Ask and you shall receive. Here is how we took what we thought was black grout in our new house back to the white beautiful grout!
*All supplies are linked at the end!
First up was the tears when we walked in and saw rugs removed to realize it wasn’t black grout like we thought it was just dirty because it was white where the rugs were. Then there was google on how to deal with it and plenty of asking around the office. General conclusion was… scrubbing bubbles. Alright game on.
It did ehh but not “hey it’s all white again”… it still looked dingy dirty. So to the expert… Liz. I rarely talk about Liz but everyone needs a Liz in the family. Liz knows about all things cleaning and has saved my sanity numerous times over the years because I’m a hot mess and she saves me from ruining things. All credit for cleaning goes to Liz and is being shared with her permission.
Alright so what I’m about to tell you is fine for tile that has never been sealed or tile that is due to be resealed (yes you are supposed to reseal you’re tile+grout every two-three years.) *If you have sealed tile and are just cleaning without plans to reseal all you can do is soap, water, the brush, and elbow grease.*
1) toilet bowl cleaner on the grout lines and let it sit for 15 minutes
2) mix dish soap, a degreaser, and water then get a brush and go over the grout lines (we didn’t measure, we did a squirt of dish soap and roughly half and half degreaser to water)
3) use the same mix from number 2 with a larger brush going over the whole tile face and in the grout lines again
4) mix vinegar, gonzo, and water (equal parts water and vinegar and then add gonzo) then get your brush and hit the grout lines again making sure there is zero blue from the toilet bowl cleaner stuck in there (super important because if any gets left it actually collects more dirt it that spot)
5) pure water bucket and mop it up (it is going to be some dirty water and you may have to mop it more than once)
Go in sections. You want to keep it wet throughout the process. It is going to look like it isn’t working. I know. I know. Just keep going. For your really heavy traffic areas repeat steps 2-4 a second time with some scrubbing bubbles before you mop. If you go in big areas and it drys between steps the dirt has already settled back in. Don’t make the same mistake we did, keep it wet during the cleaning cycle.
Pro tip: duck squats suck and there’s no amount of Crossfit that will have you prepared to waddle on the floor long enough scrubbing! Get a garbage bag and sit on it like a magic carpet while you scoot around cleaning, unless you have a mechanic friend and can get your hands on one of the things they use to slide under cars!
Let it dry completely for 24 hours to make sure it is the color you want (it will lighten as it dries). The picture above is the wet color, when the grout dries it looks seamless with the tile on the left. If not, clean it again. If it is the color you want, seal it!!!!
When we got to this point we realized the grout was really low in some areas and needed to be raised before we could seal it. So we had an additional step to add grout that matched the clean color.
To seal we used Zep. We gave it a good mop with a degreaser, then a mop with water, then mop with the sealer. I would have done a major vacuum of each room first and locked it off. There are some Jackson furs stuck under the seal that didn’t come all the way up when mopping. Whatever. It is better than before. Lesson learned, I’ll do it different next time we reseal and y’all won’t make the same mistake!
All the cleaners, brushes, and sealant used are linked here on this floor cleaning list Amazon. Once you finish you’re going to be exhausted but so dang pleased with the results and just want to lay on the tile for days!
We will take monthly pictures of the same spots to see how it holds up and let you know how frequently we decide to basically strip them down and reseal to keep the floors looking like new.
Be sure to tag us if you try it and let us know how it goes!
XO
The Mr. & Amanda