Dawned On Me

How The Pros Clean And Stain Grout

After a long and agonizing search, we finally found a professional grout cleaning service.  Sure, you’ve seen your share of grout cleaning advertised by large companies who mainly specialize in carpet cleaning, but we wanted someone who could get to the bottom of the problem – a true blue grout specialist –  and we found him!  My expectations were to have the grout first cleaned, then colored (in the industry, it’s called staining) and finally sealed so that the grout would not get dirty ever again. (I know, wishful thinking right?!)

So when the morning arrived, I imagined our grout man showing up with one of those high tech/high powered steam machines with big round scrub brushes that would magically lift all the caked on grime and dirt from our grout.  Wrong.

He proceeded to put on a pair of kneepads, grabbed a bucket of water, some paper towels and of all things, a SIMPLE tooth brush!  I thought if we was really going to clean my entire foyer (it’s huge) with a toothbrush I better plan on him staying for dinner and perhaps even breakfast.

Joking aside, he worked fast and methodically and before I knew it, the grout was looking new again.

How Grout Becomes Dirty

Since we don’t wear our shoes in the house, we always figured our grout became gross and grimy over time from the girl looking all innocent below: Our 160 pound Saint Bernard, Sahsa.  Yes, it’s JUST like what you saw in the movie Beethoven!  She has big old jowls and she slobbers a ton.  When she lays on the floor, her mouth is right up against the tile so it was only natural to blame her.

Turns out, I learned it’s just not Sasha, but very likely the way in which we were cleaning our floors.  For the past several years, we’ve used this fabulous floor steamer. (It’s awesome on our wood floors but not great for grout)   Our grout expert explained most people clean their tile wrong including us with our steamer.  What we were doing is cleaning the surface of the tile however, unbeknownst to us, we were depositing the dirt from the surface of the tile right in the grout joints.  The tile got cleaner but the grout got dirtier each time.  In a bit, I’ll explain the best way to clean the tile in your home to help keep the grout pristine.

Grout Staining

Grout Stain is a product that can be described somewhat as a paint-like substance – at least that’s what it looks like.  It comes in a huge range of colors and its purpose is to to renew the appearance of your grout while sealing it from moisture and future staining. It’s seriously a miracle worker!  Dirty and discolored grout can make a home look old and rundown. Once this project is complete, you’ll be amazed how fresh and new your floors will look.  You could probably even fool your friends and family if you told them you put in brand new floors!  My parents first had this done in their Florida home about 8 years ago and I was blown away by the results!

The process of staining the grout joints was simple to my amazement.  We chose a very light color stain and our expert applied it simply with yet again, a toothbrush.  As he carefully spread the stain into the grout joints, he would follow by gently wiping any excess with a towel.  In no time, he was done and my floors looked like new again.

DIY

So if you’re reading this and wondering if you can handle this project on your own, I say unequivocally yes!  While I have not attempted this myself, after carefully observing my grout guy, I’m confident I can tackle the floors in our Florida place on my own.  Here’s the supplies I’ll need to get the job done on my own:

Krud Kutter – While he didn’t outright divulge what was in his cleaning solution he did indicate that a degreaser is a good choice for cleaning the grout.  He also dropped the name Krud Kutter later in the day.  After reading the reviews, I’m pretty certain this stuff will work.

Cleaning Brush – While a toothbrush might be all you need, I already own this OXO brush and LOVE it!  It has very firm bristles and I feel it will be easier to use than a toothbrush.

Shop Towels In A Box –  There’s a lot of wiping going on for both the cleaning and stain application.  My grout guy used a lot of toweling.

Knee Pads – Don’t even attempt this on your own without a good pair of knee pads.

Grout Stain – There are all kinds of grout stains on the market.  While I don’t know the brand used on this particular application, I’ve read good reviews on this one and it comes in a wide variety of colors.

 Maintaining Your New Grout

Now getting back to how my grout got dirty in the first place.  As I said, most people are cleaning their tile floors the wrong way including me.  Here’s what the expert told me to do.  The KEY is having clean water at all times. Grout joints become grimy with dirty water from your bucket being spread around the floor.  A spin mop works best I’m told.  I just bought this one.  It comes with extra microfiber mop heads and it’s important to change them frequently before they get too dirty.  A common mistake is cleaning an entire surface area with the same mop head.  A simple trick suggested is to have an extra bucket that’s exclusively filled with clean water and to use the spin bucket separately, for the sole purpose of extracting the dirty water from the mop head. Capeesh?

Cost

You can easily add up the supplies above for a ballpark idea of what it would cost for you to stain your grout on your own. I have not been billed for my job yet, but I have an idea what it will cost.  He did my large foyer, my back hallway/bathroom/laundry room and part of my living room.  It took him from 9am – 4pm  and his drive was 5 hours round trip.  I’m anticipating the cost to be around $2,000.   Meanwhile in Florida, I called several companies and they were always booked too far out to schedule an appointment.  They did tell me however that their minimum job is $600.00. – That’s a good chunk of change if you have a small area of tile like I do.  A side note, I asked my grout expert if he wanted me to help him advertise his excellent service.  He said he has enough work to keep him busy 7 days a week so he’s quite in demand.

Have you had your grout stained or have you done it yourself?  I’d love to hear.  Leave your comments or questions below.

See you soon for Friday Favorites and if you missed last week, you can check it out here.

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