As with all interior or exterior surfacing materials, glass tiles and mosaics require minimal care in order to maintain a satisfactory appearance and sanitation.

Initial Cleaning and Maintenance:

The single most important step for future daily maintenance involves the complete removal of any remaining grout haze and construction dirt. This can usually be conducted by simply scrubbing, using a cloth, and hot water with a weak dilution of close-to-neutral pH detergent additive, followed by a thorough rinsing and removing the rinse water with a wet-vacuum or dry toweling. When applying dense, low porosity tiles the joints should be treated with penetrating type sealers, not coatings. Follow the sealer manufacturer’s recommendations and instructions. For grout joints, it is recommended that the joints be initially sealed after 7 to 10 days curing. The primary purpose of a sealer is to render joints less porous and thereby more stain resistant. The Glass itself is completely impervious. Once initial cleaning has been thoroughly completed, our daily maintenance procedures can be followed for continuous long-lasting beauty. The primary benefit of selecting the glass tile for an application is in its ongoing low maintenance attributes.

Daily Maintenance:

Wall surfaces usually require only a simple wiping with room temperature water and a weak dilution of close-to-neutral pH detergent additive .For floors, general cleaning should be performed first by sweeping or vacuuming, to remove loose soil or other surface contaminants. Apply a solution of close-to-neutral detergent cleaner, agitating with a medium bristle deck-brush, then remove all residues, mopping with clean water. High quality glass tile surfaces have a dense, low absorptive body that will resist the penetration of contaminants, harsh cleaners, and aggressive scrubbing; however, the grout joints may be adversely affected by such activity. They become weak and discolor over time. We recommend that you test all cleaning materials and techniques whenever you are selecting or changing your cleaning materials. The test area should be in an inconspicuous area. If unexpected problems do occur, the area cannot be seen. If the cleaning agent does not adversely affect the appearance of the installation, please follow these procedures. Frequency and duration of the maintenance procedure will depend entirely on the soil load. Keeping an area primarily clean, with a regular cleaning regimen, will eliminate all need for more dynamic or aggressive cleaning activities. Again, glass, by its very nature, is low maintenance.

There are steps that are critical and should always be remembered for the successful maintenance of glass tiles:

1)	All spills should be cleaned as quickly as possible. Sweep or vacuum a floor of all loose dirt and other foreign materials.
2)	Use only the manufacturer’s recommended dilution of detergents. More is not always better; higher concentrations of detergent in the cleaning solution will only make it more difficult to rinse and potentially leave a residue, which may create slippery floor conditions. If the floor is exposed to excessive spills, large amounts of traffic, a stronger cleaning agent may be necessary. These stronger cleaning agents should be on the alkaline side of the pH scale and generally have a pH of 9 or higher in the concentrated form. Follow the manufacturer’s recommendation at all times, for usage and dilutions, when using these products.
3)	Allow the product to remain on the floor, giving the detergent solution time to chemically act on the soil load - generally, 5 - 10 minutes is sufficient.
4)	Scrub with a white or clear nylon pad, bristle, or ‘Terry’ towel.
5)	For aggressive cleaning, rinse thoroughly with clean water, several times if necessary, using clear water to remove the dirt and detergent solution and emulsified soil. Rinsing is a critical step in the maintenance procedure. Remove the rinse water with a wet vacuum, buff with a dry mop or toweling. If dirty detergent solution is not removed and is allowed to dry on the surface, a coating will form which is very difficult to remove and maintain.
6)	All surface cleaning and maintenance materials should be selected carefully to ensure they are not coatings and that they will only alter the surface sufficiently to create unsafe walking conditions and adversely affect cleaning.