Some grout cleaning machines look and behave a lot like a carpet cleaning machine. These machines work on the principle of steam cleaning. Steam is expelled out of the machine under high pressure and penetrates deep into the grout. Then a powerful vacuum uses suction to pull the dirty water into a basin in the machine. Steam cleaning grout can be very effective if the grout is not too stained and you clean it regularly. Steam alone will not work very well on tough stains or stains caused by mildew.

Other grout cleaning tools uses brushes to help get the job done. The most popular models have a circular bottom. There are usually one or two outlets for high pressure streams of hot water. The water streams are enclosed in a circular curtain brush. The water comes out hot and with a lot of force. The brushes then scrub the grout in the curtain. With these types of grout cleaning machines, you usually apply a cleaner to the floor first so that the hot water can activate oxygen bleach or other cleaning chemical. These machines usually require a water source and a tank to collect the dirty water. That is why they are most often used by professional grout cleaning services and are hooked up to a truck like in this video.

The best place to try to find grout cleaning machines for your own use is online. This type of cleaning equipment is not typically sold in home supply stores or to the public. It is fairly specialized and usually is bought by businesses. Another good place to buy equipment like this is from cleaning services that are going out of business. Cleaning companies will be looking to liquidate their assets and might be willing to sell you their used equipment at a good price.

The first tip is that the best grout cleaners know the easiest way to clean grout is to do it often. If you spend ten to fifteen minutes a week cleaning the shower tile grout, then you will never get that black build up of mildew or mold that takes intense scrubbing and extremely harsh chemicals to fade. Get into a routine where you spend a little bit of time at a certain hour every week so that the grout cleaning becomes part of your routine. Once you get into that routine it will seem like you always did it, and you will never have to rent expensive equipment or spend hours doing marathon grout cleaning sessions again.

A second tip is that you should use the gentlest grout cleaner possible to get the job done. Some grout cleaning products are quite abrasive and using heavy duty chemicals could slowly erode or damage your grout. Cleaning grout with vinegar is one of the least harmful ways to achieve clean grout. Use a one to one solution of vinegar and water. Never use a professional strength grout cleaner when a more mild option will work. Remember that the best grout cleaner is the one that gets your grout clean, not the most expensive or most intense.

Another tip to remember when you clean grout yourself is that you do not have to do it all with a grout cleaning brush. A grout cleaning machine can make the job go a lot more quickly and efficiently. You can rent grout cleaning equipment from floor cleaning companies or you could even hire them to come in with the equipment and have a professional grout cleaning service. You need to weigh the value of your time against the cost of professional grout cleaning. Just remember that you usually get what you pay for when you hire someone to clean grout. If you want to be absolutely assured of the quality of the work, then you should clean the grout yourself.

Many installers do not seal grout because you have to wait at least 30 days after installation to do so. As a result, unfortunately many homeowners never realize they have not sealed their grout until it is too late. If you are in doubt then I would suggest sealing your grout soon. There are two types of sealant commonly used. The first is a penetrating sealer that chemically attaches itself to the grout to repel water. The second is a topical sealer that coats the surface of the grout and repels stains and water. There are pros and cons to both.

The topical sealer will eventually wear off and need to be reapplied. Application is usually needed once every two years. This option sometimes leaves a plastic appearance to the grout and should not be used in areas that get extremely wet like showers. The main benefit of this type of sealant is that it is less expensive and easy to apply. Obviously, the penetrating sealers will be more expensive and last longer. They are more appropriate for wet environments like a tub or shower. Whichever type you choose make sure that you allow at least 24 hours for the sealant to dry before walking on or using the tiled area.

Even if you keep your grout clean and use sealant, it may be necessary to repair your tile grout at some point. You will know it is time for repair when the grout has started to crack or tile has started to come loose. I would recommend that you hire a professional to do it, but if you are feeling confident about your home improvement skills then you can try to do it yourself. The project usually means re-grouting the worn or cracked areas and then sealing them. The new grout will need at least 48 hours to harden before sealing. Making the grout look even and not ruing your tile can be tricky so that is why I strongly recommend professional help.

When tile is installed, the grout is not chosen randomly, the color and texture of your grout is chosen to best compliment the tile. If the grout gets dirty, you lose the overall look that you were going for when the room was designed. When people wait long periods between grout cleanings, they are often amazed at how much better the room looks when the color and texture of your grout is allowed to show.

In addition to the decorating details that come through with cleaning your grout, you also get a better impression of the cleanliness of the room. Cleaning a tile floor is not truly complete until the grout is cleaned. You can scrub the tile daily and still not have the room look completely clean because your grout is dirty. Cleaning the grout will make the entire space feel cleaner.

Besides the esthetic reasons, you might want to keep your grout clean for health reasons. I know that adults do not spend a lot of time on their hands and knees and will probably not pick up lots of dirt, mold or mildew from their grout. However, if you have small children or if children ever visit your house, then they could pick up all kinds of things from your grout. Children spend a great deal of time on their hands and knees and they end up putting their hands in their mouths for various reasons without washing them. Dirty grout could lead to aggravating allergies or exposing children to germs even if you keep the tile clean.

Finally, if you keep your grout clean then you will add value to your home. Small things like clean grout indicate to a prospective buyer that you have cared for your home and will make them more confident about purchasing it from you. It can also be much more subtle. If you keep the grout clean then the room will look more like new and people are more likely to want to pay top dollar for a newer home than for an older one. Even if your house is not brand new, clean tile grout can give the impression that it is newer.

Usually a carpet cleaning company will have tile and grout cleaning services as part of their portfolio. The service men and women will typically use a powerful pressure washer that has a hot water rinse and high intensity vacuum built in to suck out the dirt and make sure there is no mess left behind. In addition, they use heavy-duty cleaners that are not always available to the public for use or sale. These techniques will scrub your grout deeper and more powerfully than you ever could yourself unless you chose to buy an industrial tile and grout cleaner. If you prefer not to use harsh chemicals then there are also services available that use simple steam cleaners. However, this option does not work well if your grout is severely stained.

Professional grout cleaning typically takes much less time than if you undergo this chore yourself. That is because of the high tech equipment that the technicians have at their disposal is very efficient and will get the job done in no time. Supervising a professional cleaning service could take much less time out of your day than if you did it yourself. You will also save your back and knees the torture of kneeling on a hard tile floor for many hours hunched over in an uncomfortable position. If you clean your own grout then you often do not get to enjoy the proceeds of your labor because you are in too much pain afterwards. The best grout cleaners are the ones who work smart, not hard.

Many people choose to compromise and hire a service to clean their tile and grout at the same time that they get their carpets cleaned, which is every year or every other year. Then they do cleaning on their own in the interim. If you occasionally pay a professional then the cleaning you endure in between sessions is usually not too bad as long as you keep to a schedule and clean often. If dirt does not get the chance to get ground down too deep into your grout, then the cleaning is not such hard work. However, you should still consider hiring someone occasionally because there are always things that are not easily seen with the naked eye that a professional grout and tile cleaning service will succeed in cleaning up.

There are many options when it comes to the cleaner that you can use on your grout. If this is one of the first times you are cleaning your grout, then I would suggest a commercial or professional strength grout cleaner. Generally, you mix one cup of the professional cleaner with two gallons of hot water, but be sure to carefully follow the manufacturer’s directions. Your best bet is to find a supplier online that sells to the public. The grout cleaners you find at local hardware superstores often say professional strength but are not of the same caliber. If you have already done a cleaning or two with the real professional strength cleaner then these lower strength products will suffice. Other options include one cup of an oxygen bleach like Oxiclean in two gallons of hot water or a mixture of one cup of chlorine bleach with two gallons of hot water and one tablespoon of liquid dish soap. Once you have cleaned your grout with these potent chemicals, you can do subsequent cleanings with lighter options like baking soda or vinegar. Whatever solution you chose, you want to let it sit on the grout for one to two minutes for minor staining or as much as five to ten minutes for heavy staining.

Once you have chosen your cleaning product you will need to choose a brush to do the actual scrubbing. The most important characteristic of that brush should be the bristles. Soft bristle brushes will not be able to get the dirt out from deep in the grout and an extremely hard metal bristle brush will actually tear the grout to pieces. The best bet is a strong polyethylene bristle brush. If you can find one with a v-shaped contour that would be even better because then you can really get into the cracks of grout and not just clean the surface. One other attribute to your grout cleaning brush that would be nice is a long handle so that you can brush standing up and do not have to be down on your hands and knees with a hand held brush.

Once you have scrubbed the grout to your satisfaction you will need to clean up the residual mess. Some people use a damp cloth or paper towel to clean up the excess cleaning solution and dirt that came out of the grout as they go. Others will clean a larger area around ten by twelve feet and then use a wet/dry vacuum to clean up the mess. Whichever you choose, be sure to finish the job with a good mopping of the entire tiled floor.

A before and after picture of kitchen floor tile grout.

If it is so hard and unpleasant, why is tile grout cleaning so important? Isn’t it good enough to keep your floors clean? The truth is that clean grout is very important. First, you need to think about the decorating benefits. When tile is installed, they do not just use any grout. Tile grout is chosen specifically to accent the colors and textures of the tile. When the grout gets dirty, the overall design effect that you were trying to accomplish is diminished. You will be amazed at how much better any room looks once the tile grout is clean.

Another benefit of grout cleaning is the overall impression of cleanliness. This can be extremely important when you are trying to sell your home. When prospective homebuyers walk through a home that is less than sparkling, they tend to get a lower opinion of the space. If you had two identical houses for sale and one was clean and the other dirty and cluttered, the clean one would probably sell for more money. First impressions are very important when selling a home. Clean tile grout can make the entire room look brighter and larger. These are both very important attributes when you are trying to sell a home. Even if you are not selling your house, having clean grout will make you feel better every time you walk into your bathroom or kitchen. Imagine how relaxed and refreshed you will fell walking into a foyer or great room, where the floors are bright and the room feels open. Tile grout cleaning can make you feel better about your home.

One last benefit of grout cleaning is perhaps the most important because it has to do with the health and well being of you and your family. Even if you keep your tile floor clean, your grout can absorb many bad things. Dirt, bacteria, mold, and mildew can easily find their way into your clean tile grout and over time, it sinks deeper and deeper. Since most adults do not spend much time on their hands and knees, it might be hard to notice this phenomenon or care about it much. However, if you have children or pets, or if children or pets ever visit your home, then they are in very close contact with these conditions. Mold, mildew, and bacteria can aggravate allergies or even cause illness. That is why it is very important to keep your grout clean.

Now that we understand why it is so important to keep your tile grout clean, we will discuss some grout cleaning tips. This might sound too simple, but the best way to clean grout is to never let it get dirty. Ha ha, you might say. That is easier said than done. How is it possible to never let it get dirty? Even if you never used a room, there would still be dust to get the grout dirty. Of course, I do not mean that you can never let any dirt touch your grout. Never the less, you can make sure that it never gets too dirty. If you clean your tile grout regularly, then you will never be faced with the chore of a major cleaning product or having to hire a professional grout cleaning service. You can have incredibly clean grout by just spending ten to fifteen minutes a week doing light cleaning. Yes, you do still have to get down on your hands and knees, but the task is much more manageable. Remember, the best grout cleaners are the ones who work smart and not hard.

Another way to be smart about your grout cleaning is to use a sealant on all your grout. Most people assume that the grout is sealed when the tile is installed, but this is rarely the case. You must wait 30 days from the time of installation to seal grout so usually the tile installers are long gone by then. So, it falls to you to seal grout yourself. First, you want to make sure that you are starting with clean grout. The last thing you want to do is seal dirt or mold into your grout. Second, you need to decide what kind of sealant you want to use. Topical sealers coat the surface of the grout and repel stains and water that way. This type of sealant will need to be reapplied about every two years because it wears off. However, it is extremely easy to apply. The more complicated option is a penetrating sealer that chemically attaches itself to the grout. These sealers are more appropriate for wet environments like a shower or tub.

However good intention we are and no matter what prophylactic measures we take to keep our tile grout clean, you will still need to clean it every so often. Tile and grout cleaning equipment is actually simple and the grout cleaning cost, if you clean grout yourself, is relatively low. The most important thing is to make sure that you are properly protected, especially if you are using harsh chemicals. Always wear latex or nitrile gloves when cleaning your grout. Almost all grout cleaners are somewhat abrasive and the gloves will protect your skin. You also should wear eye protection. The scrubbing action sometimes causes small splashes and it can have devastating effects if you get harsh bleach or cleaning chemicals in your eyes. Lastly, you want to be working in a well ventilated area and wearing a non-woven mask so that you do not breathe harsh chemical fumes. Fumes can quickly overcome an individual if they are not careful. It is hard to recognize the symptoms of overexposure until it is too late. That is why it is also a good idea to have someone close by to monitor your progress and condition. Who knows, maybe they can even help along the way. You can buy all of these personal protective items from a local hardware store like Home Depot or Lowes.

The next piece of equipment that you will want is your brush. There are three things to consider when deciding on your brush. First, and most important, is the type of bristle. You cannot use a soft bristle brush like a toothbrush because the soft bristles will not be able to penetrate deep into the grout and will fall apart after a small amount of vigorous scrubbing. You need a harder bristle. However, metal brushes are also not a good idea because the hard metal bristles will damage your grout because they can tear it up. The best material for your grout cleaning brush is polyethylene or some other kind of plastic bristle. You want to bristles to be firm or stiff. The second thing to consider is the size and shape of your brush. You might be tempted to get a large brush thinking that you could scrub more surface area with one pass. This is a good idea if you are cleaning a large surface area, but the fact is that grout is usually very thin. If you are trying to clean two lines of grout with a large brush, you are not going to be able to exert the necessary amount of pressure over a large surface area. It is better to scrub one line of grout at a time. The best shape for your grout cleaning brush is a V shaped brush. These brushes will have longer bristles in the middle so that the brush surface comes to a V. These are the best brushes for cleaning grout. The third thing to consider is the handle. You could have an advantage if your grout cleaning brush had a long handle. You will not have to crawl around on the floor hurting your knees and back. In addition, you can get more power behind your strokes if you are standing and putting your whole body into it. However, it is harder to see the progress you are making from a standing position. If you are using a handheld brush and kneeing down you can see really well. You need to weigh the pros and cons of each before making your decision. It might be a good idea to have one of each so that you can do one pass on standing and then get on your hands and knees to touch up.

Once you have chosen a brush, you need to start thinking about what cleaners you want to use. What is the best grout cleaner? I do not think there is an answer to that question. Whatever works the best is the best grout cleaner for you. Nevertheless, conventional wisdom says that you should use the least chemically abrasive technique available to you to clean your grout. If the less harsh treatments work there is no reason to expose your family and pets to the harsh chemicals. The least harsh treatment available is just water and/or steam. The first step in any grout cleaning project is to wipe the offending area with warm water. This will take away any excess dust and loose debris that you do not need scrubbing to remove. Steam, is the next step. Of course, you need a grout cleaning machine, like a steam cleaner, to get steam. Steam will penetrate down into the grout and the suction on a steam cleaner will then pull the water and dirt out. You can rent grout cleaning machines or you could purchase one. If you do decide to purchase, make sure you have other uses for the steam cleaner, because hopefully you will keep up with your grout cleaning chores and will not need heavy duty cleaning very often.

The next options I would try are those you can accomplish with some simple household items. A one to one mixture of vinegar and water is a good starting point. When scrubbing your grout, a circular motion is best in order to remove the most dirt and grime. Sometimes the back and forth motion can actually imbed dirt deeper in the grout as you go back and forth. The circular motion picks up the dirt and then pushes out to the sides. Another good home remedy is a baking soda paste. Add a little bit of water to the baking soda and then rub the paste onto the dirty grout. After these, normal household cleaners like Mr. Clean, Lysol, or Comet should be your next step. With all of these methods as well as the ones I have yet to describe, you want to let the cleaning solutions or pastes sit on the dirty grout for a period before scrubbing. Anywhere from two to ten minutes of wait time will allow the cleaners to work their way into the grout and start to break down the dirt and grime. The worse your stains, the longer you should let the chemicals sit.

If regular, over the counter cleaners are not getting the job done then you need professional strength grout cleaners. There are actually two tiers of professional grout cleaner. The first and less strong tier includes cleaner you can buy in home improvement stores like Lowes or Home Depot. They typically say something like “professional strength” on the bottle. However, they are not the strongest professional grout cleaning supplies available. You can find better chemicals from online retailers that sell to professional grout cleaning services. Unlike the chemicals you can buy in a store, the professional strength chemicals need to be diluted in water. Make sure to follow the instructions on the packaging in terms of preparation and use. One grout cleaning tip to remember is to look for cleaners that are pH balanced so that you will have less of a negative effect on your tile grout over time.

Something to remember when cleaning tile grout is that harsh chemicals can erode your grout. That is why you always use the gentlest chemical solution possible. The last resort when tile grout cleaning is to use solutions of chlorine or oxygen bleach. When using any harsh chemical, you should first test it on a small, inconspicuous space to see if it will negatively affect your grout. A solution comprising of one cup of chlorine bleach, two gallons of hot water, and a tablespoon of liquid dish soap is one option. This cleaning solution is tough on stains and works well to lighten your grout. It works well, if the grout is white, but of course, it should not be used if you have colored grout. An oxygen bleach product is a safer option because it is not as toxic to humans or pets. In addition, I have found that it works extremely well on tough stains. A solution of one cup of oxygen bleach powder like OxiClean and two gallons of hot water will do wonders for your grout. Usually the OxiClean is kinder to colored grout, but you should still test it.

If you have tried all of these remedies and you still have black stains in your grout, then your problem is most likely mildew. This is a big problem in wet areas like the tub or shower. I have discovered a home remedy that works well and is very inexpensive. Alcohol kills mildew. You will find if you look at the ingredients on the fancy shower cleaners in the grocery store, the main ingredient is alcohol. You can try to solve your mildew problem by buying a small spray bottle and filling it with rubbing alcohol, which you can buy from your local pharmacy. Then, wipe down your shower walls and grout with a towel when you are done showering each day and spray your alcohol on the grout. Leave the shower doors or curtain open and if possible open a window to allow airflow. A presence of air and alcohol will kill the mildew and help keep you grout clean.

After you scrub your grout clean, there will be cleaner residues and dirt all over your floor. The last step will be to wipe the excess cleaner and grime away with a damp cloth. You can use running hot water to rinse the cloth as you go so you are not contaminating a bucket of water with every pass. After you have wiped away the excess, then you should give your floor a through mopping. All of this is hard work. It takes a lot of time and effort. Try to take short thirty to sixty seconds breaks throughout the grout cleaning process so that your knees and back do not get stiff. Make sure not to break for too long because it is easy to get distracted and not finish. If you do not think you are up for cleaning your grout yourself, you could always hire a professional grout cleaning service.

Professional grout cleaners have access to the most potent chemicals and sophisticated machines. The grout cleaning equipment they have often makes the job go a lot faster. Another benefit is that the heavy duty grout cleaning machines have great suction and can suck out all the moisture and dirt that you might leave behind if you are doing the grout cleaning yourself. The cost of professional grout cleaning is not necessarily prohibitive, but I find that you get what you pay for. The grout cleaning services that only charge sixty dollars per room are probably just cleaning with steam and light chemicals. You are not likely to get out major stains. Check with the service beforehand about what kind of guarantees they make. Get any guarantee in writing so that you are not charged for less than acceptable performances.