Even people who keep a clean home know that mopping floors and wiping walls isn’t enough to keep your tile grout clean. Once in a while, you’ll need to clean the grout between your tiles to get rid of dirt and soap buildup. You can get this done by booking a cleaning service and adding the ‘deep clean’ extra. Alternatively, you can do it yourself with some household products and a little elbow grease. In this post, we’ll share 3 methods that explain how to clean grout between tiles so that they look brand new again.

How to Clean Grout with Baking Soda & Vinegar
Step 1: Prep the Area
Before you clean the grout between your tiles, it’s always a good idea to clean the tiles first. If the tiles are on your floor then give them a good mop. If the tiles are on the walls then wipe them down with a moist cloth and a cleaning solution; all purpose kitchen or bathroom cleaner will do.

Pro Tip: If you’ve got a big area to work on then you can even mop the walls too. However, this is only recommended if the floor is also tiled, like it would be in your bathroom. Also, make sure you do the walls first so you can mop up any run off when you do the floor.

Step 2: Prepare the Cleaning Paste 
Mix 1 part water (e.g. 1/4 cup) with 3 parts baking soda (e.g. 3/4 cup) to form a paste. While this paste is a versatile cleaning solution that will work with all colours of grout, vinegar can be harmful to some natural stone like marble and limestone.

Apply the paste to the lines of grout using your finger. While baking soda isn’t harmful, we suggest using rubber gloves to prevent scratching or irritating your skin when you rub the paste into the grout.  

Step 3: Prepare the Cleaning Solution
Mix 1 part vinegar with 1 part water (50:50 solution) in a spray bottle. Then spray the paste on the grout with this solution. Immediately, you should see the paste start bubbling, which indicates that the cleaning process has begun.

Remember: Don’t use vinegar on marble or limestone. You might need to get a gurney or pressure washer out for them.

Step 4: Give it Time to Work its Magic
The bubbling is the result of a chemical reaction between the baking soda and vinegar. This will last a few minutes. When the bubbling stops, you’ll know that the chemical reaction is done and the cleaning has taken place.

Step 5: Scrub the Grout with a Brush

Using a nylon bristled brush (like a dishwashing brush or an old toothbrush), scrub the moist paste into the grout.

Tip 1: Scrub along the lines of the grout so the bristles spend most of their time working on the grout rather than the tiles

Tip 2: Pay extra attention the intersecting corners and edges of the grout lines to make sure these areas get cleaned well.  

Step 6: Clean Up the Mess
Using plain water, mop the floor to remove the paste. If you’re cleaning grout on walls, then do this area first and then clean up anything that drips onto the floor. Make sure you rinse the mop and change the water frequently while you’re doing this so that you don’t end up just spreading the mess around.