Even if you’ve been cleaning your tile floors and walls for hours, they don’t look great, and grout between tiles doesn’t look any better. But why?
First, tiles are extremely resistant and easy to clean. However, they also tend to be in contact with humidity, soap, and even grease. This means that if you don’t do a good job cleaning them every now and then, they might look decolored or stained.
Grouts joints might also be the problem. When cleaning, they are usually overlooked so they only continue to get dirtier as time passes.
Let’s read 5 tips for leaving your bathroom, kitchen, or laundry room spotless.
The good old soap and vinegar
For starters, you can take a classic approach. It’s effective and simple. Mix one cup of dishwashing soap with one cup of hot white vinegar. Apply on your tiles using a spray bottle and let sit, then rinse it off with plenty of water.
This will do wonders for removing the typical soap scum and remnants of lotion, but if you need a deep clean then this mix might not do the trick.
Related: Vinegar, a Very Versatile Cleaner
The power of bleach for cleaning tiles and grout
Mold and mildew are common problems in bathroom and laundry rooms, especially in humid places like Dallas. The lack of proper ventilation and sunlight is the main cause of this.
Bleach is a great sanitizing agent that works great for ceramic tiles. It works great on shower floors, but not so much on walls because it dries too quickly.
This solution works for both your tiles and your grout lines. Remember to wear a mask if you need to, and make sure to ventilate the room if possible.
Use a steam cleaner for tiles and grout
You’ve probably heard before the hot water trick (which applies to pretty much every cleaning technique). Due to the grout joints being so small, a steam cleaner with a pointy cleaner can be the perfect tool for you to use.
You can either use tap water, or you can add one part vinegar to two parts distilled water. However, this will create a low pH environment which is the perfect scenario for mold, so make sure you rinse with plenty of water after finishing.
Drill the dirt out of your grout
Now, if you are wondering if there’s a tool for this, don’t look any further. You can get a Power Scrubber or even better, a Drill Bush Set to plug into your drill and create the perfect tool for tiles and grout lines.
And if you are feeling adventurous, you can create your own DIY drill brush! You can do so by attaching a soap dispensing palm brush refill to a 5-inch hex tap bolt.
Just use two split lock washers and a flat washer in between. Get everything set with a hex nut at the end and use a socket wrench to ratchet it down. Not too tight though! You can get a full tutorial on YouTube.
Once you’re all set, you can add a two-part stain remover, one-part water mix into your tiles. Let sit for ten minutes and then start drilling your grout lines!
Related: How to Clean Your Bathroom
Seal your grout regularly
This is the most permanent option and will leave your grout lines looking great for a long time. It’s also the most important step after cleaning the grout because otherwise it will be dirty and stained again in a month, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
After cleaning the grout, you should re-seal it. This is because most grout is porous because it’s made using sand. Therefore, it absorbs any liquid such as water, and you can avoid this using a sealer. There are tons of grout sealers in the market for you to choose from.
If your tiles are big enough, it will be easy to focus on applying the sealer to the grout itself and not the tiles, thus saving some product.
Conclusion
Once you are done with cleaning your grout and tiles, you will realize the impact it will have on your entire floor. It’s going to look a lot cleaner and shiny.
And, with the right technique, it will also be properly sealed against liquids. Don’t forget to contact a professional if you’re just not in the mood for cleaning your bathroom or kitchen tiles for hours.
Have you ever cleaned your grout lines? Do you recall them being a different color before? Let us know in the comments!