Pin Busters! D-I-Y Grout Cleaner



Hi, my name is Kim and I'm addicted to Pinterest. (Don't shake your head at me, you know you're addicted, too - and if you're not, then you just haven't found the right things to pin!)

Part of me is a hard-core cynic (Me: "Yeah, right - if it was that great everyone would have it or be doing it...") - and the other part is a believer (Me: "OMG! That's amazing - I gotta get it!"). I figure chances are I'm not the only one who is like this.

So I decided that when I try things I see on Pinterest, I'll blog about whether or not it's truly Pin-worthy. Which leads me to today's post - and first Pin Buster - D-I-Y grout cleaner!!

As some of you know, I've had some pretty severe back problems over that past year and a half - resulting in a major surgery last October. During this time, I've been lucky to keep myself clean, so obviously I haven't been able to clean the grout in my house, LOL. Gus has been a God-sent in helping around the house & taking care of me - and I do have a lady who comes in once a month to clean the kitchen floor & the bathrooms, but no one has actually been down on their hands & knees scrubbing the grout. And we all know that when you have grout, you just have to do the hands & knees thing once in awhile.

I found the original post on the blog Unique, Just Like Everyone Else... - but it looks like she saw it somewhere else & I didn't see a link to give that person credit (so sorry whoever you are!!)...

These are the amounts that I used, but if you want to make more, there are other quantities at the original site:
  • 1 3/4 cups water
  • 2 TBSP. baking soda
  • 1 TBSP. + 1 tsp. ammonia
  • 1 TBSP. vinegar
I purchased a spray bottle from the grocery store for around $2, but I'm sure you could just upcycle an old spray bottle if you like. I used a funnel to add the ingredients to the spray bottle, then I capped it and shook to dissolve the baking soda. I also purchased this handy little scrubber - it's made for washing dishes (and filling with dish soap) - but the bristles are pretty firm, so I thought it might work for this.


First, I sprayed the grout with the grout cleaner in the bottle. I let it sit for about 5 minutes, then I scrubbed it with my nifty scrubby brush. I didn't scrub that vigorously, just enough to loosen the dirt. I had filled the scrubby brush's reservoir with grout cleaner, so as I was scrubbing & felt I needed a little more solution, I just pressed on the top of the brush and it dispensed more cleaner!

This is the slate tile in my foyer - it has light bluish-green grout. (No, I didn't pick it out, it was here when we moved in, LOL!)

You can click on any of the pictures to make them larger:


 This is the paper towel just from cleaning that one small area! How disgusting!!


If your grout is pretty dirty (as apparently mine is), I recommend going over it a couple of times with the grout cleaner, and then with clean water, just to be sure you get all the dirt.

This is the tile in Lulu's bathroom. It has been blessed with hairspray, body spray, perfume, sunless tanner, and who knows what else. The original color was a light beige/off-white:


And this is the tile in the master bathroom. It has been drizzled with hairspray and sunless tanner. The original color was off-white:


Again, I'm torn. Part of me is amazed at how well this stuff cleans - and the other part is thoroughly disgusted at the amount of dirt on my grout. Ewwwww.

And the verdict: definitely Pin-worthy!! (and if you want to pin it yourself, there is a "Pin It" button at the top of the post)

P.S. There is little to no odor to this solution - another plus!! And I forgot to add: DO NOT USE ANY PRODUCT CONTAINING AMMONIA WITH ANY PRODUCT CONTAINING BLEACH. BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN.
Kim
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