How Do You Clean Grout?

Serving Rio Rancho and Surrounding Areas

or

How do you Clean Grout?

The most commonly asked question

Grout may look solid, but it’s actually a porous material that absorbs dirt, moisture, soap residue, and bacteria over time. This is especially true in showers and high-use areas, where constant moisture allows grime to settle deep into the grout. As buildup accumulates, grout can quickly become discolored, stained, and dull—often long before the tile itself shows any wear.

While regular household cleaning helps on the surface, it often fails to remove what’s trapped below. Understanding how grout gets dirty—and why certain cleaning methods work better than others—is the key to keeping it clean and extending its life.

Below, we’ll break down how to properly clean grout, which products actually work, and the best daily habits to keep grout looking its best.

Before we tell you the secret.. The reason Grout Works exists…

Grout cleaning is one of those problems homeowners know needs attention—but few have the time, tools, or energy to solve properly. No matter how often you scrub, grout seems to hold onto stains, darken over time, and make otherwise clean tile look worn and outdated. That’s exactly why Grout Works exists.

Many homeowners try alternatives that sound promising but fall short…

• Steam Cleaning
Provides only short-term improvement and typically needs to be repeated every few months at a cost of $350–$400 per visit. Over time, repeated steam cleaning can wear down the top layer of grout, eventually leading to the need for regrouting.

• Regrouting
Requires grinding out existing grout, creating dust and disruption throughout the home, and is often significantly more expensive than expected.

• DIY Grout Cleaning
Time-consuming and physically demanding, often hard on the back and knees, with results that rarely last due to grout’s porous nature.

Below this portion will explain the methods you can use to maintain your own floors. The real Reason Grout Works exists is to make maintenance significantly easier, saving you, your time, energy and money in the long run.

Okay.. Here’s some tips on how to keep your grout clean.

Something to know before taking it into your own hands. Grout absorbs EVERYTHING. When cleaning your floors, here are some things to remember.

Mopping can make it worse: While mopping is meant to clean your floors, dirty mop water can actually spread dirt across the surface and push it back into the grout. This is known as “Evenly dispersing dirt” Frequently changing the water helps ensure you’re removing dirt rather than redistributing it, keeping grout cleaner for longer.
Recommended product for mopping: Pine-Sol, Fabuloso
Mold vs Bleach in Showers: Unsealed grout is porous, allowing water to seep in and collect behind shower caulking. Over time, this trapped moisture creates the perfect environment for mold—essentially, where water stands, mold follows. The common knowledge is that simply spraying, scrubbing, and rinsing mold with bleach is enough. In reality, bleach needs to sit on the surface for at least 5 minutes to fully disinfect and kill mold effectively. Even then, this only treats surface mold; it doesn’t prevent moisture from soaking into unsealed grout and causing mold to return.
Keeping your shower clean: One of the simplest and most effective tools for preventing hard water buildup is a squeegee. After each shower, quickly wiping water off the tile and glass helps stop mineral deposits from drying and leaving unsightly spots. For even better protection, consider using a daily shower cleaner from your local hardware store—like Home Depot, Lowe’s, or ACE Hardware. Spraying the shower after each use and then squeegeeing helps minerals bind to the cleaning solution instead of your tile or glass, and the minerals run down the drain, keeping surfaces cleaner and streak-free for longer.
Recommended products for shower care: Standard window or glass squeegee and “The Scrubbing Bubbles Daily shower cleaner”, or “Wet and Forget”