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Floor grout cleaning

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Long story short, cleaning the entire downstairs tile grout with purple stuff, a denture brush and bleach. Slow going but getting good results, it was really dirty. The whole concept of tile is a bad idea. Whenever you mop tile, all of the dirst is washed down into the grout "trenches". Sealed or not that's going to be a problem. The only way to really get it out is scrubbing or chemicals. They do have a sealer/colorant but you gotta scrub out all of the dirt first and they want you to do an acid etch before applying. (which needs to be flooded out with water afterwards). This whole systems is a pain, I'd rather stained concrete but there is no going back now.
 
Small wire brush?
 
Try an oxygen bleach powder...Oxi-Clean and Oxi-Magic (by Clorox) come to mind. Mix the powder with well-warmed water (according to their directions for cleaning floors) until the powder is dissolved. Apply the solution to the grout lines ( I use a squeeze bottle with a nozzle) and let it soak for 10-15 minutes refreshing the solution as it is either absorbed or evaporates. Then go over the wet grout with a scrub brush and the dirt should be removed. I dry the grout lines with a wet-dry vac.
 
A good quality laminate right over the top of the tile would be my fix. They even make it so it looks like tile. I know some don't like laminate, I do. Nothing sticks to it and it looks the same after 10 years.
 
George_H said:
A good quality laminate right over the top of the tile would be my fix. They even make it so it looks like tile. I know some don't like laminate, I do. Nothing sticks to it and it looks the same after 10 years.
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Actually the real trick here will be sealing it when clean.
 
What I meant was, use a small wire brush - whatever size is appropriate for the grout. I've done that to ours with good results.
 
kellysguy said:
That's the easy part, it's the scrub a dub dub that's a buzz killer.
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I know - been there, done that - but, it's the part most often forgotten (or forgotten to repeat) hence the scrub a dub dub
 
When I tiled our bathroom and hall a couple of years ago we went with a sandy colored tile, with matching grout. I hardly ever have to clean it, because it shows very little dirt.
 
Billy- Doing my master bath floor a couple of grout rows at a time.
The OXY works very good- bad part is it dries to a rock.
Then go over area with a sealer the next day
 
DNK said:
Billy- Doing my master bath floor a couple of grout rows at a time.
The OXY works very good- bad part is it dries to a rock.
Then go over area with a sealer the next day
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Work in a smaller area. I squat down barefoot and do everything around me in reach. I then wipe it up with an old T shirt and let dry. Got about 108 sqft done. Gotta work around the dog too. He's always sleeping where I need to work.
 
Soaking all that Bleach up thru toes can't be good for ya!
 
DNK said:
Soaking all that Bleach up thru toes can't be good for ya!
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I'm not mopping the whole floor with it. I'm putting it on through a redneck carb so it's only going on the grout. Actually beach is good for your feet, no more athelete's foot. ;)
 
kellysguy said:
I'm not mopping the whole floor with it. I'm putting it on through a redneck carb so it's only going on the grout. Actually beach is good for your feet, no more athelete's foot. ;)
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Beach is really good for my feet too - one of the things I really miss about not living in Florida. :D
 
JPSmit said:
Beach is really good for my feet too - one of the things I really miss about not living in Florida. :D
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You'd be welcome to return any time, JP!
 
DrEntropy said:
You'd be welcome to return any time, JP!
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Careful, they may just send him back. :devilgrin:



Well, got the cleaned part sealed and man what a difference! It is literally night and day. I'm trying to post pics but I'm having trouble w/ photobucket. I wasn't going to seal at first but I figured I'd better. The colored sealer is pretty easy to work with and makes all the difference in the word.
 
I have about a little less than half done. Rain is moving in but I got it sealed in time. All it takes is one rain storm and it'll look like the first pic again. Stuff gets tracked in at an alarming rate, I dust mop at least 5 times a day and that's on a lite day. I like living in the country, I just don't like the country living in my house.
 
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