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Sarah M
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| Posted: Dec 10 2008 at 11:26am | IP Logged
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I'm hoping some of you ladies have some advice for me- I'm going nuts! I detest cleaning the bathroom anyway, but my tiled shower really makes the job  . I can't seem to get the grout white. It's varying shades of red/gray/black which is just gross, gross, gross. But even when I scrub it with a toothbrush, I can't seem to get it clean. Short of scraping it all out and redoing it, which dh is not excited about at all, what can I do? How do you keep your grout white and clean??
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Wendi DeGrandpr
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| Posted: Dec 10 2008 at 2:07pm | IP Logged
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I feel for you Sarah - we have lots of white grout. Our kitchen floor is white too. The people we bought the house from had no kids or animals and we have 4 kids and lots of animals.
Anyhow, other than scrubbing with a brush I have also used some of the grout cleaners from Home Depot. They are smelly and definately chemical intense. I prefer natural cleaners so this was aweful but I couldn't find anything else that would work. (I have the same problem with the stains in the toilet which gets cleaned daily  ).
I also use a hard bristle brush - one on a long mop handle for the kitchen and one you hold in your had for the bathrooms.
I have heard bleach was a bad thing to use on grout but I don't know - anyone have any insight here??
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Wendi
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SusanJ
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| Posted: Dec 10 2008 at 2:21pm | IP Logged
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This hasn't worked in every tub I've lived with but definitely the grossest, most set-in tile grout scum came right out with undiluted white vinegar (spray it on and let it sit for a minute) and a stiff-bristled grout brush.
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Dec 10 2008 at 2:49pm | IP Logged
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In Organic Housekeeping she has a recipe for grout cleaner thaat involves vinegar and copper penny? Haven't tried it, but it seems worth a shot. We remodeled our house, and the bathroom grout is all black! It STILL looks dirty, just whitish on the black instead of dirt on the white. Better than white, especially on the floor (no problems there, really). The dining room and kitchen are another story. I just pretend the grout was dark gray to begin with, lol. A steam cleaner has made remarkable difference (though not perfect) on the lighter colored grout.
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hylabrook1
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| Posted: Dec 10 2008 at 4:38pm | IP Logged
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This is definitely not an organic idea, but it's not super-smelly or super hard work, either. Use a bleach pen. Rub it along the lines of grout, then let it sit for a while (maybe 15 minutes), then wash the shower walls with vinegar water. I spray the vinegar water on and the yuck comes off the grout just by scrubbing with a rag. You might need to repeat this several times over the course of a few days. Sometimes the grout looks whiter the next day than it did when you finished cleaning. I guess the bleach continues to work. After getting things pretty well cleaned up, if you wipe the tile down after your shower the mold and yuck won't come back too fast. It prefers to grow in the wet and damp. There may be a few particular areas of the tile where the mold grows more easily; those you can attack more often. I try to keep a close eye, though, because the mold wants to spread. What starts out from a small area where the conditions for its growing are really good can soon enough overrun an area that wouldn't normally be much of a problem. Maybe another thing that would work instead of the bleach pen (certainly not the cheapest way to buy bleach) would be to make a paste of baking soda and bleach and apply it with a toothbrush. You'd probably need to rinse the tile more thoroughly after this.
Peace,
Nancy
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KackyK
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| Posted: Dec 10 2008 at 6:50pm | IP Logged
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My dh freaked out when I used the bleach pen. Bleach eats through things and it's basically eating it away...so eventually, if used too much, will eat the grout gone...this is why Wendi you had been told not to use it.
Truth be told, I still use it when I can't stand it anymore!!!!!
I definitely had that job!
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hylabrook1
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| Posted: Dec 10 2008 at 9:20pm | IP Logged
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Oops... I didn't read Wendi's post very carefully, did I? I don't use it very often, either; but Sarah's tiles sounded in great need of something serious...
Peace,
Nancy
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D. Marie
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| Posted: Dec 11 2008 at 8:07pm | IP Logged
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Hi Ladies,
I don't have to clean my shower often, and I have white tile as well. I use Method Shower Spray from Target and it keeps away shower scum and mildew. Every time you get out of the shower you just spray it down and voila! And it is chemical and toxin free!
http://www.methodhome.com/product.aspx?page=521
God bless,
Diane
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Topic: Getting tile grout white...
