How to Refresh Grout
Several years ago Mr. SP replaced the flooring in our bathroom with tile. We’ve been very happy with the tile but don’t like that the white grout that we used won’t stay white.
Over the winter Mr. SP noticed a product at Lowe’s called “Grout Refresh” and wondered if it might work on our not-so-white grout.
Both of us forgot that he bought it and I recently saw it sitting with some other supplies in the basement and decided to try it. It worked! The bathroom grout now looks so much better, almost like a newly grouted floor.
The Grout Refresh bottle claims that this product will:
- Restore the look of tile grout
- Create a uniform color
- Easy to apply and clean up
I found all three to be true. If you go to this link, you can watch a short video that shows how to apply the product. If I’d known about the video before I did the application, my job would have been better, although I’m pleased with the end result.
Before:
The grout had become not-so-white after several years of use. I’ve cleaned the grout with bleach and also with Soft Scrub but neither product really worked.
This bathroom is really small and a good bit of the floor is covered by a rug. You can see that the entrance to the bathroom has very dirty grout.
The area in front of the sink is also very dirty. The rug’s home is behind the dirtiest spot in the photo below and you can see that the tile is not so dirty looking there.
How-To
Grout Refresh is easy to use. Following the directions on the label, I applied it to the grout lines with a toothbrush. (In the video it is squirted directly from the bottle onto the grout and spread out with a grout brush.) The product must stay on the grout for 30 to 60 minutes.
You can see that the Grout Refresh got on the blue squares and also on the white tile. This was not a problem and it washed off easily.
Next the floor gets misted with water and stands for 5 minutes.
Finally, clean the tile and protect from traffic for 2 hours and from water for 24 hours.
After
What a difference! I love seeing white grout and a clean floor.
New grout or refreshed grout? You really can’t tell!
Problem
The only problem I had with this product was the clean up. I scrubbed a bit too hard in a few places and scrubbed the new white out of the grout line. Once I realized that this could happen, I scrubbed a little less vigorously and had no more problems.
Would I use this product again?
Yes! I may even try it in the shower area of the bathroom where the grout isn’t dirty looking but has yellowed over the years.
This product comes in all sorts of colors and according to the video, you can even use it to change the color of your grout.
If you have an area in your home that needs a grout refresh, you may want to consider looking for this product.
Oh, thanks for the tip!! Grout is such a tough thing to keep up with.
Good for you! I find myself avoiding the use of tile because I don’t like to take care of grout! But this product looks like it works wonders. Thanks for sharing!
Looks great!! Question: do you need to re-seal the grout after doing this refresh??
Thanks for the information! This is so good to know! We have a bathroom at the lakehouse I need to try it on! Your floor turned out great …good as new! 🙂
I hate the tile they used for my counter tops in my rental. Was wondering if I should re grout to bring back the luster…but thanks for this tip, i might take the time to use this product!
Thanks bunches!
WOW! What a difference that makes. It looks like you got new tile and grout. Fantastic!
This is not a post, it is more like a public service announcement! There is not a person who has grout that does not struggle with keeping grout looking good!
Thanks for sharing this valuable tip and helpful tutorial with all of us at TUTORIALS TIPS AND TIDBITS!
Your bathroom floor is gorgeous! I love black and white tile!
So great to hear from someone that tried a product and it worked as advertised! Thanks for sharing the info:@)
YOU, my dear, just made my day!!! I was lamenting the dinginess of our master bathroom tile just last week and wondering what on earth I could do to get it right. I had tried several different products in inconspicuous places (just in case the product was to do something weird!), but nothing seemed to work. I’m going to try to get my hands on some of this STAT!!!!! GREAT tip and tutorial!
This has got to be better than spending more than 500 to have the grout professionally cleaned.. I’m off to Lowe’s.. thanks for sharing.. xo marlis
I’m so glad to see this post – my kitchen floor is in need of something, and this might be just what I need. Thanks so much!
PS – visiting from StoneGable. Hope you’ll stop by and see my homemade gnocchi tutorial.
🙂
ButterYum
This sounds like a very useful product. Most of our first floor is tiled so I understand the need for a good cleaner. Your bathroom floor looks great so I will try it on your recommendation. Thanks for the info!——- Shannon
I’m going to look for this product. I’ve been noticing our grout needs help.
Paula, you are just the best. 🙂
Love your blog. I am a new follower. Great tips…. Come and have a cup of tea at my blog… Thank you, Cindy Can’t wait to see what you post next.
Impressed that you did all that with a toothbrush! i had white grout only ONCE – it wasn’t an issue i wanted to deal with ever again! great post…
blessings
http://bit.ly/QljwCN
This is a very helpful tip–I have tile and grout in the kitchen, so will give this a try–thank you for the informative post!
I have never liked the tile in our kitchen because the grout is so filthy. Thanks for reviewing this product, it makes me want to go get some for my kitchen floors right now!
This looks like exactly what I have been looking for – great tip! I look forward to reading your blog 🙂
This is awesome! Thanks for sharing your experience. I actually really need to try it in our bathroom. I hae not been thrilled with the white grout, even when it was sealed. I am a little curious about whether it’s okay to use with unglazed tile, though. Off to check that out.
(Stopping over from Serenity Now.)
I saw that product recently and wondered if it would work and I tried the grout pens that are out there…those don’t work. I’ll have to try it out. Thanks for the tip!
thanks to your wonderful tip, Lowe’s is now on my “to do” list of places to go. 🙂
Never heard of this…made your floor look brand new – well done!
Your floor is looking great! Here is hoping that Lowe’s in Canada carries it. Thank you so much for the tip. -Brenda-
This is new to me … I’m going to keep this in mind for our bathroom … the grouts not looking so great these days!
Thanks for sharing!
🙂
Linda
Thanks for the great post! I was just thinking about how I hated the grout in our basement bathroom but didn’t think I could do anything about it. Now I think I’ll go to Lowes and see what colors they have!
We are right in the middle of doing that in our kitchen, only it is beyond “refreshing” we have to remove and replace.
Popped in from Wow Us Wednesday.
thriftshopcommando.blogspot.com
Lots of tile in our home so happy to have this recommendation.
Thank You!! Going to lowe’s this weekend to try on all white tile and grout in my boys bathroom- what on earth was I thinking!! 🙂
You don’t know how timely this post was for me!! Thanks…I will be in Lowe’s this weekend looking for this!
Thank you! Our shower grout is disgusting and WILL NOT scrub clean! I’m going to try to find this and see if it works for ours!
I’ve heard about that product and want to give it a try.
You did a great job. Looks great!
This post is coming at a great time for me, so ironic I was just researching how to whiten/clean grout yesterday! This is a great tip – will have to look for this product, I haven’t seen it before. Made a huge difference on your grout – looks so bright! Pinned this!
Great product – thanks for the review! Something to keep in mind for sure!
I have the same issue in my half bath. I will be getting this product and doing also, thanks!
Just wondered how the grout is holding up. Does it flake off when cleaning the floor? Can you use it repeatedly? Thanks so much, Sara
Sara – The grout refresh lasted almost a year to the date. I did a second refresh recently and also did the wall tile. My tile looks like new! I noticed no flaking with this product.
I have to say I really have a weak spot for squeaky clean, white grout! Sounds like a great product to check out Paula! Thanks for the 411.
Cheers
It is amazing how well it works! Lesson learned, any future grout in my house will not be white!