Important Things to Know about How to Clean Grout

June 1, 2012 - PRLog -- The easiest place to find germs in your kitchen and bathroom is in your grout lines. As soap, dead skin, and food particles get trapped in the grout, they can become easily infested by bacteria, germs, and viruses. If you want to be able to keep your house clean and stay healthy, you have to know how to take care of grout.

A Safe, Easy, and Effective Way to Clean

Using a steam cleaner is the best and fastest way to clean kitchen and bathroom grout.The surface of the grout is porous, just like the surface of your skin. In order to get rid of all of the dirt and grime that is trapped inside, you have to be able to either use a harsh cleaning chemical and do a lot of scrubbing, or use a steam cleaner.  
Not only does a steam cleaner kill germs on contact, but it also helps to get rid of discoloration. You could spend hours scrubbing the grout on your hands and knees, or you could do it in just a matter of a few minutes with a steam cleaner.

Using a steam cleaner is about having the right tools to get started. Most of the time, if you want to do it the fastest way, you need to use a little bit of detergent and apply it to your tile with a deck brush. After the detergent has had a chance to sit on the grout for 5 to 10 minutes, use your steam cleaner to clean all the lines. Start by having a nylon tip on the end of your cleaning wand. This brush will help you to get rid of the discoloration. You don't have to scrub very hard when you're using a steam cleaner, because your real cleaning power is in the pressurized steam and not in the brush. It may take you two or three passes to get the grout clean, but you should be able to get it much cleaner with a steamer.

Another alternative is to use oxygen bleach. Bleach is a very effective way to get rid of tile stains. Before using bleach, make sure to dilute it. If you're using oxygen bleach, it comes as a dry powder. Shake the powder on the day that you will be cleaning, and then use a little bit of water to clean with. It may start to bubble and fizz, but this means that it is working. Using bleach is an effective way to lift stains. Before using it, you have to make sure that the area that you are cleaning won't be damaged by the bleach. It is alright to test a small area first.

What Causes Discoloration?

Gunky buildup can often cause discoloration. Also, mold and mildew cause a ton of discoloration in bathrooms and in kitchens. The best way to prevent it is to clean your bathroom and kitchen on a regular basis. You can also use diluted bleach to keep build up from making your walls and floors look awful.  

Spencer Arnold manages a website called http://www.groutcleaningdiy.com dedicated to helping you know how to clean grout with less time, effort and money.