No matter how hard you work to keep your kitchen and bathroom clean, they’ll always look dingy if they’re plagued by dirty grout, whether it’s lurking between tiles in the shower or along your backsplash. But before you spend a small fortune on cleaning products, consider this: You can mix up your own homemade grout cleaner, less toxic and less expensive than the store-bought variety, using just a handful of ingredients that may already be sitting beneath your kitchen sink. To get started, you’ll need to put on some protective gloves—but after that, this cleanser takes just under 10 minutes to make. Here’s our handy how-to, which will help you make all the grout in your house look brand-new!

Make Your Own Grout Cleaner 

This recipe for homemade grout cleaner will have your floors sparkling in no time.

1. Create a mixture of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide.

Unscrew the lid of a small squeeze-top container. Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda into the bottle, then mix in 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide. The baking soda will help remove tough stains and hard water buildup, while the hydrogen peroxide will clean and brighten, cutting through residue on the grout to remove discolorations.

2. Add dish soap and shake to combine.

Add 1 teaspoon of liquid dish soap, then replace the lid and shake the mixture to make sure the ingredients in your homemade grout cleaner are well combined.

3. Apply grout cleaner, let sit, and wipe away.

Use the squeeze-top bottle to apply the homemade grout cleaner in a fine line to any areas in need of a good scrub. Let the mixture sit on the grout for about five minutes so it can really work its way into the stain, then wipe the mixture off with a sponge or paper towel. Rinse with water to remove any residue. If stains remain, repeat as needed until the grout is clean.

If you like beautiful tiles in your bathroom, one of the downsides is the grout. It keeps the tiles together (yay!), but because it is porous and light-colored, it’s quite prone to stains and damage from water. (Which makes you wonder: is there no other material people could use that isn’t so not-water-friendly?)

Fresh grout looks beautiful, but without proper cleaning and maintenance, it can become stained, mildewed, and even cracked. And when gout starts cracking and falling, water can seep behind the wall and cause major damage.

From daily maintenance to grout replacement, here’s how to care for grout. Keep your grout clean, extend its life, and avoid premature time-and-money-wasting grout replacement.

A daily wiping-and-spraying routine after your bath or shower is essential to keep your tiles clean and prevent premature staining and damage. 

Even though you will keep your walls and glass cleaner with the daily routine, you’ll still need to give your shower or bath a deep clean at least every week (or at worst, every two weeks). Despite your daily efforts, body oils and soap scum will still cling to the surfaces.

So, weekly or biweekly, give your grout a nice preventative clean with a water and baking soda paste. Rub it in the grout with a grout brush or a used toothbrush and rinse with clear water. If your grout seems a little more strained than usual, use hydrogen peroxide instead of water. If you have used vinegar as your daily spray before cleaning the shower, make sure to rinse it off thoroughly before using hydrogen peroxide in the grout.

If you need  help weekly or biweekly, give your grout a nice preventative clean, the Eagle Cleaning team is always here to help you with the preventative clean routine. 

Enjoy clean, breathable air and a healthy home, all while saving yourself time and effort. Hire a professional house cleaning today Check out our follow up blog entry on How to Clean Stone Shower Tiles.