Tile flooring is a nice addition to any home, but one of the most difficult parts to clean is the grout. Though you might think that cleaning the grout is quick and easy, the truth is that there is much more to it. You certainly don’t want to damage the grout, and you want to keep it looking great. This tutorial will tell you what you need, and how to clean your grout in your tile floor to keep it looking perfect. After all, even if you think you know how to clean the grout, you might not get it looking exactly the way you want.
What You Will Need
When it comes to cleaning the grout on your tile floor, there are few different ways you can do it. However, you should make sure you have everything you need to clean it properly.
1. Broom/Tile Vacuum
You will need to get off the dirt and debris before you start messing with any water.
2. Water
Water is essential for a lot of cleaning purposes.
3. Baking Soda
Baking soda doesn’t just have to be used for cooking, and it will help you clean your grout.
4. Vinegar
Make sure you get white vinegar, unless you want your floor to smell like apple cider.
5. Spray Bottle
You want to make things easy to clean, not messier than it is.
6. Nylon Brush
This will help you clean the grout.
7. Mop
This will help you clean up the floor when you’re done
8. Rubber Gloves
This way, you don’t spend a lot of time trying to get the cleaning solution off your hands.
Step by Step Instructions
Step One: Create a Paste
You should take the baking soda and mix it up with your water. You should mix three parts of the baking soda with one part of the water. This will create a thick paste, and will assist you with cleaning the grout. Make sure you put on your rubber gloves, as it will protect your hands and fingers from the mix and grout. Apply the paste to the grout as evenly as possible, running your finger from one end of the floor to the other.
Step Two: Mix Vinegar and Water
If you have your spray bottle, you can mix this together and put it in the spray bottle. You want to make sure you use a one to one ratio of vinegar to water. You will then spray the mixture directly onto the paste you put on the grout. Once the vinegar/water hits the paste, you should see a bubbling. This means the mixture of the two products have started the cleaning process. Don’t apply too much vinegar/water, and let it bubble. You don’t need to start scrubbing yet.
Step Three: Take a Break
All that mixing and applying can wear you down, and you should conserve your energy. Allow the bubbling to stop before you move onto the next step. Most of the time, it should only take a few minutes, so feel free to sit down and have some coffee. That’s the whole reason coffee breaks were invented, right? Once the bubbling has stopped, you can then move on to the next part of the cleaning process. Make sure it is completely done before you start scrubbing away. You don’t want to get the chemical reaction on your skin.
Step Four: Start Scrubbing
You don’t need scrubs to do this next part, but you can wear them if you want. The nylon brush will help you get the edges of the grout nice and clean. If you don’t have a nylon brush, you can substitute a toothbrush, but make sure it’s not yours. You should scrub the grout lines, and pay extra attention to the corners and edges. The dirt likes to get trapped in those areas, and the brush should help.
Step Five: Mop Your Floor
Now you will need to get the mop and some plain water. You will mop up the chemicals and residues to make sure it is nice and clean. You should keep the mop rinsed and clean so it doesn’t spread the residue all over the floor. As much fun as it is cleaning your floor, you don’t want to start over.
Conclusion
Your grout probably doesn’t get as much love as it would like, but taking care of the grout is essential to keeping it pristine. There are different ways you can clean your grout, and this way is one of the simpler and safer ways to do it. We hope you enjoyed the article, and if you have a different way of cleaning the grout on your tile floor, feel free to let us know in the comments. Also, feel free to share this article with anyone else that has tile floors that can’t seem to get their grout cleaned.
If you need a guide to clean porcelain tile floors we have it here as well