With the world becoming increasingly health conscious and equipped against germs, it’s important to consider all potentially harmful factors in your home to protect your family. Naturally, your flooring selection makes up a large portion of it. Rest assured, tiles are one of the most hygienic surfaces you could find!

Tiles are glass-like/ vitreous floors, making them an ideal wall and floor covering for places such as hospitals and commercial kitchens. They have a very low water absorption and are almost completely waterproof unlike other surfaces such as carpets, wood and even concrete. Naturally, water can contain viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc. The glass-like surface means virtually nothing can penetrate the surface and the low absorption rate means tiles do not absorb water, even from underneath.

Therefore, from a hygiene perspective, porcelain tiles (less than 0,5% water absorption) followed by glazed ceramic tiles (less than 3%) are the best. The key advantage of tiles is that they are quick and easy to clean as they can simply be disinfected and can withstand chemical and acids or alkalis. If you need advice on what to use to clean your tiles, check out our blog article called How To Clean Your Tiles.

The weak point, however, is in the tile grouting. Grout is more porous than tiles and is the inevitable starting point for fungal growth in particular. Grout, therefore, requires special attention; the fewer grout lines, the better. For this reason, large format tiles have become increasing popular as they require smaller grout lines.

A large format tile is considered to be square or rectangular in shape with the length of at least one edge greater than 600mm (nominal) or a facial area greater than 3500cm² (nominal). You can check out our range of large format tiles on our website. Interior designers love the near-seamless effect this creates, and they’ve made good use of these sophisticated tiles in hotels, restaurants and shopping malls. Sometimes, they use bold and dramatic large format tiles to really make a statement like these unique metallic bronze matt porcelain (600 x 1200 mm) tiles.

Since bacteria and fungi flourish in warm and wet conditions, bathrooms are particularly prone to these harmful germs. Ensure that wet areas in your home are dried/ ventilated after use to reduce the chances of germs flourishing and being spread.

Pop down to your nearest showroom to shop our range of beautiful porcelain and ceramic tiles.