kilamila: 5 Grout Cleaning Tips

মঙ্গলবার, ১৩ নভেম্বর, ২০১২

5 Grout Cleaning Tips | Our Home Tools

The kitchen and bathrooms of a house are the rooms that must not only be clean, they must look that way. You will feel much better after having a bath in a room that is clean and sparkling and food that has been prepared in a clean looking fresh kitchen somehow tastes better. The tiles in these rooms can be made of granite, marble, slate, or ceramic materials. All of them are stain resistant and very long lasting. But the grout between them is made of sand, cement, and water and attracts and retains dirt. Grout soon loses its fresh look and becomes brown and dirty looking.

The Importance of Clean Tiles

Clean grouting is not only a matter of keeping a room looking good. The dampness and dirt that collect on grout are an ideal place for mold and mildew to develop. And this is, in turn, a breeding ground for germs. The last thing a home needs is an unhealthy bathroom or kitchen. Grout has a rough finish and when you wipe to walls with a damp cloth or mop the floor, the abrasive action of the grout has the reverse effect of what you intend. The roughness rubs the dirt off the cloth and mops and it stays on the grout. The best way to reduce the need to clean grout is to fit the tiles as closely together as possible to minimize the amount of grout required and to use a grout sealant to provide a waterproof coat to the grout.

But even with these steps, the grout will never be as easy to clean as the tiles. However, there are some things you can do to make grout cleaning simple and effective. If you would like to locate professionals to clean the grout in your home or want to find suppliers of grout cleaning products, the information you need is available using your home or work computer. If you are going to manage this search from your work, make sure you do this on your break and not on company time. Unless you work for the government, then you can probably spend hours searching for committed professionals then during the time you are sitting at your desk.

Grout Cleaning Tips

There are a number of home solutions to cleaning grout which any homeowner can do herself. But before we look at cleaning tips, the first tip is to have a regular cleaning schedule. The longer grime and mold is allowed to remain on the grout, the more difficult it will be to clean. The frequency will depend on the amount of use the room has so the best thing to do is after the first cleaning, find an unobtrusive area of the wall or floor and clean a small patch of grout once a week. When you notice a visible difference between the weekly cleaned area and the rest of the grout that is the frequency at which you should schedule your regular cleaning.

A simple cleaning method is to spray shaving cream on the grout and allow it to remain there for about 10 minutes. Then scrub it off with a damp soft brush. Alternatively you could make a paste of baking soda and a little white vinegar and scrub the grout with this using an old toothbrush.

If you have stubborn stains make a paste of baking soda and straight peroxide. The mixture will initially bubble. Wait for the bubbling to stop and then apply it to the stain and leave for about 10 minutes and then scrub it off with a small brush. If you have a large amount of grout the clean and it gets stained quickly, using a steam cleaner that forces high pressure steam on the grout is very effective. Originally used only by professionals, domestic models are now easily available.

Clean Grout Adds to the Appearance of the Tiles

A regular grout cleaning schedule will keep your walls and floors looking pristine and new. Even the best of kitchen and bathroom d?cor cannot overcome the effect of dull and stained walls and floor. But sparking walls and floors can compensate for plain d?cor and makes these room parts of the house that are a pleasure to spend time in.

Benjamin Roussey is a home improvement and maintenance expert at?Redbeacon. He has two master?s degrees and served time in the U.S. Navy.