I have a pretty good steam cleaner. Just my opinion, but if you couldn't get the tile and grout clean by scrubbing, I doubt that a steam cleaner is going to do it.

If I were going to clean this, I would use a product that the guys on the John Bridge Tile Forums recommend, called Stone Tech Restore. I used it when I needed to deep clean a shower stall.

This is an acid, and you need to be careful with it - rubber gloves, be careful not to splatter it, etc. But, man, this stuff really cleaned the tiles.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stone Tech Restore

when my basement tile floor gets looking bad, I wash it with Spic and Span powder, on my hands and knees. The active ingredient is TSP, tri sodium phosphate. Very strong, avoid getting it on your hands, i. e. wear gloves.

Actually Spic and Span powder has Sodium Carbonate (washing soda) in it, not TSP. Still a harsh cleaner that needs gloves but not as corrosive as TSP. I washed some brick stairs with soda crystals the other night and it helped a little bit but overall didn't look much better than scrubbing with a stiff brush and a mild cleaner.

Maybe try some diluted ammonia with a scrub brush then rinse really well -- sometimes ammonia will help loosen old grime but the smell is horrible and toxic.

Thanks for the correction, Cohoss. My late father had a bucket of TSP he used for tough clean up jobs. He was the one who told me Spic and Span contained TSP. I never looked on the box.

Hi Jannie,
I actually had to look it up to find out. I used to use Spic and Span years ago and found that it was pretty harsh for some things so I was wondering if I had been using TSP in places I shouldn't have been. I didn't know years ago that Sodium Carbonate is corrosive to aluminum, so I'm glad I didn't use it on the shower doors.

Last container of TSP I bought after I got home and read the label it said in BIG letter Phosphate free.
Sodium Metasilicate. A quite alkaline cleaner.

Bakes on hot muflers and exhaust pipes to make a nice finish - Seals leaks in head gaskets too ;)

The phosphate-free versions of TSP contain sodium metasilicate. They are not the same formulation. TSP (by name) contains phosphate. Sodium Metasilicate is still a heavy-duty cleaner but not the same as the old TSP we have grown up with. Both versions have health warnings associated with their use.

jannie, I haven't been able to find Spic and Span powder in many years in my area. Where did you find it? I love that stuff. Back in the day powdered S & S and ammonia was the best cleaner for most everything. I'd love to be able to find the powdered S & S again. Thanks

Both versions [TSP and TSP substitute] have health warnings associated with their use.

It seems that just about everything has a health warning associated with its use. For me, the more health warnings, the better the product - LOL!

Wasn't there a discussion here recently about how TSP is a food additive?