My parents cleaned all their grout with one of those steam floor cleaners. They said it worked wonderfully.

The only time I was able to really clean the walk pattern was with a thin, firm brush made for cleaning grout. I think I just used a tile cleaning solution (Tilex maybe - I can't remember exactly). I think it was the scrubbing that did it.

I've never tried the steam cleaning although a friend swears by it!

I steam mop my tile floors all the time and it does nothing for the grout. I am planning on having Stanley Steemer come and clean the grout. I've heard good things about them.

I did try a Mr Clean Magic Eraser and with a lot of elbow grease it did work. But, I have about 700 sq ft of tile and there's no way I'd ever get it all done and still have all my fingers left.

I think I just used a tile cleaning solution (Tilex maybe - I can't remember exactly).

Me too. With a toothbrush. :/ The kind with outer bristles that are rubber. Kind of hard to 'rinse', have to dab it a lot with a wet rag to pull up the Tilex. (Thank heavens it's a small bathroom.) My grout is also pale gray. It helps maybe 50%. If I could get it back to 100% I'd seal it with a good grout sealer to keep it from recurring so quickly.

I think I need to look into a steam mop for general floor cleaning since so many rave about them.

Glad to see this discussion - I was just going to post my own question.

I had my old tile floor replaced this past summer with rectified porcelain tile, 18x18. Because the floors had some unlevel areas which couldn't be totally made level, the tiles were installed with a small grout line, about 3/16 of an inch. I find that the Bissell steam cleaner cleans the tiles just fine, but because the rectified tile has a sharp edge, not a beveled edge as my previous tiles had, the sharp edge actually acts as a squeegee, leaving wet, dirty water on the grout.

Last week, my husband and I spent some time on our hands and knees with a grout brush and Greenworks by Clorox to scrub out the dirtiest areas.

Today I just finished trying a new approach on my 700 square feet of tile. I steamed small areas of tile with my Bissell, and then, before I moved to the next area, I took my old Swiffer floor cleaner and stuck on a microfiber towel to dry the floor, paying closer attention to the grout. After an hour of work it does look better, but I can't see doing this every time my floor needs washing...it gets old quickly.

I checked out different types of squeegee mops in Target today and they do have new ones with Mr. Clean eraser-type heads, but I would guess they wear out quickly which would get expensive to keep replacing.

What's the solution?

Helene

Do not use Tilex on grout. Chlorine eats away at the material.

Bill Vincent is the resident tile guru at the Kitchen Forum and he recommends using oxygen bleach mixed with water and a scrub brush. After it's clean then seal it.

When we replaced our vinyl floor with porcelain 6 years ago I paid more to have epoxy grout. It's made of 2 parts - a resin and a hardener that is mixed right before application - but it cleans so easily and returns to it's original shade with a minimum of work.

Here is a link that might be useful: epoxy

So where's Faron with his amazing cleaning aisle??!! LOL!

I'm not going to buy a steamer for a bathroom floor since it's not something I'd use elsewhere but it sounds like people have mixed results, anyway.

I'ts not a large bathroom so I'm willing to scrub - and have - but haven't hit on a cleaning solution that does much. It may just be too far gone.

maire_cate do you mean Oxyclean when you say oxygen bleach? I'll try that. Also read elsewhere to use hydrogen peroxide mixed with cleanser. Whatever I use, there's going to be a lot of scrub brushing involved, I know.

maire cate is dead on (well, you're quoting Bill V., so how could you go wrong : ))

If you're really at the stage of scrubbing with toothbrushes, you might want to consider grout *colorant*, which is an epoxy of a sort in itself, and won't let dirt sink in. It has to be applied line by line, though. But if you didn't use epoxy grout during installation, it's a worthwhile aftermarket upgrade.

If you're applying it on stone, I really would be careful about application and not be as carefree as the directions below. They work for glazed ceramic or porcelain, because those materials are far less porous.

Go to the Aqua-Mix colorant site and you'll see all the great colors it comes in. I actually *darkened* the grout in our shower because the epoxy grout I paid extra to have put in didn't come out the color I was expecting. Ah yes, those were lovely times...but the grout colorant is still going strong in the shower, more than four years later.

Here is a link that might be useful: very detailed explanation

UGH -- I wrote the post and then decided to change the link; the directions in the link are very detailed and good for whatever surface. There was an earlier link I was considering when I wrote "not as carefree"...they didn't really address stone, only glazed tile. The prep work is different for stone or porous tile. So the link is trustable wrt directions.

I've been tossing around takin' a pic and posting it, but that may border on "soliciting business"?!

Some customers have mentioned that Stone-Care International's (SCI) "Grout cleaner" is good. It's in a black bottle.

Faron

I've heard Oxyclean is good at cleaning grout.

I'm getting nowhere in a big hurry with this. Oxyclean did nothing. I made a loose paste, let it sit, scrubbed with a stiff brush and no change at all. Did the same thing with Bon Ami cleanser and there's a bit of an improvement. Not sure it's enough to make it worthwhile doing the whole floor.

I'll check our local stores for Stone Care's grout cleaner.

This is small 2 x 2 porcelain ceramic so the epoxy grout colorant shouldn't hurt it. There's a place that stocks it not too far and I'm just about ready to go say uncle and try it.

I remember visiting the restroom at Max's elementary school - built in the early 20's with the classic white octagon tile floors. I was so darned impressed by how nice the floors looked that I questioned the janitor on the way out. "How do you keep the white grout looking so great?" She said she bleached them with a Chlorine bleach solution every so often. There was no evidence of the grout being eaten away and every once in awhile, I use it on my tile floor. (Course, I used Windex on my granite for years too.)

I use a toothbrush only because it keeps the cleaner concentrated on the grout. Bigger brushes make the tile all slick, then I'm wiping out. Cuz I'm so graceful. ;)

dlm, sorry to hear the oxyclean didn't work. I'm doing an experiment with Charlie's soap as I type. Use it on my laundry all the time. Discovered a couple years ago it will get the black winter slush stains out of auto upholstery like nothing else will. I make up a spray in a bottle & dab at it, completely lifts it out. Just did a quick google & see others have had success with it on grout. I just tried it upstairs. When it's dry I'll post back.

Before I tried the Greenworks I had tried Oxyclean. I was not able to get it into a paste consistency; it remained grainy and useless for cleaning the grout. I really hesitate to use bleach because the grout is actually a light to medium tan color and I didn't want it to lighten. I'm not sure that grout colorant would work, either, because the grout had a stain-resistant additive added to it when it was reconstituted. It doesn't really appear that the grout, in my situation, is staining - rather, it's just the accumulation of dirty water in the grout lines because of the sharp edges of the rectified tiles.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I started to use a damp microfiber towel between bigger floor washings, and it seems to be a slightly easier way to clean the tile while not saturating the grout area with water.

I still would like a more effortless way to do this.....

Helene

I use Mr. Clean magic eraser. It cleans better than all the other products I've tried without damaging the colored grout. I spend less time with the eraser than I did with chemicals and a tile brush. Once that is done I follow up with grout sealer which also takes time but it goes quicker when you have the special applicator. The one I use is a pencil shaped plastic tube with a tiny sponge tip, you pour the sealer into the tube and each time you press the tip on the grout it dispenses a small amount of sealer. Once you're in the "groove" the process goes quickly. I've resigned myself that this task needs to be done every year and there's no point taking short cuts because the grout won't get as clean.

Ack! dlm, I forgot to post back. First, my gray is a Dove Gray (light). In darker areas it's a mid-level, maybe a battleship gray?

Charlie's soap powder form, diluted in water, scrubbed, let it sit, scrubbed again, wiped. Probably got it up to 60%. Then I did a different section with diluted Charlie's soap and Oxyclean scrubbed in on top of that. Let sit maybe 20 min, scrubbed, 'rinsed'. Much better. Not 100% like the light Dove gray at outer perimeters of floor, but easily 80 to 85%. Close enough you have to really be staring at it to see the difference. (Can't get a pic to show it well, shadows from vanity are throwing off grout.)

So I'll clean it good that way & immediately seal, and I'll be happy. :) If you want to check it out, I don't know how close this is to you, but if I'm downtown & need some CS I get it Be By Baby (Wrigleyville area). Easy metered parking on side street (I always find a spot - a miracle!). Or you can go to CS website, maybe there's a dealer near you. (Not me, it's either downtown or mail.) I also get through Amazon. Free super saver shipping + $11.50 or so is a good price. (Think it's about $14 at Be By Baby). I wasn't impressed with their bottled spot treatment. For the price I just put a scoop (abt 1TB) of powder in a spray bottle, make my own, works just as well.