MDF stands for Medium Density Fiberboard and it is common practice to use MDF for baseboards throughout the home. MDF has an extremely large flaw, as it is essentially a type of compressed cardboard material. When MDF gets wet, it will swell and expand like a balloon. When the MDF expands, the paint will peel off the MDF and the MDF will look puffy and ugly. After MDF expands and then dries, it will not regain its original shape and will swell, warp, and permanently ruin. Sometimes people try to sand the MDF and paint it, but the baseboards will never look as flat and even as when they were first installed.

The possibility of ruining your baseboards when cleaning a tile floor creates a dilemma for people who want to clean their tile and grout but don’t want to ruin their baseboards. Water and cleaning chemicals should be used to effectively clean any dirty surfaces and tile and grout cleaning is no exception. Some people will try to put blue painter’s tape on their MDF to protect it from water running through the MDF. The blue painter’s tape will absorb water and the water will penetrate the MDF relatively easily. Also, when you remove the blue painter’s tape after cleaning the tile and grout, the blue painter’s tape can strip paint and make MDF baseboards look unsightly. Using a waterproof tape, such as duct tape, will provide better protection against water penetrating the baseboard surface when cleaning tile and grout. The problem with using duct tape is that water can still get under the MDF baseboards and cause them to swell and warp. Also, the masking tape will definitely remove all the paint that was applied to the MDF.

Gluing MDF baseboards before cleaning a tile floor is not a suitable solution to protect MDF baseboards when it comes to cleaning tile and grout. One solution to protect MDF baseboards when cleaning tile flooring is to apply silicone caulk between the MDF baseboards and the tile and grout. The silicone caulk will prevent water from getting under the baseboards and causing them to swell and ruin. Caulking the underside of the MDF skirting will not prevent water from penetrating the surface of the MDF, but most of the water damage to MDF skirting occurs when water gets under the MDF skirting board. The underside of the MDF baseboards are not painted and there is nothing to protect them from water absorption.

Caulking the underside of MDF baseboards before cleaning tiles and grout may be a suitable solution, but it takes a lot of time and effort to seal MDF and you should also wait 24 hours for the putty to dry before cleaning the tiles. tile and grout. Caulking a tile floor and waiting 24 hours for the caulk to dry may not be an acceptable way to protect MDF when cleaning tile and grout. Another solution is to carefully monitor water and cleaning chemicals when cleaning tile and grout.

You can carefully clean a tile floor with MDF skirting by being very careful around water and cleaning chemicals. You should use a scouring pad when applying cleaning products to the edge of the tiles where they meet the baseboards. It is important to use only a small amount of cleaning solution and you should use paper towels or a cotton towel to wipe up excess water and cleaning solution before they get under the MDF baseboards. Being extremely careful this way takes a lot longer to clean the tile floor, but it will prevent you from messing up the baseboards while cleaning the tile and grout.