How To Make Dirty Bathroom Grout Look Like New!

I’m so excited for the progress I’ve made with the bathroom makeover. Here’s a picture of the bathroom when we first toured the home:

It’s not a horrible bathroom by any means, but it definitely needed a face lift. The thing that drove me the craziest about this bathroom though, was the dirty grout.

Eww! I used my special grout cleaning concoction, and it helped a lot, but this old grout was just too stained and nasty to ever really look good. It made me cringe every time I walked into that bathroom.

Brownish yellow grout against crisp white tiles just doesn’t scream “clean.” Nevermind what it does scream. Blech!

So after a lot of research (reading blogs… my favorite kind of research!), I decided to try a product called Mapei Grout Refresh. I bought mine at Lowes in the tile aisle, but Home Depot also carries a similar product with a different name. The bottle cost $12.

I followed the instructions on the bottle. First you apply the paint/stain/whatever it is to all the grout and scrub it in with a toothbrush.

After 30-60 minutes, you mist the floor with a spray bottle and wait 5 minutes. Then you scrub any of the excess paint off of the tile.

 I quickly learned that you only want to scrub the tile part, not the grout itself. I accidentally scrubbed off some of the colorant.

Oops! I have just a few teeny spots I’ll have to touch up, but it’s no big deal, really.

After I finished cleaning up all the extra paint, I stood back in disbelief.

LOOK AT THAT GROUT!!! It’s so, so ….    white!

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am with the results. The bathroom actually looks clean now! It makes such a huge difference to me! I am just giddy!

From other reviews, it sounds like this stuff holds up pretty well. I hardly used any of the grout refresh, so if I ever need to touch it up, I’ve got plenty left. This product is also supposed to be a sealant, so it should actually help prevent stains. Fingers crossed about that part. I debated about doing a darker grout (this stuff comes in lots of colors!), but I just didn’t think I’d like the overall look. So I stubbornly chose white, even though it may be a pain to keep clean. We shall see.

It took me about half an hour to apply the paint and about another half hour to scrub the excess off. For an hour and $12, I think this is a win, win, win project! 

I’ve got more bathroom updates in the works. In fact, hubby is out in the garage right now cutting wood for me. Love that guy! I am very pleased with the way this bathroom is coming together and can’t wait to share it with you!