I was stubborn at first. Having inherited a home that was filled with magnificent tiles, it was natural for me to be involved in cleaning grout. The thin mortar that fills the spaces in between the tiles can stain quickly; and as such I tried scrubbing them off frequently.
Scrubbing, as it turns out, is largely a waste of time. My research on the topic showed that grout is porous. That basically means that they have small spaces in between its structure; holes if you will. The inevitable spills and the dirt that has accumulated over the years have managed to stay there. So scrubbing the surface won’t help, as the ones that have settled in are simply left untouched.
My frustrations led me to the numerous home remedies that were offered in droves by quite a few of my friends. I thought I had nothing to lose, so I prepared to try them out one by one. Boy, was I ever wrong, as you’ll find out when you read on.
First of all, there was the hydrogen peroxide remedy. This was actually mildly effective! Unfortunately, it kind of smelled funky, and at the same time, I think it’s discoloring my tiles. Add to that the fact that you need a lot of it to work. That was mildly expensive; or at least, more expensive than I’d expect a home remedy to be.
Some people also suggested vinegar to me. The logic behind using it was that vinegar was acidic and that acid cleaned off dirt and removed stains plus killed any bacteria in the grout. That was a big waste of time. Plus, the area smelled a whole lot worse than the hydrogen peroxide and did next to nothing.
There was quite a number of remedies I tried before I decided to just forget it and do something I should have done from the very beginning. I called in the professionals and got the to clean the grout. And so, my grout was cleaned and they even corrected the mistakes I made.
