I LOVE hearing testimonies from my readers of how my tips help them to clean or improve their homes. I had to share this email I received from a reader after she read my tip on the best way to clean grout.
Maria from Agape Love Designs emailed me this, after reading my post on the easiest way to clean grout:
“Here are my old, nasty DISGUSTING, stained since before we moved in, tile counter tops. They gross me out. I have hated them since we bought and moved into our home! I have tried cleaning sprays and bleach sprays.. which did ok.. but didn’t really help with the grout lines. I have scrubbed, with not much success! Not to mention I’m constantly keeping the counters wiped clean with Clorox wipes. But nothing seems to get rid of the dirty looking stains you see in this picture below. Eww, it makes me sick just seeing the pictures! When Anna mentioned using the Clorox bleach for grout lines, I was like DUH! Why hadn’t I ever thought to use that before?
It was so easy, the pen made getting right on the grout lines easy and mess free. I just traced them out, and let them sit for about 20 minutes! I must mention the smell isn’t as strong as the sprays, which is also a plus. Then I took an old towel, dipped it into warm water, and wiped away. And voila! Like magic, my counters were white again! 🙂
Below are before & After pics of this easy grout cleaning transformation!
I mean, the difference is AMAZING! Can you believe that even after I cleaned the counters.. they still looked that dirty!? Well I’m so thankful that I don’t have that problem anymore. :)”
Thanks for sharing Maria!!! Isn’t that amazing?! If you didn’t see my post on this little cleaning secret click HERE to read it. Click HERE to purchase the product you need to get these same results!
I’d love to hear about your transformations too!
NOTE: After receiving this question from many readers I wanted to add this to the post. This tip works on any color of grout. The bleach pen will not turn colored grout white. In fact I have only ever used this trick on colored grout lines.
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AMAZING!!! I will have to try that on my bathroom floors. They are horrible.
What an awesome transformation!
wow!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wowzers! I finally cleaned my dyson thanks so much for the tips. I would love to read a post about how to clean the seal around the fridge and freezer door. Mine are black from god knows what. Probably mold yuck!
Very impressive! I found you on Totally Tuesday blog hop. OMG…as I'm typing this I see right next to the box "Learn How To Fold a Fitted Sheet". No one in my family can do this! Must follow you so I can learn all these tips! Thanks Anna!
New gfc follower. If you get a chance visit my blog at http://www.mommywantstoread.blogspot.com
A great tip! I need to try that! Thanks! ?
That is unbelievable!
I love that clorox pen and the magic eraser.
The only thing I will add is to seal the grout lines after you have them cleaned. There are LOTS of easy spray sealers that will be absorbed by the grout and will wipe off of the tile!
Now to keep your grout lines clean, get some liquid car wax and spray down your counters or bathroom tiles. The wax will eventually come off the tiles themselves, but it stays in the grout areas much longer.
Definitely seal your grout about 72 hours after you've cleaned them. Also have heard that hydrogen peroxide will work with those stubborn areas.
For bigger jobs, like kitchen floors, I use Clorox toilet bowl cleaner. The pen is too tedious for large areas of grout. The bowl cleaner can run along the grout like a big pen. The fumes can be a little much, but so worth the results, even when grout has been sealed.
this may be a dumb question, but will this work if your grout is not white? we have like a beigey grey grout but it is ICKY in so many areas (flooring) and i have tried the vinegar/baking soda/toothbrush thing but it doesnt work that well not to mention it would take me 3 months to do it all! the toilet bowl cleaner sounds great, but will it make my grout white?
I have unsealed grout in my kitchen and I hate it! I use Oxyclean Laundry stain remover spray and let it sit for about a minute. scrub up with a big brush and its clean perfection!
does this work agains color crayon? my daughter has take a hot pink craying to out grout on our floor….
i have ceramic tile countertops that have the look of tumbled marble with a slightly lighter grout. the grout has darkened a bit which i can tell by the grout on the backsplashes which has remained lighter. i was so excited to try this! no luck! this did not help to lighten my counter grout at all. a few times a year i get a bee in my bonnet and dig in with comet, scrubbers and anything else that might work, but still without luck. i even tried that nasty grout paint on a few – but have since scrubbed it off. i did not like the results of that at all. if anyone has any thoughts or ideas, i would love to hear! my email is: jlneighbors@aol.com – thanks in advance!
Try a product called Spray Nine….way better than bleach. How i clean my grout. And use a stiff toothbrush if you need extra scrubbing.
what about crayon on grout? Would this work?
I found your website after looking for an answer on how to clean grout but my problem is that I want to clean the grout in between my tiles on my kitchen floor and i have a huge kitchen – please help. laura.calabrese@fmglobal.com
Hi Anna, I have a problem with water rings from putting a glass of water on my black marble top nightstand and I have tried getting them off and they aren't budging! laura.calabrese@fmglobal.com
I used Kaboom. Let it sit and then scrubbed it out with a old tooth brush.
Hi Anna,
I’m renting a house with my husband, and there is a lot of grout. Tile kitchen counters, tile bathroom floor and a completely tiled shower stall. I saw your post about a bleach pen, and i cannot wait to try it. But when it comes to my bathroomw floor feel like it is a special situation. It looks like the grout had various amounts of dirt mixed in when it was laid, and there is what looks like grout stains on the tile itself. Any tips or ideas?
Hmmm, that’s a good question. I know if anything would get it out it would be the bleach pen. What I would do would be to put the bleach on the grout lines, in those areas, and then scrub it with an old toothbrush. If all else fails, and it really bothers you, you could always match the grout and do another layer of grout over the top. It’s really easy to do, we’ve done it when we’ve had grout crack. Hope that helps! 🙂
OH MY! I am so excited I can’t even stand it!!!! I am going to try this now! Thank you SOOOO much for posting the update with the colors as that was my question and when I read that you addressed it! I WAS THRILLED! Thank you sooooo much 🙂
i use oxygen bleach for really bad grout stains
Do you have any suggestions to easily clean soap scum from a fiberglass shower stall?
I’ve tried numerous products over the years including various soap scum sprays, oven cleaner, vinegar, bleach, mechanics hand cleaner (not bad), Softscrub, etc. They all did an okay job. Thank you!.
Here’s a post I wrote about removing soap scum: https://askannamoseley.com/2012/10/how-to-remove-soap-scum/. I hope one of these tips works for you!! 🙂
I always use bleach on a tooth brush, keeps all my grout spotless. I put it on quite thickly, leave it a few minutes and then wipe it and it is lovely and bright. I have never tried this pen, not sure if it’s available in the UK, but I will keep an eye out for it. x
I did this trick for awhile when I stumbled onto another (cheaper) way to keep counters clean. I used windex to wipe my counter down one day because I was out of my regular cleaning materials and I had an abundance of windex. I was amazed to find the grout came clean as well. I went nuts after that, cleaning with windex on the grout, using a toothbrush for the really stubborn spots, but everything was amazingly white afterwards. I also noticed that the bleach pen doesn’t last as long and costs more to replace. Just thought you’d like to know.
Hi there Anna!
Love the idea of clorox pens!
Where do you get the grout pen?
You can buy them at Target, Walmart, or any place like that.
Hi, love this idea! So when spraying the sealent on the grout lines, is this a wide spray pattern? Or is it a thin line and easily aimed at ONlY the grout line? Where can I get this sealer?
It’s more like a mist/spray but it’s okay if it gets on the grout. You can buy grout sealer at any hardware store.
What works well on floor grout and other stained stuff like acrylic sinks, is a paste of dishwasher soap.
My kitchen floor looks like the above before, & my dishwasher leaked…..the bit of grout by the leak ended up lovely & clean, so I crunched up my dishwasher tabs added some water to make a runny paste, took a toothbrush & scrubbed the grout lines, left them a little wile scrubbed again with the toothbrush, then mopped the floor clean……bingo:-)
To be honest it would be easier with dishwasher powder, or maybe the fluids?
Do you have any tried solutions to clean glass shower doors. I use a squege but the water spots are terrible. I bought something from the shower door store—its like a thick paste but looking for a daily solution.
Thank you
Here’s a post I did awhile back: https://askannamoseley.com/2012/10/how-to-remove-soap-scum/
Where can i get this grout pen???
Most grocery stores should have it, Target, Walmart, stores like that.
What if your grout is dark…. Will this still work or will it ruin your grout. Also… Isn’t bleach a harsh cleaning agent, will it ruin the grout sooner?
I’ve only ever had medium colored (tan/brown) grout and it’s always worked for me w/o any problems. 🙂
The white grout I have in my bathroom tiles is quite wide, and I have a lot of ground to cover. I have found that Soft Scrub works better than the pen and goes farther. I use an old toothbrush to scrub it in a little and when wipe off the excess.
What’s an easy & efficient way to clean floor grou
Wow – I have been clueless about cleaning the grout in my kitchen, then sealing it! Does the liquid car wax staff on permanently? Thanks!
Excited to have found this site!,,,,,
I’m not sure what you mean by “liquid car wax”? I wouldn’t seal the grout with car wax, I would seal it with a grout sealer made for the type of grout you have, sanded or unsanded.
Great idea for getting grout clean! What would you recommend I use for the wider grout that is found on floor tile?
This is what I’ve always used for cleaning my grout lines. On the bleach pen there’s a skinny “pen” side and then a fatter brush side, I used the fatter side.
Yes the clorox pen will clean it but it also breaks down the grout and it become crumbly over time and starts coming out.
The picture above … That grout is white though… Am I right?
Lisa,
This is Monique, Anna’s assistant. The picture from the reader, Maria does have white grout yes! In this correlating post: https://askannamoseley.com/2012/04/spring-cleaning-cleaning-sealing-grout/
Anna uses the bleach pin on colored grout! Hope this helps!
I use Soft Scrub on the grout on my kitchen floor. Makes the grout white again.
Do you recommend this for bathroom floors that have tiles and grout too?
Great post!
Thanks! Erin
Hi, Erin! I’m Anna’s assistant, Bethany. Yes, you can use this on the bathroom floors. For cleaning her grout lines, Anna uses the larger side on the bleach pen (On the bleach pen there’s a skinny “pen” side and then a fatter brush side). Good luck! 🙂
This Clorox pen method did not impress me at all, and it ran dry far too soon.