Organic Grout Cleaner for Kitchen and Baths
This is a effective and cheap way to make an organic grout cleaner to clean your bathroom tiles. As an added bonus it is also safe for your whole family and environmentally friendly.
What you need- Salt, Baking Soda, Water, and One or Two Lemons.
Direction for making an organic grout cleaner. In a small bowl or cup, mix equal parts of salt and baking soda. Add just enough water to it to make a thick paste. With a soft or medium brush apply to tile walls and grout. This scrubbing paste should help you remove the crud on the tile and the grout. Then wipe off with a wet sponge. It you have any discoloration in the grout apply lemon juice to it. Let is sit for a 10-15 minutes. This should remove some of the stain and help the grout retain its original color.
The salt in cleaning the mixture allows you to gently scrub even hard to reach places. The baking powder whitens a little as it cleans and both of them together act as a disinfectant.
Be careful not to procrastinate tile and grout cleaning to long because it only gets harder to clean the longer you wait.
For cleaning kitchen grout be sure to remove as much of the grime as possible out of the grout before starting. For a deeper cleaning you may want to let the paste sit for a few minutes before scrubbing.
In the bathroom, you may also want to use a separate general disinfectant. Vinegar is a great option as it has been proven to kill 99% of bacteria. Just fill a spray bottle and spray it on. However, recently studies have shown that using Hydrogen Peroxide 3% (the regular supermarket variety) after an application of vinegar is even more effective. A last solution you can use is Borax. Use ½ cup Borax to 1 gallon hot water. You can actually also put ½ cup Borax into 1 gallon vinegar to increase the effectiveness of the vinegar. A last solution is 2T Borax, ¼ cup lemon & 2 cups hot water. Any of these are a great all natural organic grout cleaners and disinfectants.
Filed Under How to Clean Grout | 6 Comments
Cleaning Grout the Quick and Easy Way
This is the 5 to 10 minute method to cleaning grout the quick and easy way. Minute One: Wet grout with water and wipe it with a large soft wet sponge. (I prefer to use a scrubbing brush when the tile is really dirty.)
Minute Two: Spray walls with a grout cleaner/ mildew remover, such as Tilex or 409 bathroom cleaner.
Minutes Three & Four: Scrub grout with a tooth brush or scrub brush capable of getting between the cracks.
Minute Five: Rinse and dry off tile with a towel.
Be sure to follow all the safety instructions on the label of any cleaners that you use. There are also specialty grout cleaners that may outperform the ones we have listed. If you want you can also try out the organic grout cleaning method.
If left unchecked, grout problems get exponentially worse in only a matter of a few weeks. The absolute best way to have clean grout all the time is to do regular maintenance. And cleaning it will never get unmanageable.
What to avoid when grout cleaning your floor.
When cleaning with a mop or a scrub brush, it is important not to embed the dirt into your grout. Embedded dirt sometimes can only be removed by a professional.
To effectively remove embedded grime or mildew you need the right cleaner, time for the tile cleaner to work, proper scrubbing techniques and a high temperature. (Not all professional grout cleaner offer high temperature clean, make sure that your professional does.) The high temperature breaks up grime, sterilizes the grout, and allows the cleaning agents to work better.
Steam cleaning tile or grout is another way to deep clean hard to reach crevices. If the grout has some hard to reach grout crevices, you may consider have the grout and tile professionally sealed in order to make it easier to clean in the future.
Filed Under Grout Cleaning Basics, Tips for Cleaning Grout | 1 Comment
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