Tile pros: What is the best way to clean grout lines?

[JonT]

From your experience, what are the best products or tools to use to clean grout and tile. My kitchen tile needs cleanup and I want to try cleaining it before I decide to grind out the grout and redo. I'm hoping there is a way to clean it first.

[DARISC]

Have you tried Clorox?

[EdT82SC]

Dilute the bleach in hot water, and use a stiff bristle brush to scrub it a bit. Make sure to wear clothes you don't mind getting thrashed.

[trekkor]

Hold everything!!

Grinding out takes longer than re-doing and looks awful.

Here's the hot deal

Use a heavy duty grout cleaner that you water dilute. Home Depot sells one under the 'Miracle' brand.

Mix it 1:1 if your grout is really bad.
Get the grout joints very wet.
Using a stiff nylon bristle brush, agitate the grout deeply and let the cleaner dwell for a while ( 20 minutes ).
Go back over it with the brush a second time.
Rinse the grout several times with fresh water each time to neutralize the acid in the cleaner.

Let it dry overnight.

Here's where you make your decision:
If you like the results, wait three days for the water to fully dry out, taking care not to stain the raw grout.

Use 'Miracle' '511 Impregnator' solvent based sealer.
Paint it on the joints liberally.
Buff the excess sealer off the edges of the tile before it drys.
You're good for a few years!!

If you DO NOT like the results of your deep cleaning, here's another solution.
They make a product called "Epoxy grout colorant".
It's a grout 'paint/sealer'.
I've had very good and long lasting results but it is time consuming and tedious.
You can change the color of the grout if you like.

You'll want to work in small areas and give yourself plenty of time and attention to take this on!!

Using a narrow bristle paint brush, apply onto cleaned joints letting the 'paint' get on the edges of the tile slightly. You'll want to'work it' into the pores of the grout with a back and forth motion to achieve full coverage.

Let it set for about 30 minutes.
Taking a damp clean white towell, gently scrub the 'paint' off the edges of the tiles.
Do not scrub the joints. It won't come off with light pressure.

After the entire installation is colored let it cure for a week or so before scrubbing the joint for regular cleaning.
This will produce a very even colored and virually stain-proof grout.

It works best on 1/8- 1/4 inch 'sanded' grout.
Light tan colors look most real ( grout-like ).
White looks like 'paint'.


It's one of my least favorite jobs, but the results are very satisfying.

Have fun!!


KT

[slodave]

Watching a hot blond in a French Maid uniform.

[911Rob]

There are no tile experts that post on this board.

kidding Trek!

[Paul T]

+1 on the grout colorant and sealer. I just finished my very large kitchen floor and it looks great. Grout MUST be sealed or all your effort will go to waste quicky. It's very time consuming, but well worth the effort. I used the polyblend brand from HD and have had great results with it (used in the past also). You will read on some forums less than stellar reviews for this product but I've found it to work well if applied correctly. The one caveat I will say about it though (if you are using a color) is that is can and does often dry a different color. So you may have to try a few sections and colors to find what you are looking for.

Be wary of all of these vinegar solutions, etc., they can do more harm than good. Do you know if you have sanded or unsanded grout? How big are the grout lines (width)?

[URY914]

I knew Trek would have a Home Depot solution.

[turbo6bar]

Servicemaster guy uses a product called Viper Venom. Apply, agitate, and then remove with a steam cleaner/extractor. Seal with favorite grout sealer. Finis.

[id10t]

Heh. When we tiled our kitchen and entry hall, we chose charcoal grey grout for this very reason...

[onewhippedpuppy]

Tried nearly everything listed here to repair grout in my previous home's shower. Ended up grinding out the grout with a Dremel and special grout grinding bit, then re-grouting. Buy a lot of beer for this project, NOT FUN. Still better than replacing tile I suppose, it was all in excellent shape.

[Rot 911]

Almost every tile cleaner is mostly diluted bleach. Try that first.

[URY914]

I never understand why people want white grout. It's white for about a month, than light grey, grey, dark grey, black. See a pattern here?

[gr8fl4porsche]

If its white - use a product by Clorox called The Bleach Pen. It is a concentrate bleach gel in an applicator that is perfect for grout lines. Much better than the regular stuff since it will hang on a vertical surface all day.

Let us know how it works.

[stomachmonkey]

Did this several times.

Last house had 800 sq ft of custom silver grout on the 1st floor.

2 kids, 3 cats and a Mastiff so you can imagine what toll that took.

1st time I did the bleach and brush on hands and knees.

WARNING!!! Even wearing elbow length rubber gloves some of the water got into the gloves. The water carried some of the grout that came up while scrubbing. When I pulled the gloves off I found the "sand" had worn away a good amount of skin especially on my finger tips. Hurt like a m'fr for a week.

Second time I just pulled the power washer and shop vac into the house. Worked real well till the wife came home and saw what I was doing.

Third time I hired a pro crew. They got it clean, fixed all the cracks and loose stuff that popped up over 10 years, reset loose tiles, sealed, polished, it basically looked brand new.

Best $800 I ever spent.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Power washer in the house.......what a great mental image.

[trekkor]

Originally Posted by URY914

I knew Trek would have a Home Depot solution.

Always...



KT

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Power washer in the house.......what a great mental image.

Oddly enough the pros I hired used something very similar to my "bright idea".

It was more or less a deck brush attachment for a pressure washer with an integrated vacuum.

[trekkor]

Just to be clear. It's sealer or colorant.

The grout needs to be stripped clean before either can be applied.
The colorant will not stick to sealer. Especially "511".



KT

[LeeH]

I use STEAM! Saw VaporJet products at a home show once. It's an industrial version of the steamers sold through infommercials. Thought "Wow" what a great product... but there's no way I'm spending $2000 on one.

A couple of years later saw one on Craigslist. A guy who used to use one in his restaurant was selling it for $150.