Grout serves the dual purpose of keeping debris from getting between and under your tiles and adding a finished appearance to your floors and walls.
When your decorative tiles and grout are first installed, they will look fresh and crisp. However, if it is not regularly maintained or cleaned, your sparkling white grout may eventually take on more of a dark and dingy appearance.
So, if you want to find out how to restore your tiling to its former glory, check out some of our tips on the best ways to brighten grout.
What Causes Dark Grout?
Tile and grout tend to be found in high-traffic areas of your home. This combination is frequently used in kitchens for countertops, backsplashes and floors. In bathrooms, it’s often found in showers and bathtubs.
Because these areas see use each day, it is easy for dirt, food particles or mold to accumulate. When this happens, the grout takes on a stained appearance and can look gray, brown or black. If it is not taken care of, that mold can build up and become deeply embedded into the grout, making it very hard to wipe away.
Dangers of Dirty Grout
While dirty grout is unsightly and can decrease your home’s appearance, it can also affect your family’s health. Mold, for example, can cause allergies ranging from coughing to sneezing, or even contribute to respiratory issues. Worse yet, mold may continue growing and begin to take over other areas of a room such as the floor and walls in your bathroom.
To keep your spaces bright and your family healthy, it’s important to know how to clean grout in showers and other moisture-prone areas.
5 Tips on How To Restore White Grout
To help your grout look like new again, you can try out some of these tips:
1. Actively Prevent Dirt and Discoloration
It’s always easier to prevent grout discoloration rather than deal with it after it occurs. You’ll find it beneficial to spend a few minutes each week wiping down tiles and grout with soap and warm water or a little bit of rubbing alcohol to keep everything clean and crisp.
2. Gather All the Needed Supplies
Before you start cleaning, make sure you have all the necessary supplies. To protect yourself, be sure to wear gloves. If you are using harsher chemicals, it’s best to put on goggles or a mask as well.
For all grout cleaning tasks, you will need a stiff-bristle brush and a cleaner, which can be either homemade or purchased.
3. Test Your Solution
Especially when using a new recipe or new type of grout cleaner, it’s best to test it out in a discreet location. You want to ensure it will not discolor your tile or grout before applying it everywhere. Then, always work up to each level of harshness. Start with the most gentle cleaner and then get more aggressive if it is not doing the job.
4. Create a DIY Solution
There are many different DIY recipes that you can make with common household items that will help to whiten your grout. For example, you can use lemon juice, which is a natural disinfectant and whitener, on stains.
Hydrogen peroxide alone or mixed with baking soda creates a good paste.
You can also create vinegar solutions. A mixture of equal parts vinegar and warm water also works to dislodge grime, as will a paste of vinegar and baking soda. Just be sure not to use vinegar mixtures around natural stone tiles.
You can leave all your DIY solutions soaking for 10-15 minutes, scrub, then rinse and seal the grout once it is dry.
5. Use a Commercial Cleaner
You can also find a variety of alkaline cleaners, oxygen bleach and chlorine bleach options on the market. Most of these require you to mix them with water, vigorously scrub and then reseal the grout once you are done. When using these kinds of chemicals, take care to use protection and make sure the area is well-ventilated.
Have Your Grout Professionally Whitened With Cyclone Professional Cleaners
Even though you can learn how to whiten grout yourself, the process can often be messy, time-consuming and even tough on the knees and back depending on where your tile is located.
At Cyclone Professional Cleaners, our technicians can help you save time and energy by handling the task for you. Best of all, we only use organic products so you can experience professional results while keeping your family safe.
Our technicians follow a simple yet effective process for cleaning and whitening grout that won’t mess up your stones or tiles. We first apply a non-toxic cleaner and then work it into your grout. Then, we steam using hot water, apply a sealer and then cure the area. The result is a long-lasting whitened grout that looks brand new.
Contact us today to receive a free quote on our premier tile and grout cleaning services or learn more about our tile and grout replacement.
