Out Damned Spot! Out I Say! Best way to clean grout

If you are like me, you have Pinned a hundred different cleaning recipes and techniques, but never got around to trying them. So I will for you. I am going to do a series of posts comparing conventional cleaning methods with some of those I found on Pinterest and in the blogging world. If there is one you are curious about, send it to me and I will see if I can do it.  What do you think? Will any of you be interested in seeing if the frugal, DIY method actually works? I am curious.

I have to say at the beginning, I am truly embarrassed to show you some of the pictures that I have taken for this post. I would prefer to hide them in a folder on my computer and not share them, but I think each and every one of you out there who has tile and grout in their house will appreciate this. So I will share my dirty little secret...my kitchen tile grout.

I am by no means a clean-a-holic, but I do try to keep my home generally clean. Would I eat of my floors? Absolutely not. But I never thought they were as dirty as they were until I moved my island. We had a large family gathering (my daughter's first communion- I will share more on that after I do a few of these posts) so I thought I would turn our island sideways to use as a buffet in our kitchen. Well, when I did that I found out what color our grout was suppose to be.

Do you see the clear line where the island sat? How disgusting. I clean my floor often with one of those amazing Bissell steam mops (I do love it) and although I knew that it didn't clean my grout line well, I had no idea it was this bad!


So, off to the internet I went and found a four grout cleaning methods people raved about. Here are the four different techniques I tested:

• Dawn dish soap and peroxide -recipe below ($1 for soap and $2 peroxide- but probably costs pennies for the amount you need)
• Magic eraser ($1 per eraser)
• Baking soda and water/lemon juice (Pennies if you have it on hand)
• Zep grout cleaner (Home Depot $6)

 

 

Dawn Dish soap and Peroxide

Recipe and Method:
1 part Dawn dish soap (I used the pot scrub type)
2 parts peroxide

Mix the two ingredients in a container or spray bottle and apply directly to the grout. Leave for a few minutes and scrub with a brush.

I found the Dawn dish soap and peroxide combination, AKA miracle cleaning solution, did a very good job! It did not take much scrubbing or time to see the results, but I found the clean up after to be a little sudsy. I used a toothbrush to apply to the grout but I think a ketchup squeeze bottle might work a little better. For a general, every day cleaning of your grout, I highly recommend this method!

 Magic Eraser

 Method:
Dampen your magic eraser and run along the grout line.

Although this method works well for a small spot, it chews through your magic eraser really quickly. I would not recommend this method for cleaning an entire room because you would need so many magic erasers. It does leave little particles of the magic eraser along the grout line that are annoying. I recommend this technique for spot cleaning.

Baking Soda and Lemon Juice

Method:
Dampen grout line with lemon juice and sprinkle baking soda. Leave until dry and scrub with damp brush.

 

To be honest with you, I do not recommend this method for two reasons: firstly, it did not work nearly as well as any of the other methods and secondly, it was a horrible mess to clean up. Granted I was a little heavy handed when I sprinkled the baking soda but I was only doing a small area and I was cursing trying to get the grit off the floor. So trust me, don't try this at home.

Zep grout cleaner and whitener

Method:
Apply solution to grout line (it has a little spout to help apply to the line). Leave for 3 minutes and gently brush grout line. Wipe clean. 

I loved this Home Depot product and the results it produced! I don't love that fact it is a chemical and you need to wear gloves when using it BUT if your grout is as bad as mine...this is the product for you!

The dirt literally just flakes off the grout with hardly any scrubbing. It is fast and has dramatic results.

Here is the order I recommend the four products:

1. Zep cleaner (heavy duty clean needed)
2. Dawn dish soap and peroxide (every day clean)
3. Magic Eraser
4. Baking Soda and lemon juice

Once I get all my grout cleaned with the Zep product, I will reseal it and then use the dish soap/peroxide method to clean in the future. I think the Zep is a little too harsh for every day cleaning but it is needed now to get my grout back to its original state.

Here are some before and after photos (as I hang my head in shame at the before photos):

 But look at this after! I have done this entire area with the Zep cleaner. AMAZING!!!!

I hated my kitchen tiles because they were a dirty white color (not white and not cream), but when I cleaned the grout and it was lightened, my tiles now look more of a creamy taupe. I am soooo happy with the results.

So what do you think? Have you had great results with a grout cleaner? Do you have any tricks to clean something in your house? Please share!

Up next in Out Damned Spot! Out I say- removing permanent marker from a white board. All of use with kids have experienced this problem at least once.

Have a great Sunday.
Stephanie