Tile is everyone’s favorite flooring and wall finishing material, as it’s really durable, particularly pretty and normally quite easy to clean. But, sometimes tile grout needs a bit of extra scrub, especially when it gets too grimy at the backsplash area, too moldy in the bathroom or too discolored on the floor.
As in most cases homeowners choose light shades of tile grout during their remodels, they often struggle with keeping it clean and stainless. Unfortunately, kitchen grease and spills, soapy water and high moisture in bathrooms make maintaining the grout’s original color and the seams between the tiles clean quite difficult.
Luckily, professional housekeepers and handy homeowners have a few grout cleaning secrets to share. As they note, there are numerous cleaners and homemade solutions one can use to battle the grimy grout and make it look as good as new. Those products can be found in most households, it will just take a little bit of time and sweat to reach the desirable result.
So, let’s see which cleaners and cleaning techniques work best when it comes to successful grout cleaning. Try the methods listed below in the mentioned order, proceeding to the next one if the previous technique fails to eliminate stains and grime.
Tile grout cleaning tips
1. Warm water and a brush
The first and the most obvious tile grout cleaning technique should be applied on a regular basis, as it deals with moderately dirty grout and mild stains that haven’t manage to set deeply in the seams yet. So, grab a small bucket of warm water, a stiff bristled brush and give your tile grout a good scrub. Feel free to add a few drops of dish soap to water to make this method a bit more effective and get rid of the kitchen grease faster.
2. How to use vinegar to clean tile grout
If your tile looks too dirty and the good old scrub doesn’t help the situation, go ahead and test the magic of vinegar on it. A mixture of one part vinegar and one part water should be able to remove moderate stains and get rid of heavier dirt/grease if you transfer it to the spray bottle, apply the mixture onto the tile seams, let it sit for 5-10 minutes and scrub the grout with a brush (a stiff one or a toothbrush for a better precision).
3. How to clean lightly stained grout
If your grout isn’t stained too bad and you didn’t let it sit like that for a long time, a strong bleach and water cleaner should work just fine. Mix 3/4 cup of bleach and a gallon of room temperature water and use a toothbrush dipped in this solution to scrub the tile grout. Don’t be too rough if the stains refuse to go away, as you may damage the grout. Remember to wear rubber gloves and safety glasses while working with bleach cleaners, as well as ventilate the room not to get lightheaded.
You’re not supposed to clean colored grout with bleach, though, as it will discolor the seams and ruin the appearance of tiled surfaces. Don’t turn bleach products into your tile cleaning staple as well, as its frequent application will destroy the grout, crumble it up and lead to regrouting. Use this method as an emergency solution only.
4. Tough stains on grout
Bleach and water cleaner is recommended for both light and tough stains, but if you’re looking for something a bit more powerful, mix 3/4 cup of bleach with 1/4 cup of baking soda to create a thick paste, apply it on the tile seams and let it work for 5-15 minutes. Then, scrub the grout with a toothbrush (not too hard not to damage it) to work the cleaner deeper into its surface, let it sit for another 10 minutes and rinse everything with water.
5. Commercial grout cleaners and steam cleaning
Generic house cleaners may help you clean the tile grout as well. Use either your favorite all-purpose cleaner or a foaming tile grout cleaner (which is proven to work better) to clean the seams between the tiles, but make sure to choose the safest, pH balanced products for your family and avoid heavy duty cleaners as much as possible.
Steam cleaning machines may improve the operation of commercial grout cleaners by lifting up the dirt and stains from the grout to its surface and making it easier to wipe it off. A lot of companies produce steam cleaners for residential use, many stores and house cleaning companies offer them for rent if you don’t want to purchase an appliance you won’t employ in your regular cleaning routine.
6. Severely stained grout
Unfortunately, if the grout is severely stained and none of the numerous tile grout cleaning methods you tired succeeded at bringing it back to life, you should probably abandon your pointless efforts and look into hiring tile contractors from HireRush.com to get the most affected areas regrouted. It won’t cost you as much as you think, but it will prolong the life of your tiled services.
