How to Make Bathroom Floor Grout White Again
I Tried three DIY Grout Cleaners—And One of Them Blew Me Abroad
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The grout on my bathroom floor tile haunts me. It'southward one of those projects I never really accept the time or the initiative to tackle, only I hate how dingy it's become. It's beyond the maintenance stage and in need of a really skillful cleaning.
Since I find myself at home now a lot more than before, I decided it was fourth dimension to tackle some long-procrastinated cleaning projects. To start: weeding out my coat closet, getting myself to Laundry Hamper Zero, and cleaning the damn grout. Permit'due south call them my quaran-cleaning projects.
I asked our Lifestyle Director and cleaning expert Taryn Williford for her best DIY grout cleaning suggestions. She suggested a philharmonic of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda, h2o and baking soda, or warm water and vinegar. Since I had an abundance of time on my easily this weekend, I decided to approach information technology similar a science experiment. I taped off three squares, and got to work. I can't believe I'grand displaying closeups of my grimy grout on the internet, but here we go.
I mixed everything upward in a reusable container from the kitchen, and dug up iii extra dentist office toothbrushes to do the dingy work.
Method 1: Baking Soda and Water
I started with the center square: baking soda and water. I mixed equal parts of both into a container to form a paste (information technology was a picayune thinner than I was expecting, then I added some extra baking soda). I was surprised how quickly this worked! I tried two techniques: the commencement was to let the paste sit for a fleck so scrub. The second was to but dip the brush in the paste and scrub directly on the grout. The second technique was actually more than effective. Overall, the grout was noticeably cleaner, but nevertheless a bit discolored. At this point I started to wonder if a re-grouting projection was in my DIY future.
Last grade: 7/10: This one gets points for simplicity (but one ingredient I almost always have stocked), every bit well as ease and effectiveness. However, the chore isn't 100% done and the grout is notwithstanding pale gray.
Method 2: Vinegar and Water
Vinegar can assistance make clean and so many things, so I had high hopes for this one. I mixed one part vinegar with one part warm water, and got to work. And then I worked. And worked. And nil really happened. Again, I tried a mix of scrubbing and letting the mixture sit for a while, simply it didn't seam to make a difference. While the brush lifted visible/loose particles, making it marginally cleaner, information technology didn't experience like a deep clean of the grout at all. Bummer.
Final grade: 3/ten: I always have white vinegar on mitt, so I'll throw this i a few points. But it overall was disappointing (and a waste of an hour on the flooring scrubbing which just fabricated me… mad).
Method 3: Baking Soda and Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is ane ingredient I don't keep on hand, so I had to expect until my weekly run to the store to option it upwardly. Mixing this 1 up actually felt similar a middle schoolhouse science throwback: the peroxide (one office) and the baking soda (two parts) made for a satisfying sizzle. And as I mixed it up, the paste turned foamy—like a watery shaving cream.
As I first started scrubbing, the results looked very similar to blistering soda and water. But after a few minutes information technology started brightening—and brightening. This 1 required peradventure the most elbow grease (the watery and pasty solutions earlier were easier to spread out). Only it was worth it. Over the hour I scrubbed, it kept looking better than I could take imagined.
Last grade: 9/10. This was by far my favorite—it's been ii days and I'k still delighted. Who knew grout could be so satisfying? I knocked off one indicate considering I had to find hydrogen peroxide.
Grout Learnings
I think part of why I was putting off cleaning the grout was because I was worried I wouldn't exist able to make clean information technology, and that my cleaning procrastination was going to end up costing me money and fourth dimension in re-grouting all those little tiles. But finally facing the project head on was ultimately such a relief—I go along staring at that footling square (I've since removed the record) and feeling so relieved that I found a solution that works.
That said, in one case I finished, I did try to clean the whole bathroom with the winning solution. Just afterward four hours of painstakingly scrubbing those three squares, I just didn't have the arm stamina to continue going. So with that in mind, I actually don't think a toothbrush is the best pick hither. While it's precise, information technology'southward also incredibly slow and laborious. When things settle down, I'chiliad going to find myself a proper scrub brush (OXO makes one for this very purpose), and take on the residuum.
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Source: https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/best-diy-grout-cleaner-test-36737568
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