Grout cleaner recipes can be easily found all over the internet. But, do they really work? I’ve tried several natural grout cleaners on my toughest stains. Keep reading for my results and find out what actually worked.
Dirty Grout
We built our house in 2015 and chose to do as much of the work ourselves as we could. My husband laid all the tile throughout the house. I never got around to sealing our grout, and while I knew it needed to done, here we are eight years later with unsealed grout lines. I’ve made it my mission to get the grout cleaned and sealed. Being that I like to use less toxic cleaners, finding one that will take on set in stains has been a real challenge. So here is my honest review of DIY Grout Cleaners, and the ones that actually worked.
Our Home
I’d like to think our home style is “collected”. It made up of mostly thrift store finds, and antique furniture I inherited from my family. Since my style is so eclectic and ever changing, I like to keep our floors and walls neutral. We went with a light tile and cream grout in our master bath. I was thinking of a peaceful retreat when we built. I wanted it to be a place of long tub soaks and crisp white tiles. Silly me! With six people living in our house, our master bath has turned into a major hub. It’s where my little special-needs blind dogs eats. My daughter comes down every morning to have help with her hair or to approve her outfit. My son showers there because the other showers in the house are occupied. It’s also where we travel through to get to our master closets. If only I could have seen back then how bad of an idea white tile and grout would be.
DIY Grout Cleaner
Using harsh chemicals in my home is something I try to stay aways from. So when it came time to remove tough stains from our grout, I wanted to find something that wasn’t so toxic. Disclaimer; I didn’t use non-toxic products when cleaning my grout. I chose things that weren’t so caustic. The grout had gone far too long without being sealed, so it was going to take a good product. See the list below for the combinations I tried.
- Baking Soda, Hydrogen Peroxide, Dish Soap: Mix 2 parts baking soda, to 1 part hydrogen peroxide and a couple of drops of dish soap. This combination is all over the internet so it seemed like a viable grout cleaner. Scrub this mixture into the grout with a grout brush and let it sit.
- Vinegar, Baking Soda: Mix 2 parts baking soda with 1 part vinegar to create a paste. Scrub this mixture into the grout and let it sit.
- Tide Laundry Powder and Clorox Bleach: This combination became popular thanks to GoCleanCo. Check out her instagram for all the great cleaning tips. Add 1/4 Clorox and 1 tsp Tide Laundry Powder to 1 gallon of very hot water.
Grout Cleaning Process
Like I said before, the grout in my bathroom has never been sealed. I also chose a light grout, which shows a lot of dirt. I decided to sacrifice a weekend and get the grout cleaned and sealed. The process started by vacuuming and mopping the tile really well prior to attempting to clean the grout. I also used the following supplies:
- Grout cleaning brush
- Standard Scrub Brush
- Various glass bowls and containers for mixing the cleaners
- Old rags for wiping
The cleaners were mixed individually to use them on various portions of the grouts. I tried to use the same tile to compare the results of equally soiled tiles.
Next, I put each mixture on a grout line and scrubbed it in well using the grout brush. I let the mixture sit for 30 minutes prior to rinsing it with warm water.
The Results
Vinegar/Baking Soda
The results of the cleaners were very surprising. I thought the vinegar would work the best, but it was the least effective of three combinations I tried. It did seem to brighten the grout, but it didn’t pull up all of the stains. The grout line remained stained after rinsing. This combination would be great for grout that has been previously sealed, or isn’t too soiled. It isn’t strong enough for my dirty grout.
Hydrogen Peroxide/Baking Soda/Dish Detergent
This was a great grout cleaner. It cleaned and brightened the grout much better than the vinegar/baking soda combination. It also started working much faster. You could let this cleaner sit for much less time than the vinegar and baking soda. It does use quite a bit of baking soda and peroxide for a small area of grout. I have a fairly large master bathroom, so cleaning the whole room with this would require a lot of products. Overall, this is a great option for smaller areas.
Tide Laundry Powder/Clorox Bleach/Water
I found this combination on gocleanco several years ago, and it really is a great multipurpose cleaner. I don’t generally use Tide laundry detergent to wash my clothes, but I do use this enzymatic detergent. The combination of detergent with a little bleach in really hot water really works wonders. This is by far the best grout cleaner I tried. It also covers a large area with very little product. It does take a lot of elbow grease to scrub the grout efficient, but I have never seen grout so clean. I also used it to clean my shower tile. Be sure to rinse the cleaner off very well with warm water, or it will leave a bit of residue.
This combination also works well without the bleach if you aren’t wanting to use that product in your home. I just found that the bleach helped to brighten the grout even more. Over all, this was my top choice.
Conclusion
All of the combinations tested worked, but the water, bleach, and tide worked the best of all the grout cleaning recipes. It was also the most economical for cleaning a large area. However, hydrogen peroxide and baking soda were the second best combination, and less toxic than using bleach. I recommend this recipe if you are cleaning kitchen tile, or a smaller area. I hope I saved you some time and a lot of unnecessary scrubbing.
Thanks for visiting my little farm!
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