Moisture and heat are a winning combination to combat a disgusting shower situation. The naturally porous surface of grout makes it a magnet for mold, mildew and shower grime. For a space that's supposed to be clean, your shower can quickly become dirty.
These tips can take your shower tile grout from dingy to bright. Roll up your sleeves and get creative with these DIY grout cleaners.
1. Start with the basicsNo need to pull out the heavy-hitter chemicals when a basic solution of Dawn and vinegar may be all you need to keep your shower sparkling. Smart Schoolhouse recommends buying these two key ingredients in bulk to create an inexpensive cleaning solution.
You may be worried about your bathroom smelling like a pickle factory. The funny thing about vinegar is that despite its strong smell, once it dries you can't smell it anymore. Filling a scrubbing wand, like the one in this
tutorial, allows you to keep the cleaning solution in your shower. You can quickly and easily do a little scrubbing while you're right there in the shower.
2. Harness the power of bleachBleach is an excellent cleaner and disinfectant. Making a paste out of baking soda and bleach allows you to spread the bleach onto your dirty grout. The baking soda gives you added scrubbing power.
Simply mix the two ingredients according to these
directions. With old toothbrush you can gently scrub and target just the grout areas. Apply to the grout and let soak in for 10 minutes. This lets the bleach to do the majority of the work for you.
3. Get seriously acidicIf you're in a situation where nothing seems to work, there's an inexpensive last resort at your home improvement store. Sulfamic Acid Crystals cost less than $10 and are very effective at cleaning bathroom shower grout.
Apartment Therapy used a weak mixture of the crystals in water to clean the grout in a shower. She found that it was an instant solution — the formerly impenatrable grime melted quickly away. However, she warns that the chemical is serious and should only be used in worst case scenarios.
4. Natural grout bleaching solutionYou can "bleach" your tile without using bleach in your home.
This blogger discovered an excellent alternative to bleach for cleaning tile. Hydrogen peroxide has a mild bleaching action that is gentle on most surfaces. When combined with baking soda, the bleaching effect combines with the grit to remove stubborn mildew and grime from shower grout.
All you need to do is combine the two ingredients into a paste-like consistency. Spread onto the grout using an old toothbrush and walk away for a bit. Give the solution time to work, then wipe with warm water.
5. Get steamed upSteam cleaning is the only truly 100% chemical free grout cleaning solution. Steam cleaners heat water until it's boiling and use a directed stream of steam to clean and disinfect. The process isn't as easy as using chemical cleaning solutions, but it can be satisfying to power through with steam.
You will need to scrub and steam to clean bathroom shower grout. A nylon brush works well with most steam cleaners to provide scrubbing action.
The Spruce recommends working from the top of the shower toward the bottom.
Cleaning your bathroom shower grout provides you with a clean and healthy shower environment. Regular maintenance helps you save money and time by eliminating hour-long scrubbing once every couple of months. When you perform small cleanings on a regular basis, you reduce the need for a heavy chemical solution. Share these cleaning tips with your friends and family on Facebook!
