Generally the dirt, grease and grime on grout is of an acidic nature.  Therefore it is necessary to use an alkaline cleaning product to react with the acidic grime on the grout to dissolve it and make it easier to clean.  An alkaline grout cleaning product specifically made for cleaning tile and grout should be used for your cleaning process.

Mix the alkaline clear with the hottest tap water available in the ratio on the instructions of the cleaning product.

Apply the alkaline cleaning solution mixed with water liberally to the grout and tile surface and allow it to dwell there for at least 20 minutes.

While the cleaning solution is dwelling on the grout surface you should agitate the grout with a stiff brush or scrub pad.  It may be necessary to use abrasive pads and some elbow grease to scrub the grout clean.  Do not use any type of steel wool scrub pads that could potentially damage the finish on the tiles.

You should generally scrub the grout until you are confident that all of the dirt, grease and grime and any other contaminates are loosened and dissolved from the grout.  Then you can mop clean the grout to clean up the loose grease grime and excess cleaning agents from the tile surface.

After you have cleaned your grout you may notice that the grout is still not as clean as you had hoped for.  It may be necessary to do extra scrubbing on the grout lines with your scrub pad using the alkaline cleaning solution.  There may also be some types of alkaline type stains like urine, red wine or other alkaline based stains in the grout.  It may be necessary to use a mild acidic cleaner to clean the grout lines to their fullest. 

Grout will not be damaged with urea acid based tile and grout cleaners so using an acidic tile cleaning product may be a good option to clean the grout in your ceramic or porcelain tile.  Before using an acidic cleaner on the grout in your stone tile installation do a test to make sure the acidic cleaner will not damage your stone tile surface.  Always remember that you should never use an acidic cleaner on any type of marble tiles.

Using an acidic cleaner on the grout lines is a relatively easy process.  Just mix the acidic cleaner with warm water and apply it to the grout lines.  You should see the grout fizz to know that the acidic cleaner is working on the grout lines.  You generally do not need to agitate the grout lines with the acidic cleaner as you can let the acidic cleaner do the work for you.  Then you just extract and rinse the acidic cleaner from the grout lines.  You should see that the grout has become noticeably cleaner after using the acidic cleaning product.

After using the acidic cleaning product on the grout lines you should go back re clean the tile and grout with the alkaline cleaner.  It is not recommended to leave your grout in an acidic state so you should always re clean your floor with the alkaline cleaning product to neutralize the grout.  Leaving the grout in an acidic state can potentially over time wear away the cements in the grout.

You should always seal your grout after you have finished deep cleaning the grout with the alkaline and acidic cleaners.  These aggressive cleaning supplies will break down the sealers in the grout and you should always go back and re seal the grout after these types of aggressive cleaning procedures.

You can read more about our recommended tile and grout cleaners and sealing products on our tile and grout cleaners and sealers information page here.