I have black grout and penicillin isn't helping.
Actually the black grout I put down in my bathroom 11 years ago isn't exactly the same color black as it was when I put it down. The tile on the walls has the true black still.
I used to be diligent about cleaning and resealing but somehow I forgot to do it - - - - - for several years. Now I have removed a built in clothes hamper and I have to put down some new tile in the hole and my grout is not going to match. Since it will be the first thing you see when you walk into the bathroom I need to try to rejuvenate the old black.
I've read about multiple methods of cleaning the grout on the interweb, but I'm worried that many of those will tend to (b)leach out the color. Have any of you had any good experience with cleaning very dark colored grout?
And it is true, once you try black you'll never go back!
I got a bristle brush for my car polisher and used standard cleaners. It along with bleach mixed with some cleaning grit cleaned better then anything I have ever tried.
Totally worth the 11 bucks I spent on the brush. (If you cannot find it I found it under carpet cleaning supplier at my local detail supplier)
One of the most effective things I have used was quite literally straight bleach in a spray bottle. Obviously you would need to test it, and it does pretty much nuke the area for a few hours.
Bleach scares me with a black grout.
That's what I'd do if I had white grout, but I'm afraid it will bleach out the color. Even if it leaves it 2 shades lighter that means my patch will stand out like a sore thumb
I'll have to check out those brushes, but I'm still up in the air as to what cleaning solution to use
I’ve successfully used a pressure washer. My wife laughed at me until she saw the results and how quickly it went
Hah! I was thinking about a pressure washer also. I was a bit worried about blowing out the grout and was not sure about running a hose into the house (although I guess I could take the screen out of the vent window and run it there).
I think I have heard of someone using a water pic to similar effect (much slower of course).
Just a note in case it all goes south, I've had some good luck mixing grout stain/restore things to get the color you actually want. It is a tedious wax on/wax off kinda process, though.
I had some grout that was dirty. It went from a white to a light grey. I scrubbed it as clean as I could then put some semi-gloss white paint mixed with water and "painted" the grout. I didn't let it dry but wiped it off after 20-30 seconds. The grout looks like new!
You could try the same thing with some black paint?
Ive used ZEP grout cleaner from Home Depot with reasonable success on light grout. No clue if it will change the color of black grout.
If it's non sanded grout, it shouldn't be too hard to gouge it all out and redo the entire wall. I think that is likely your only choice if you want a perfect colour match.
To clean sanded grout, I use our Shark Steamer. It’s really only effective on a small area due to the time it takes to regenerate. Great for a shower but it takes a LOOONG time to do an entire kitchen. This from experience!
I swear by spraying it with peroxide and using one of those steam cleaners like you see on TV.
Test an inconspicuous area with the peroxide of course. Depending on the dye, it could discolor it.
I have also used a stiff plastic wire wheel to scrub off a tiny bit of the top surface of the grout (but not scratch the tile) and then *gasp* went over all of the grout with a few sharpies. It worked brilliantly. Wait a day and re-seal the grout. Any ink you get on the tile wipes right off with isopropyl or some light solvent.
My wife sells this Norwex stuff on the side, they have a grout cleaner that does really well. Our mudroom with 4 kids gets pretty rough and that stuff does wonders.
