How to Clean Grout
Discover how to clean grout in an eco-friendly manner. It is good for you, your family and the environment. Dispose of those chemicals in a responsible way and start cleaning naked (naked of chemicals that is).
Not long ago, we noticed that the grout between the tiles in our entryway was looking pretty dingy. That's not surprising, considering we've lived in our house for 21 years. Naturally, the man of the house wanted to blast the grungy grout with harsh chemicals. He was really surprised when the woman of the house taught him how to clean grout the earth-friendly way :) .
It's amazing sometimes how conditioned we've become to thinking that only harsh, toxic chemicals can take care of our household cleaning needs. After all, our grandmothers and great-grandmothers were excellent homemakers and all they had to use was baking soda, vinegar and liquid soap.
Well, guess what! Thanks to the global environmental movement, we've re-discovered what our ancestors knew 150 years ago: Natural cleaners not only work best, they protect us from encounters with chemicals that can cause everything from skin rashes to asthma symptoms to lethal cancers. How could we not love an alternative that does so much for us, and does so little to hurt Mother Earth at the same time?
What's more, these simple "green" cleaning products leave our homes smelling fresh and clean, not like we're manufacturing chemicals in the kitchen. The natural deodorizing ability of these green household cleaners hasn't diminished in decades.
So what is the miracle cleaner that will whiten anyone's grungy grout? It's baking soda. To clean tile grout naturally, it works like this:
Dampen the grout with a soft cotton cloth. Then sprinkle baking soda on it, and let it set for 10 to 15 minutes. Then take an old toothbrush and scrub the baking soda away. What do you have? Gleaming white grout!
You better believe the man of the house was amazed when this old, new-fangled cleaner work the very first time. So then he challenged us to tackle an even bigger job: the mildewed, moldy grout in the boys' bathroom.
Seeing how blackened that tile was, we opted for a little extra-strength help with a sunshine-y friend: a bright yellow lemon. We cut the lemon into quarters and rubbed the grout with it before sprinkling on the baking soda. Would you believe, 15 minutes later a little toothbrush scrubbing revealed grout so clean you'd have thought we'd just moved into the house!
When the family discovered how to clean grout in this manner, they were instantly sold! We even made a natural drain cleaner by pouring baking soda into the bathtub drain in the boys' bathroom. Pour in half a cup of baking soda, then half a cup of vinegar and stand back! It foams up just like those volcano models the kids make for the science fair at school. When the foaming subsides, pour a cup of boiling water down the drain and it's clean and free-flowing. Who would have thought it?
By the way, it won't hurt the water system either!
Now that we know how to clean grout with these tricks of "green" cleaning, you can bet this is one family that won't be going back to chemical-laden household cleaners ever again.