I just have to say, this whole grout cleaning thing has become a slippery slope for me.
I don't know how it's possible that I could go 5 years or so without cleaning the grout, and now that I'm finally tackling it I can't seem to stop... but there you have it. When I bought the cleaning supplies, I also bought a sealer to use afterwards (so that hopefully it won't get so dirty in the future!).
Now I can't bring myself to use the sealer because I keep wondering if I can get it even cleaner and whiter-looking! I don't want to seal in the slightly greyish grout if I can get it truly white again, do I? Late last night before I went to bed, I cleaned it again the way I did on Tuesday (although it didn't take an hour this time). There was no noticeable difference. Today I bought some Bar-Keeper's Friend and I'm considering trying that next.
Somebody stop me!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
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14 comments:
Grout cleaning as an addiction, who knew?
good for you-right now i'm in one of my non-OCD phases. (like everything else, i only have 2 modes: OCD or very far from it. No gray area.) I need to be more OCD so I can resume normality! (or what passes for...)
good for you-right now i'm in one of my non-OCD phases. (like everything else, i only have 2 modes: OCD or very far from it. No gray area.) I need to be more OCD so I can resume normality! (or what passes for...)
Try hydrogen peroxide. IMHO the ultimate grout cleaner.
This is a good addiction, right? I'm all or nothing too so I know what you mean about the occasional OCD.
Ooh, I'll have to look in my Kim and Aggie book for you. They're always concocting strange pastes out of bicarbonate of soda, toothpast, vinegar and lemon juice to get things spotless!
Here is the newest thing I know about cleaning difficult things. The Magic Eraser. We had persistent gray, soap scummy build up on the shower floor which nothing, including elbow grease, seemed to be able to remove. My daughter got down there with the magic eraser and some soft scrub cleanser and it was pink and beautiful in about 10 min with very little effort. I wonder if would do grout? The ease of it would be worth a try.
In my last house, we had tile and light grout. It was looking dark in the traffic areas. I bought a $60 small steam cleaner -I went crazy and did the whole entry, hall, kitchen -it steamed the grime right out of there! No cleaners and chemicals needed. It was sooo fun -not kidding -to see the dirt blast out of there!!
Get knee pads, cleaning rags, and a toothbrush or stiff attachment & steam till your heart's content!HA.
Oh ya. and the steamer ;)
i used to clean the baby blue grout in an old cleaning client's kitchen. i used a clorox bleach pen, and the results were truly miraculous. apply to the grout, let sit, scrub, and be amazed! oh, and were there actually black and white polka-dotted rubber gloves in that picture?...and i thought my pink ones were pretty fly. good luck!
I hate cleaning, but I loooove trying new cleaning products. For about two seconds. And then I am done.
hey if you are at it, mind as well combat it...good for you. however, tile is hard especially if you are dealing with white...it could make your mind go nuts
How did I not see this one? Hm...
I want some of your OCD cleaning...I would take OCD cleaning towards grout even though I need it towards much larger things! I could totally see it getting out of hand though- not wanting to seal it. I love your gloves btw!
:)
Michelle, just go with it. Follow the addiction wherever it takes you. Nobody ever had to go to recovery because they found themselves having to have clean grout! Actually, I want to know where you got your grout cleaner. Mine could probably use a good scrubbing itself. Hey, when you get yours clean enough, maybe you could come over and do mine--if the need to scrub is still strong, that is! ;)
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