Cleaning ceramic tile grout is essential if you want to have a kitchen or bathroom that looks clean with a lot less scrubbing. You don’t want to let discoloration of the grout lines ruin your idea of a clean bathroom. The best way to prevent this from happening is to clean your ceramic grout with a steam cleaner.

Cleaning ceramic tile grout helps to maximize the life and durability of you tile and grout. Effective floor and grout cleaning means that you can quickly remove unwanted germs, grime and bacteria from ceramic tile and grout. The easiest way to do this on large areas or when you are dealing with outdoor tiled floors is by buying a grout steam cleaner.


Steam cleaners use high pressure steam to clean off the tile and grout. It is less corrosive than pressure washing. Also the hot temperature of the steam helps to kills bacteria and it is great at cleaning out porous surfaces. It will take you less then an hour to do most jobs and you will be very satisfied with the results.

If you are doing a smaller area or cleaning ceramic tile floors that are indoors, you can do the job yourself. Below is an explanation for cleaning ceramic tile grout the quick and easy way:

Preparation for Cleaning Ceramic Tile Grout

Mix a mild grout cleaner with water. If you decide to use vinegar or water, you can dilute these with water before you start. With vinegar, you want to use a 1 part to one part mixture. When using bleach, you want to use three parts water to one part bleach. Each one will make a good ceramic tile grout cleaner.

Then the next thing you want to do when cleaning grout, is to dampen the ceramic tile, but try not to get the tiles too wet. Allow the cleaners 5-7 minutes to loosen up the dirt and grime. This can be done effectively using a damp mop. Smooth ceramic tiled surfaces clean up fairly easily. You will probably need a grout brush to clean out the grout. You will spend the majority of your time cleaning ceramic tile grout. Once you have cleaned all the tile and grout, you want to rinse the floor with a 100% water solution. Then you will want to completely dry it with a towel or rag.

If after cleaning ceramic tile grout, there is still grout discoloration, you may need to use a stronger grout cleaner such as Tilex or a stronger concentration of bleach. Be careful with bleach if the grout you are cleaning has an original dark stain. After thorough cleaning, it may also be a good idea to seal the grout. A good grout sealer can last a few years and it will keep dirt and grime from accumulating in the grout crack.

Here are some relevant articles that you may be interested in:
How To Clean Kitchen Floor Grout
How To Clean Bathroom Grout & Tile

Learning how to clean kitchen floor grout is not that difficult, even if you do not have a lot of experience cleaning grout and tile before. This is how I would start:

First of all, you need to sweep the kitchen floor and make sure that all of the loose debris is removed before starting. Also, you want to remove kitchen mats, and any loose objects that might be there. The next thing you would need to do is to select a grout cleaner. There are a lot of different products out there. I like to use a general purpose kitchen cleaner or make my own cleaning solution. You can also make a scrubbing paste by using just a little bit of vinegar and water, and add some baking soda to it. This will give you a cleaning solution that is still slightly acidic. The baking soda will help you to be more effective in scrubbing, and the vinegar will help to clean and disinfect the tile. Apply this to the grout directly and scrub it into the ceramic tile with a brush. Then, allow it a few minutes to soak in. The acid in the vinegar should start to eat through some of the grime that may be staining your grout. Then you want to find a grout cleaning brush. You can use an old toothbrush if you’re on a budget, but if you can afford it, I would recommend that you get a grout scrubbing brush, because they last longer and are more effective. After a few minutes, come back to the area and scrub it again. When you are confident that you have removed most of the stains from your kitchen floor grout, rinse it off with water and then dry with a towel. You can use many different types of cleaners when you’re learning how to clean kitchen floor grout, but my suggestion is that you use milder cleaners in the kitchen, because you are going to be eating in the kitchen and you wouldn’t want it to have a lot of chemicals.

Another suggestion is to just use a grout steam cleaner. Because a steam cleaner can clean with pure water, it is able to disinfect and penetrate the grout because it is pressurized and the steam being released has a very hot temperature. Steam cleaners used to be expensive, but today, you can get a good cleaner for less than $100. Using a steam cleaner is the easiest way I know how to clean kitchen grout.

Find out more about grout cleaning by reading our article, “6 Tips On How To Clean Tile Grout”

On average, grout cleaning in you kitchen bath and hallways, should take you no more then then 15 minutes per room. To clean tile grout, you begin by spraying the surface with a mild disinfectant. Then you allow the disinfectant a few minutes to loosens up the dirt and grime and kill the mold, mildew and bacteria. When it is needed, the next step is to use a grout scrubbing tool or a tool brush to scrub the grout and remove the dirt that has built up in there.

If you are still not able to get the grout clean, or the grout show some signs of discoloration, you will probably need to use a grout cleaner or a grout cleaning chemical. When you are using stronger chemicals it is also a good idea to use gloves. Avoid contact with skin and around the eyes. After cleaning the tile and grout area with a strong chemical, you need to make sure to rinse thoroughly and then dry the area off with a rag or a towel.

For the deepest grout cleaning, you may want to use a grout steam cleaner. The steam from the cleaner should be a able to clean in place that you aren’t even able to reach. The way that is works in that it boils and pressurizing the water and then shoots it at the grout. Typically it works best on grout that is less then thirty years old. Many people like this method a lot because it does not involve any chemical at all and they see it as being more friendly to the environment. After having your grout steam cleaned, you may want to use a grout sealer to seal the porous surface and keeps the grout from getting dirty for a long time.

For the most complete information on grout cleaning and grout cleaners visit www.groutcleaningdiy.com