The floor in our lower-level bathroom was due for a scrubbing. We believe the grout was white when the tile was installed, but over the years it took on an uncertain shade of gray/tan. Because it’s a small room, I decided to take it on myself. Good times!
There are a million different recipes for DIY grout cleaner on the Internet. At first, I was interested in trying a baking soda and vinegar combination. Cheap and environmentally friendly. But another blogger said vinegar would destroy the grout. Baking soda and peroxide seemed to be the overall winner so I gave it a go.
It is so little fun to be on the floor on your hands and knees spreading a baking soda paste in narrow lines. I imagine I got about as much enjoyment as being at a Kanye West concert.
After the recommended time I used my little brush to scrub away the grime. I scrubbed and rinsed and to my horror, the grout was the exact same colour I started with. What a wasted effort.
I went to Home Depot and bought grout cleaner pens. All you do is draw on, in this case, white. This is an in-progress shot after one pass of the pen.
Who doesn’t like colouring? You have your adult colouring book, I have my bathroom floor. It’s all well and good to do it the non-commercial way, but if it doesn’t work it’s pointless. $8 later and a lot less hassle, my grout-see left me less grouchy!
Grout doesn’t last forever. It gets discoloured, dirty and stained and you can try to clean it, but eventually you’re going to have to reapply the grout which can be as easy as cleaning.