I have a hallway and a couple of bathrooms that have light color tile and white grout - about the 1/4 spacing variety, with sand grout.  What method works best to restore it all to a clean white, short of scraping out the old and laying new?

 

I bought a bottle of some cleaner from the Depot, but it doesn't really seem to have any effect on the grime.

Pure bleach maybe? I know when i see a little mildew in the shower grout i hit it with a spray bottle of ZEP which is bascially just pure bleach. Be warned though, since its bleach, it smells strongly of it too. Perhaps just do a little at a time.

 

http://www.zepcommercial.com/product/Mold-Mildew-Stain-Remover

My wife scrubbed the grout in one of our bathrooms with a brush and slurry of baking soda and water, worked great.

When I do the bathroom I spray with bleach, drink a beer then clean. I use a buffing ball ($20 in walmarts automotive dept) attached to a drill. I recommend not wearing good clothes as bleach tends to spray a little. The high speed rotation of the drill help really clean up the grout.

don't use chemical cleaners on grout if you can help it (Tile-ex, bleach etc).. it will work short term , but weaken long term 

 

use a portable steam cleaner if you have one , also one can be rented pretty cheaply for a day 

I've used grout paint a couple of times and it works great, just apply with a foam brush and remove the excess from the tile with a sponge. I think I bought it at Home Depot or Lowes, it's available in different colors.

Try a slushy mix of baking soda and white vinegar. It needs to be almost a paste like consistency. Using a brush or toothbrush, scrub rinse and repeat. It will take time but it definitely lifts the grime out.

We used Laticrete Spectra-Lok Pro grout (water-based epoxy) which is virtually unstainable.   Only useful if you decide to re-grout, sorry.

We used Laticrete Spectra-Lok Pro grout (water-based epoxy) which is virtually unstainable.   Only useful if you decide to re-grout, sorry.

 

Good to know for future projects.  Where do you get that?

 

For now, I'll try the Vinegar/baking soda recipe.  Thanks guys!

I use oxy clean and a scrub brush. Semi wet mix and scrub one area at a time. Works great just make sure you seal it over again right away.

Good to know for future projects.  Where do you get that?

 

For now, I'll try the Vinegar/baking soda recipe.  Thanks guys!

 

Tile shop.