Want another cleaning tip to help you clean tile grout? Well this homemade grout cleaner works great!
I’m pretty good at keeping our apartment at some general level of clean. The 15 minutes a day trick works really well for us. But there are some things that aren’t included in the daily 15 minutes that get gross every once in a while. So last week I went on a crazy cleaning binge!
I already shared my 5 minute microwave cleaning tip with you, but another thing that needed some attention was the tile grout in our bathroom. The grout wasn’t exceptionally clean when we moved in to this apartment, and it hasn’t learned to magically clean itself over the past year either. 
So I did something about it!
There are tons of recipes out there for homemade grout cleaner, but I wanted the simplest one. I ended up using a recipe from Rachel at Accessorize and Organize. You can find it here.
And it worked great!
Homemade Grout Cleaner
Here’s what you need:
- 3/4 C baking soda
- 1/4 C bleach
- an old toothbrush for scrubbing (please don’t use one you’re going to put in your mouth later!)
Mix the baking soda and bleach together in the bowl until it forms sort of a thick paste. Then apply the paste to the dirty grout lines and scrub with your toothbrush.
I don’t have any pictures of the process, but it’s pretty simple. Just keep applying and scrubbing until you run out of cleaner or until you’ve done all your grout (or until you’re tired of scrubbing!)
Make sure to leave the paste sitting on the grout for 5-10 minutes before washing it off so the mixture can get in there and clean.
I scrubbed all the grout in our shower in one go, starting at one side and working my way around. So it was like 25-30 minutes before I went back to wash off the first bits I had done. But you don’t need to wait that long if you’re in a hurry, or just doing a small area. 5-10 minutes will work great.
To rinse the paste off, I turned on the warm water in the tub, used a cup to pour water over the tile, and used my hands to wipe away the pasty bits. My hands were already pretty gross from the cleaning and scrubbing part, so it didn’t bother me at all to wipe it down after by hand. But you can use a washcloth or rag if you’d rather.
Rinse everything off super well and you’re done!
Remember, grout does sometimes turn darker when it’s wet. So if you’re not totally impressed with how sparkling white your grout is right when you finish rinsing it, wait a few hours until it dries!
There were living, growing things in that corner! If I had let it go much longer we would have been attacked by some giant slime mold monster in the shower one day! It was imminent…promise.
And the rest of the grout wasn’t much better, but this recipe definitely did the trick.
I am so happy with how CLEAN everything is! And now we’re safe from slime monsters, so that’s a bonus!
Just a few important notes:
- You’re using bleach. Make sure you are wearing old clothes or something you don’t care about. I figured it wouldn’t splatter so I didn’t change before doing this, and now my jeans have white spots all over them! There is a surprising amount of splatter, even if you’re careful. So just change first.
- I didn’t wear rubber gloves, and that was perfectly fine. The bleach doesn’t irritate my hands at all, but if you have sensitive skin I might suggest some gloves to protect your hands.
- And if you use a washcloth or rag to wipe the cleaner off, make sure it’s something that’s okay to be bleached.
How’s the state of your bathroom grout? Or in your kitchen, if you have tile on the floor or in your back-splash. I’m really liking these make-it-yourself cleaning recipes, because they work just as well and it means I don’t have 30 different types of chemical cleaners laying around! Have you ever made your own cleaning supplies and used them? I’d love to hear about it!
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I have a question… can I use this “recipe” to clean the grout on my ceramic tile in my kitchen? Or is this solely for the purpose of bathroom wall tile?
You definitely can! It works on any tile, we just only happen to have tile in our bathroom. But it will work on kitchen counters, kitchen backsplash, tile floors…anywhere you have grout
What a great post and I am extremely thankful for the step by step guide and the safety tips that are provided. I am going to try it out on the next weekends and see what my bathroom will look like. I think the magic ingredient is the baking soda. Will update u guys what the results are soon.
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Great post ! Bleach with baking soda is definitely a great way to clean tile grout! I also sometimes mix baking soda with vinegar instead of bleach. It works great too. Vinegar is acidic and has disinfecting property that kills bacteria. When mixed with baking soda, it forms into a paste that you can apply on the grout to clean with. Bleach has more cleaning power though. It can also damage your tile if you keep using it in concentrated amount. It is therefore always a good idea to dilute bleach water before cleaning the grout.
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What a good idea about the grout cleaner, I’m trying this soon.
I definitely think the use of bleach is the way to go. I recently attempted the project using a recipe of ammonia and baking soda, and it seemed i really needed to scrub to get that grout clean…you can see my results on my blog: http://testingtrendy123.blogspot.com/2012/10/well-my-kitchen-floor-is-in-serious.html
Even if bleach does not irritate your hands at all, someday that damage will show, your skin is an organ (the largest in your body) and it absorbs everything! I would wear gloves with any acidic or caustic materials….to preserve it… just sayin…
Good point!
Hi all great tip and here’s another.
Forget grout whitener as in silly pencils and expensive paint, just overpaint the grout with Brilliant White Sandtex masonry paint and after drying for a while rub over to get rid of excess on tiles with a White bathroom textured sponge. Do not use a Green kitchen sponge as the colour comes out. If really keen clean as previous and then whiten.
I have used it in a few rooms now and find it lasts quite a while, shower cubicles perhaps need attention more often.
Test it by buying a tester pot and paint it on just over the grout so there is not so much cleaning off before spending to much dosh.
I just tried this tonight. Worked GREAT!!! Thanks
I have seen many posts suggesting using peroxide and bakingsoda instead of bleach…anyone tried that recipe?
I’ve been meaning to clean our shower’s grout for a while now. If this doesn’t work, I’m gonna have to recaulk!
I’m a registered respiratory therapist and I’d like to remind everyone the importance of making sure there is plenty of fresh air while cleaning with bleach, use exhaust fans or open windows and step out frequently to breathe fresh air. If you have sensitive airways be extremely cautious.
Thanks for the great reminder Debbie!
You probably should wear some sort of eye protection; especially if it splatters.
It didn’t splatter at all when I used it; it was basically the consistency of paste. But it’s a really good idea to protect your eyes, even just from the vapors!
I use the same method but instead of bleach, I use a vinegar and water solution (half and half). Same instructions, let it sit awhile, I wait a half-hour or so. Then I use a wet rag and some elbow grease. Works very well!
Hello there, thanks for the cleaningtip: i saved your post for later use: this was this evening: de results are fantastic!
I was also shocked though, by the effect it immediately had on my airways :S i almost had to trow up
.
But, if you like Debbie pointed out, make sure there is waaay waaay of fresh air… you might not get in to trouble to soon.
I cannot believe this chemicalreaction is good for our health though, so i advise everybode to use your brains, and not breath in de chemicals that come from blending those two ingrediënts.
But, it must be said, the darkest spots dissapear on the watch
After you clean your grout, seal it. It is porous and needs sealing every year or so. It is so easy to do and worth the effort. Sealer goes on like water.
Thanks for the tip!
thanks so much for sharing this …I have tried this and wow it definitely worked…
Hi I just had a quick question in regards to the tooth brush to scrub the tile grout , Could I use a scrubbing brush instead if in a hurry to help cover more of the area or does it work better with a a toothbrush
Victoria, absolutely you can use a scrubbing brush! If you have a bigger scrub brush, or even one of those battery-powered scrubbers, that will work great! I just figured more people might have an extra toothbrush laying around.
Also, if your grout lines are very fine, the toothbrush might be better for really getting in there where a bigger brush might not. But any kind of brush will work!
Hello, how would I clean the grout on the kitchen floor? which is a big area
Good question! You can use the same recipe to make a cleaner, but I might suggest getting a larger scrub brush. It would definitely take a while to do an entire floor with just a toothbrush! Something like this OXO scrub brush, perhaps?
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Can you please advise is that 3 to 4 cups, and 1 to 2 of bleach, thanks
Andre, it is three fourths of a cup of baking soda, and one quarter of a cup of bleach.
Awesome post! The bleach + baking soda recipe works great, i have tried it too. There’s another alternative to this recipe, and that is to use vinegar instead of bleach. Bleach, when used often, can damage grout and tile. Vinegar, on the other hand is a lot milder compared to bleach. I also squeeze in a little bit of lemon into the Vinegar + Baking soda mixture. Super easy to make, and best of all, it works!
Thank You! I’ve been looking all over the web for a solution like this. The before and after pictures really tell the story. I’m moving out in a week and need my shower grout to shine.
Really hoping this works! We moved into a condo about 9 months ago, and the grout was bad then..it has gotten worse over time, and so far none of the cleaners we have, worked. I will try this tomorrow and post my results!
Awesome, I hope it works as well for you as it did for me!
Please, what is C bleach, I am Brazilian and I am not able to translate the item? Thank you!
The C just means cups Raquel! So it’s just saying you need 3/4 of a cup of baking soda and 1/4 of a cup of bleach.
Thank you for this! We just bought a house that was formerly owned by a hoarder (yep, just like the hoarders on television). It was a great deal and a great location if you don’t mind all the work, and thankfully we were able to get in and clean to the point that it was somewhat tolerable before moving in. But, the bathroom was so disgusting, shoes were an absolute must because the tile floors appeared to have never been cleaned. They’ve been mopped but I just now began detailing and the grout was caked! Ugh, I cannot even describe the horribleness! But this grout cleaner recipe works great! Thanks again
Yikes! Well I’m glad this worked for you and that you can go into the bathroom shoe-less now!