Save Big $$ Cheat Sheet. Just fill out the form below and we’ll send it straight to your inbox. You’ll get designer tips that can literally help you save thousands of dollars.
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