Whiten Tile Grout The Cheap and Easy Way

Before

After

Give your place a facelift by whitening your tile grout.  Sick of the years of dirt and grime on our tile grout, I decided to try a very inexpensive, but very effective solution.  All I used was an old toothbrush, baking soda and bleach.

Materials

• old tooth brush (manual or electric)
• baking soda
• bleach
• hot water
• old container (to hold bleach and baking soda solution)
• gloves (to protect your hands from bleach)
• protective eyewear (to protect your eyes from bleach)
• mask 
• old clothes (that you do not mind accidentally getting bleached)

Directions

1. Put on your old clothes and protective gear.  Then open some windows for ventilation.  
2. Pour some bleach in the container and then slowly stir in baking soda until a liquidy-paste forms.    
3. Use the toothbrush to apply the bleach-baking soda mixture on the grout.  Allow the mixture to sit for a while.  I waited about an hour.
4. Fill the container with hot water, dip the toothbrush in the water, and then use the toothbrush to start scrubbing the grout.  The dirt and grime should come off effortlessly.  If not, you can repeat this process until it does.  I only had to do one treatment.

Note: I only used a manual toothbrush, but if you are taking on a large area you might want to consider getting a cheap electric toothbrush (i.e., the kind that costs less than $20).

Although I am sure most of you already know, do not get creative with bleach.  Mixing bleach with ammonia or other household cleaners is extremely dangerous.