Grout Girl

A couple posts back, (Holy Buckets, Batman!) I reported on the floor tile repairs in our home.  That project was just the preliminary event.  The main event, which started Monday and ended today, was Grout Girl vs Grime N Grit.  The judges are in full agreement on the winner: Grout Girl by a landslide.

Several years of once-over-lightly, greatly enhanced by a year of housekeeper abuse, resulted in absolutely filthy grout.  Housekeeper, who really should have known better, used a Shark floor cleaner that uses terrycloth pads.  It may work well on hardwood and linoleum floors but on tile it's the worst, nothing more than a dirt mover, transporting dirt from tile to grout - and leaving it there.  The original grout was tan.  After The Year of the Shark, it was totally black in the high traffic areas.

The larger tile on top: Before.

The smaller tile on bottom: After

A friend passed along the Grout Girl tip, and a good tip it was.  GG and her 2 helpers spent 3 days on their knees, doing their thing: scrubbing, staining and sealing.  The floor looks great, and we bought the right kind of floor scrubber to ensure it stays that way.  Professional steam cleaners do a good job of cleaning tile and grout, too.  But, when they're done, the grout needs to be sealed.  I've spent 100s of hours on my knees, sealing grout.  Never again!

Grout Girl rocks!