Thursday, August 16, 2018
Out Damned Spot! Out I Say! Best way to clean grout
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.
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.
Baking Soda and Lemon Juice
Dampen grout line with lemon juice and sprinkle baking soda. Leave until dry and scrub with damp brush.
Zep grout cleaner and whitener
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.
Here is the order I recommend the four products:
- Zep cleaner (heavy duty clean needed)
- Dawn dish soap and peroxide (every day clean)
- Magic Eraser
- Baking Soda and lemon juice
Here are some before and after photos (as I hang my head in shame at the before photos):
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