<p>I had ceramic tile put on my kitchen floor and entry way about five years ago. I absolutely love it. It is a grey pattern with scallopped edges. The grout is also grey to match. The problem is in the heavily used areas of the kitchen the group has gotten darker. It was sealed, but obviously not well enough.</p>
<p>I hired a company called the Grout Doctor who said he could clean it and reseal it and it would be “good as new”. It wasn’t. Problem is some small areas did get better. He actually tested a small area, dried it and showed us and it was okay, but then after he did the whole thing, it looks just like it did before he came. I paid him over $800 for this. He even came back and redid some areas but would not refund us a penny.</p>
<p>Anyway, now it looks the same and I’m wondering if anybody has any suggestions. I wouldn’t even mind if the whole thing was the darker grey color, I just don’t want it different colors. It makes those areas look dirty. I asked if it could be regrouted and he said no.</p>
<p>I have had pretty good luck with a hot water and oxygenated bleach mixture (3 or 4 to 1). Use a stiff bristled toothbrush size brush to work the dirt out of the darkened grout. Try first in an inconspicuous area to ensure the bleach does not remove the gray grout color and make sure to thoroughly mop your floor when finished so that you don’t track bleach into carpeted areas of your home.</p>
<p>The guy isn’t trying to match the old color. He is just trying to clean the parts that have darkened to match the ones that haven’t. But it didn’t work.</p>
<p>It’s not really dirty. It just turns dark when wet and when it dries it goes back to a light grey, but not some of the heavily traffic parts.</p>
<p>According to him, we cannot remove the grout and redo it because of the scalloped edges. Or he just doesn’t want to. I even asked if we could put a thin lawyer of the grout on top of the dark stuff and when it dries, seal it really well but he says that won’t work. </p>
<p>I’ve tried cleaning it also using all kinds of solutions including the oxygenated bleach with the same result. Those areas right in front of the sink, stove and refrigerator are a dark grey while the rest of the grout is light grey. The whole front hallway looks great. All the same beautiful color it was when first installed.</p>
<p>You need a grout stain and sealer. As long as you didn’t use an epoxy grout, that should work fine. Just pick a darker color and do all the grout with it. They are shaped like pens… contact a good independent tile store, and they should be able to help you. It’s time intensive, but easy peasy to do yourself.</p>
<p>Ha. Just google “change grout color” or " grout stain colors." really, you just clean the grout, then roll the new stuff on and wipe off the stain that gets on the tile. Tile is not porous and grout is, so it’s very easy to do. I redid our bathroom…</p>
<p>I had those issues for years with my white tile kitchen and bathroom, and tried so many things with minimal results. Why would anyone use white tile is beyond me, but we bought it that way I can’t change it until we get the boy through college. I bought something called Grout Deep Clean by Aqua Mix. You should be able to find it at Home Depot or Lowe’s or aquamix.com. It cleaned the white grout beautifully, and I recently used it on my gray-tiled foyer which had some really dark areas. It also cleaned it up like new.</p>
<p>The thread maybe should shout out … STAY AWAY from Grout DR!
I had about the same experience $700 to “clean” the grout in our bathroom. Total waste of money. It sort of looked somewhat better for a while, but it didn’t last long. And didn’t get parts that lost grout fixed at all… the fix came right back out.
Although I loved the look, I’d never have grout anywhere ever again. Glad I got rid of tile in the kitchen, too. </p>
<p>Now back to the topic of the tread, I don’t have any ideas for cleaning gray grout… I did clean then use some stuff that was like liquid white shoepolish (same dispenser) on white tile/grout. It lasted several years, then needs reapplication.</p>
<p>I know this is not a solution for your current problem, but in the long run, if you want to fix the problem permanently, re-grout with epoxy grout, which does not require constant staining and is impermeable to dirt.</p>
<p>You’d think they would have used epoxy grout in the first place. Besides, that’s what I asked the Grout Doctor to do and he claims it can’t be done.</p>
<p>I do not think epoxy grout is any better, I used grout enhancer 1776 from Microban in my bathroom shower and got pretty good results. Dirt gets right out and the white is not stained or changed in color.</p>
<p>That is a complete bull claim, artlovers! This is how myths are spread. Epoxy grout is bomb-proof. Sreiously, it would require major drilling to get it out! Are they sure they used the right stuff and followed the installation instructions? Installation of epoxy grout requires more skill than that of regular one. DIYers can botch the job easily - the grout cures fast. Also, old one needs to be taken out <em>completely</em>, or the new grout will not stay in place. My epoxy grout that I installed in the MB shower 5 years ago is still looking new despite two people using the shower daily. And - gasp! - I have not sealed it, not even once! I do not need to clean it in any special way either.</p>
<p>i helped the tile guy apply the epoxy grout in our shower (regular is plenty fine for our floors etc. ). It was hot as hades in the house
and the damn stuff set up crazily quickly, and if you don’t get it off the tile by the time it drys, good luck ever getting it off! I stayed up into the wee hours wiping the tiles with vinegar water trying to get all the haze off. That was two years ago. I agree with Bunsenburner - we have used our white grouted shower since then, and I have only ONCE cleaned the grout…and then only in one little corner where the water tends to sit, and it was starting to get a little pinky. Used a little vinegar water, and that’s it. Expoxy grout,properly applied, is miraculous stuff.</p>