Has anybody found an effective product or concoction for doing Subject? I have thought that bleach+baking soda, applying as a paste and working it in with a brush might do the job. The commercial grout cleaning products I've tried, most of them in spray applicators, hardly work at all.

I have rigged up a nylon brush so as to attach it to my oscillating power tool, a little aggressive and messy, but much better than scrubbing by hand. I'm a little afraid to do something similar with a brass/bronze brush as I don't want to dig out the grout, just make it light again.

Any solutions that work? Must be acceptable to spousal unit as well, my bleach idea is not real palatable, she seems to think there might be some health risk, so muritic acid or suchlike is probably a non-starter.

We've had good luck making a paste of baking soda and water, and just scrubbing it into the grout with a stiff nylon brush.
Be prepared to do the entire area, since the cleaner grout really stands out when you're finished.

50% vinegar and water in a spray bottle can work if you let it soak for a bit and then brush off. If something stronger is needed, try 50% citric acid and water used the same way.

Once you get it all clean again, I've had good luck with simply not allowing it to get overly dirty in the first place.

I have a pretty large tile shower (around 8' x 4', with dual shower heads). Trying to scrub all that grout at once would be a nightmare. Therefore, I keep a small nylon grout brush on one of the shelves in the shower. Every few days, while I'm already in the shower, I give the grout in one section a quick scrub, using just the brush with no cleaning solution, then rinse it with one of the handheld shower heads. A few days later, I'll do the next section during my shower. This only takes a minute or two at a time, and over the course of a couple weeks, I've made the entire circuit and all the grout lines in the shower have been brushed.

This couple of minutes at a time keeps all the grout sparkling clean, and prevents me from having the spend a long time and use harsher chemicals to try to clean an entire shower's worth of overly dirty grout all at once. (Plus, we all probably spend at least a few minutes just standing in the shower soaking up the hot water and staring off into space... Might as well put some of that idle time to good use. )

It goes back to the old saying about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure.

I also do similar with the tile and door, taking about 30 seconds at the end of the shower to squeegee the standing water off all the surfaces. By doing that, it greatly minimizes buildup, and I only need to hit the tile and door with cleaning spray and a quick wipe down every couple months.

We just did ours. I used Soft Scrub with bleach in the white container and a grout brush with the long handle we picked up from Amazon. The process I used was Soft Scrub straight onto the grout followed by a couple of swipes with the brush then let it sit for 10-15 minutes, then go over with the brush until the desired results, then mop it up. I did a 5x5 or a 3x3 area twice a day. I did not get the results I thought I would get with my cordless drill/brush set up. It took about 2 weeks for the kitchen, hall and vestibule but it turned out great.

They make grout paint/stain pens that work GREAT. The grout will be nice and white (they have a few different colors) and it'll be sealed so it stays fresh looking longer.

quote:

Originally posted by sreding:
They make grout paint/stain pens that work GREAT. The grout will be nice and white (they have a few different colors) and it'll be sealed so it stays fresh looking longer.

That's what I used just before I sold my last house. The realtor said it looked like a brand new installation.

Reviewing the "grout pen" option...these look like they are no more than simple paint pens that cover up the stains. I'm not sure I like that approach, seems like lots of potential unsightliness, not to mention the difficulty of getting a good color match. I'm trying not to have to go over the grout that doesn't need cleaning (yes, I admit that I am lazy).

Just did this in our last house. They sell these things called magic erasers. Like a sponge with a built in cleaning compound. They work great. Plan on using a lot of elbow grease and numerous magic erasers.

quote:

Originally posted by pedropcola:
They sell these things called magic erasers. Like a sponge with a built in cleaning compound.

Magic erasers don't have a built-in cleaning compound. There are no chemical cleaners involved. It's just a microabrasive material (melamine foam), which basically acts like really fine sandpaper and scrapes away surface stains.

They can work great when cleaning dull, hard surfaces like grout, but you do have to be careful where you use them, because the abrasive surface can cause obvious scratches/scuffs/haze on things like paint, polished metal, gloss finishes, softer materials, etc.

My wife uses a small portable steam cleaner made by McCulloch. Uses it for counter, floor and wall tile; works very well.

I get a small disposable paint brush and "paint" the grout lines with bleach. Rinse after 15 min and repeat as necessary.

STAIN SOLVER

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
Reviewing the "grout pen" option...these look like they are no more than simple paint pens that cover up the stains. I'm not sure I like that approach, seems like lots of potential unsightliness, not to mention the difficulty of getting a good color match. I'm trying not to have to go over the grout that doesn't need cleaning (yes, I admit that I am lazy).

It definitely wasn't paint that I got, it was a powder of some sort that went into the grout, then you wiped off the excess. Worked great.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:

It definitely wasn't paint that I got, it was a powder of some sort that went into the grout, then you wiped off the excess. Worked great.

Source? Brand name? There are a multiplicity of these on Amazon, all seem to be paint sticks.

I put baking soda in a condiment squeeze bottle with some water, so I can run it down the grout line. I then spray it with vinegar. wait ten - fifteen minutes and wash it out. SEAL IT!Works great. FYI- I once broke a bottle of red wine on New Grout...wife loved that....mopped it up, sprayed it with H2O2 - peroxide, ad after ten minutes, stain gone...washed it with water and sealed.

I’ve had great results with the same setup as Sig Marine. His idea is even better because he got his wife to do it.

My steam machine also was very effective.
+1

quote:

Originally posted by architect:

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:

It definitely wasn't paint that I got, it was a powder of some sort that went into the grout, then you wiped off the excess. Worked great.

Source? Brand name? There are a multiplicity of these on Amazon, all seem to be paint sticks.

Don't remember the name, but I got it at ACE hardware.

Handheld steamer