Boys And Bathrooms: Using Old-Fashioned Grout Cleaners To Spruce Up
Unsightly urine stains on white grout seem inevitable when your son's aim is less than perfect. It looks terrible around the toilet and eventually it smells. There are many cleaning products on store shelves that are made specifically for urine and grout cleaning. Some of us, though, would rather use fewer chemicals to whiten the floor. Here are 3 inexpensive ways to restore your grout and your sanity:
- vinegar and baking soda
- hydrogen peroxide and baking soda
- toothpaste
Chances are you have all these things tucked away in a cabinet somewhere in your home already. But first things first: clean your bathroom and scrub the floor grout until it is free of surface dirt. This takes off the first layer of smell and grime. What tools will you need? Basically a stiff, old toothbrush and some cleaning rags is it. Ready? Start off with the tried and true.
Vinegar and Baking Soda
A little bit of the bubbly mixture is mom's old stand-by for cleaning just about anything. Vinegar provides the acid. Baking soda provides the alkaline base. This is where it gets fun. Get the little darling with the bad aim to watch the science in action. Maybe sing a little "this is the way we clean the grout" ditty. After the floor is washed and dried, drop some baking soda onto the stained grout. Add vinegar. No need to measure. Just make sure to keep the consistency pudding-like so the mixture doesn't run all over the floor. The smell isn't the best, but it's fun to watch it bubble away. Scrub with the toothbrush, rinse, and dry. If the grout is super nasty, you might need a few applications and to let it sit before scrubbing.
Hydrogen Peroxide and Baking Soda
If vinegar isn't strong enough, try hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. Clean the grout the same way as you did with the vinegar and baking soda mixture. Hydrogen peroxide (known as just peroxide in most circles) is what moms of yesteryear used to clean dirt out of scraped knees!
Toothpaste
If you've tried vinegar, peroxide and baking soda and still aren't satisfied with the outcome, try toothpaste. Not gel, but the plain white paste. Toothpaste has long been a drying agent and many tweens and teens have used it when they've run out of benzoyl peroxide for unsightly pimples.
Use grout cleaner as a last resort and reseal the grout using a professional cleaning service. Just know that boys will be boys! Contact a company like All State Carpet & Tile Care if none of your efforts prove successful.