How to Clean Grout Yourself When Money is Tight..

When times are tough and money is tight it is sometime necessary to try and tackle projects we would normally pay someone to do for us. One of those projects is cleaning tile and grout in your home.

How to clean grout yourself the easiest way: You will need a mop and bucket, a shop vac, a grout brush, a strong grout cleaner, and a grout restoration acid.

The hardest part of cleaning tile and grout yourself is rinsing the grout. Grout is very porous and dirt and detergent embed deep in the grout when the grout sealer breaks down. When the Floor Cleaning Experts clean tile and grout we use a truck mounted hot water extraction rinse that uses 1200 psi and 5.5 gallons of 250 degree water. You're going to need to use a little more elbow grease in rinsing the floor.

Fill your mop bucket with steaming hot water and add your strong grout cleaner into the mix. Dip your mop into the bucket of hot detergent and soak the mop. lift mop out of the bucket and let it drain off into the bucket. When it slows to a dribble put the mop in the center of the room and work out to the edges.

You want to mop the floor and spread the detergent solution evenly leaving the floor wet without pooling. You want to let the detergent work for you. Keep the tile and grout wet for 30 minutes allowing the detergent to do most of the work.

Now that the floor is soaking in the hot detergent its time for the fun to begin!! Grab your grout brush. A brush on a long wooden handle is mush easier and more effective then a hand brush. Brush the grout lines vigorously, this works the detergent into the grout by scrubbing off the top laying of soil.

Now its time to rinse the tile and grout cleaner from the floor. Get your shop vac and clean and refill the mop bucket with clean clear water. Repeat the process above but use more water. Slight pooling is OK in the center of the room. Now use the shop vac to suck up the dirty water. Now repeat the process and brush the grout when its wet to work the dirt and detergent up out of the grout. Keep repeating this process until it stops making dirty lines when brushed. It may take as many as 5-10 rinsings to get the floor clean and detergent free.

Now we are going to repeat the whole process above using a grout restoration acid cleaner. Please be very careful with this product around stainless steel and marble as it will etch those surfaces very quickly.

Now that you've that your done cleaning tile and grout its time for sealing tile and grout. Grout needs to be sealed with a penetrating sealer. Only specialty tile and grout like Mexican tile, saltillo tile, quarry tile, or porcelain tile should be sealed with a topical acrylic sealer.


If that's too much work for you the Floor Cleaning Experts will get your tile and grout looking like brand new freshly poured grout and seal it for you.