If you do not complete grout cleaning regularly in your home, then you might get to the point where you cannot get it clean on your own. If that is the case, then you might consider hiring a grout cleaning service. Grout cleaning services range in price depending on how large the room is where you want the grout cleaned and how dirty it is. Some services charge more for bathrooms than for other rooms in the house like a kitchen floor or foyer. If you hire a professional grout cleaner then you can expect to pay anywhere from fifty to one hundred dollars per room.

First of all, the people coming in to your home are strangers to you. There is always a possibility that something might be stolen. There are some precautions you can take to minimize this possibility. First, when you are hiring the professionals to clean your tile grout, make sure that you ask what kind of background checks they do on their employees. If you are not satisfied with their policy then move on to another grout cleaning service. Second, never leave the workers unattended for very long. If they are working in an upstairs bathroom, try to stay upstairs if possible so that you will notice if someone starts to wander around your home. Even bills left out on your bedroom desk could be enough for someone to perpetrate identity theft. Finally, do not leave sensitive information lying around in plain sight. Put paperwork with your personal information on it away so that the worker would have to rifle through drawers to find it. Most crimes like this are ones of opportunity. The grout cleaner is not very likely to go looking for things or information to steal.

Second, the equipment brought in could leave dirt or stains behind on other floor surfaces. Sometimes the cords and equipment that are used by professional cleaning services get wet and then get dragged through dirt or gardens. Then that muddy equipment or those muddy cords get dragged through your house. Make sure to observe the grout cleaning service employees when they are bringing equipment into your home to make sure nothing is dirty and that the rest of the floors in your home are not damaged. Alternatively, the boots of the workers could be soiled. If you want, you can ask that they wear booties when they enter your home so they do not track in dirt. It is not safe for them to work without steel toe shoes so you shouldn’t ask them to remove their shoes because they will not be able to comply.

Third, the last thing that could go wrong when you hire professional grout cleaners is something that is not the fault of the grout cleaning company. If it has been several years since your grout was last sealed or if your grout has never been sealed properly, then it is possible that the high pressure steam and industrial strength cleaners could permanently damage your grout. You might end up with grout that is partially chewed away or missing entirely after a professional cleaning. This is not the fault of the grout cleaners. They can not be held responsible for improper maintenance of your grout in the past.

1. Is your company insured? You want to make sure that any contractor or company you hire to complete a service in your home has insurance. That way, if someone is injured while at your home their worker’s compensation insurance should cover the costs. In addition, if any damage is done to your home or property, then you can file a claim with their insurance company. Many small start up companies do not have insurance so make sure they can show you an insurance certificate before you hire their grout cleaning services.
2. Can I get a written guarantee? It is very important that you clearly state your expectations in writing and that the company you hire for grout cleaning reads and signs it. The worst possible outcome from hiring a professional grout cleaner is that you do not get the result you wanted or that you paid for. Make sure that you get a written guarantee that will refund your money if the job is not completed to your satisfaction. However, it is important that you be reasonable with your expectations. Sometimes, grout is just too damaged or stained to get the result you are hoping for.
3. Can you tell me about your cleaning methods and chemicals? Do not hire anyone who cannot answer this question to your satisfaction. Do not accept answers like, “We use cutting edge technology and the best cleaners available.” Ask them to explain the technology and why it is better than the competition. You only want to hire a grout cleaning service that is knowledgeable about their products and services.
4. Can I get an estimate? It is extremely important to get an estimate for several reasons. First, you want to know how much it is going to cost. But in addition, how they give you the estimate will tell you a lot about what to expect in terms of how well your grout will be cleaned. If they so not ask you any questions about how large the room is, how dirty the grout is, or how long it has been since the grout was cleaned or sealed then they are probably quoting you a base price that is the same for everyone. That means they have a certain amount of effort they are expecting to put forth for the job. Chances are that they will stop working once they have expended that energy regardless of how clean your grout is. The more questions they ask and the more thorough they are when giving an estimate, generally the better job they will do at cleaning your grout.

So we know it is important for your house to be clean, and one of the most important areas to work on is your tile grout. Clean tile grout is a good way to know that someone takes good care of their home. So, if you need to clean your grout, should you hire a professional or try to do the work yourself? If you complete grout cleaning often then you can probably handle the cleaning yourself. However, if you have let the grout get dirty over a long period of time, you might consider a professional grout cleaning service.

There are many benefits to hiring grout cleaning services rather than doing the work yourself. First, you will save your time and effort. Grout cleaning is hard work. You need to be down on your hands and knees for long periods of time working muscles in your arms that you seldom use to scrub the grout lines. If the grout is particularly dirty, the process will take a very long time. I am sure there are better things you could do with a Saturday or Sunday then spend it on your hands and knees in the bathroom.

Another reason you might hire a grout cleaning service is that they have access to chemicals and equipment that you do not. If your grout is stained badly with mildew or mold then you might need to power of an industrial strength cleaner and/or a powerful steam cleaner. Most home owners do not have steam cleaners for scrubbing tile floors in their garages. You could rent this equipment, but you probably lack the expertise to use it properly. You would be better off hiring a professional cleaning service.

A third reason to use a grout cleaning service professional is that they can often complete other important chores while they are at your home. You can hire the same company to clean all the floors I your home, including the carpeted ones. You could get all the floors cleaned in one or two days. That same work would take you several weeks because you can only work on the weekends and you would not have access to multiple workers and multiple pieces of equipment simultaneously.

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.

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 home improvement tips 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.