Dear Home Ec 101:
We just moved into a home with white mosaic tile in the bathroom. The grout is sealed. How do I clean it and what was I thinking?
Going Grungy in Groten
Heather says:
I have no idea what you were thinking. White? Tan, speckled, khaki, brown, anything but white! Poor thing, you were lured in by the clean look, weren’t you? Well, the sad truth is now you’re going to have to work to keep it that way.
If you have a large bathroom, I would consider a steam cleaner
for hard surfaces. If your bathroom is relatively small, use plain water to clean your floors. Frequent damp moppings will keep your floor from getting nasty, a few minutes here and there is a lot easier than occasional intensive scrubbing. If your floor gets soiled to the point where plain water won’t cut it, you’ll need to make sure the cleaning agent you choose is pH neutral. You’ll have to check the label, but you should have plenty of options at any tile dealer. Stay away from anything containing wax or silicone as you’ll just create a build up to clean off later.
Best of luck!
Have a question about cleaning? Email helpme@home-ec101.com.
be extra careful if you ever have to reseal that grout! i had a lady pass out at my work place once because she’d been sealing grout all day and the fumes had overwhlemed her. i’m just happy she made it there and didnt pass out on the way over! ventilation is our friend.
Well, the idiot is here.. yes, the one who actually CHOSE the white mosaic tile. It’s beautiful, but yes, you pegged me when you said I was going for the clean look.. Actually I was going for retro clean and I’m afraid this is going to turn into something more like retro harvest gold instead of white by the time this house is 5 years old. I am going to look into the steam cleaner. Thanks for the advice,
The White Tile Idiot:)
Grout sealer is actually a bit misunderstood. The purpose of a sealer is to assist in keeping grout (and porous stone) clean and make it easier to clean once it gets soiled. It is to keep cherry kool-aid from soaking into your grout. 🙂
It will not absolutely prevent this – but it does assist in it. The best way to keep white grout white (aside from the great tips above) is oxygen bleach. This is the active ingredient in products such as oxy clean. When activated with water it will release the extra oxygen molecule which then attaches to the soil molecule and releases it from the grout (or stone, or clothing) or anything the soil is attached to. It will remove cherry kool-aid from your grout. 🙂