Grout, unlike the tiles it holds together, is porous and naturally light-colored. This makes it prone to mold, staining, and water damage. Since there few waterproof grout alternatives, you have to figure out how to take good care of the grout in your bathroom, if you are keen on keeping it spotless.
While calling in professional tile and grout cleaners to do the heavy cleaning or re-grout your tiles at least once a month is inevitable, there is still a couple of things you can do to keep things looking presentable between these professional checks.
Do the Daily Cleaning Routine
You can halt premature staining and damage by spraying and wiping on a daily basis. Though annoying, this simple act can get rid of any dirt and residue when it is still fresh, making your deep cleaning efforts easier.
Invest in a good squeegee to make the wiping easier instead of using a rug. A squeegee with a sponge on one side, just as the one used to wash car windshields, will do a great job. Investing in a spray cleaner or mixing 4:1 water to vinegar solution and spraying it onto the tiles before cleaning also helps make stains easier to remove.
Weekly Cleaning is Mandatory
While the daily cleaning will keep your walls and glass cleaner after each shower clean, you still have to deep clean every week or two Weekly cleaning can help get rid of body oils and soap scum that clings onto the grout surface. Ideally, you won’t have to scrub so much since your daily cleaning will be getting rid of most of the dirt.
Use a grout brush or an old toothbrush to clean the grout using baking soda paste. After careful rubbing, rinse your tile walls or floors with clean water. If the stains on the grout are tough and don’t respond to the baking soda paste solution, use some hydrogen peroxide instead.
Meanwhile, if you use vinegar as your daily cleaning agent for the tiles, rinse the tiles first before using the peroxide, as a reaction between the two could be dangerous. You can use cleaning agents with peracetic acid that combines vinegar and peroxide into one effective mix.
How to Take Care of Seriously Stained Grout
If your grout is already seriously stained and grimy, you have to bring in the heavy guns. A bleach pen can apply appropriate bleach to the stained section of the grout and restore its original, lighter look.
In cases where most of the grout are discolored and dirty, you will be better off calling a professional to assess the situation. Grout cleaners can better decide whether to bleach your existing grout or scrape off bits of them to make room for a fresh coat that isn’t stained.
The best way to keep your bathroom clean day in day out is by combining daily and weekly cleaning. However, you should also be prudent enough to call in a contractor to reapply the grout once it is too old or stained to fix with even the strongest bathroom cleaning agents. This is what it takes to keep your bathroom looking new for longer.
