Ways to Prevent Tile Grout Stain

Tile grout stain can give your bathroom, tub, shower enclosure, and even kitchen sink backsplash an unsightly appearance. Stains can happen in a variety of different ways. Cleaning the tile grout that has been stained can be done, but it is time consuming and labor intensive. In some instances, the stain is set in so deep that you will need to chisel out the grout and replace it with new grout. This, of course, would be the last resort.

Prevention Is Better than Replacement

One of the best ways to make sure that you do not have to go to the extreme and replace the grout on your tile is to prevent the stain in the first place. There are plenty of ways that you can be proactive with your tile and eliminate most of the stains that can occur. While you can not completely eliminate all of the stain causes, you can do a lot to give your tile a much better appearance for a long time.

Keep Clean

The first way to prevent tile grout stain is to keep it clean. Each time you use the tub, or the shower, give the tile a good rub down so the dirt and soap does not set into the grout. A dry sponge, or rag, will do the job quickly. You do not have to do a complete cleaning of the grout, just a good rub down after use.

Seal Tile

Another way to give some protection to the tile grout is to seal the tile with a quality sealer. There are plenty of sealers that you can choose from to protect not only the finish of the tile, but also the grout itself. The sealer is spread out over the entire tile surface with a squeegee. When using a sealer you want to keep it even so that there is not too much in one area and not enough in another.

Keep Heated Objects Away from Tile

When you have a tile countertop, it can be easily stained if something that is hot is placed on top of the tile without any buffer or insulation. The heat will actually burn the grout and leave a dark brown stain. This is impossible to remove as it is burned into the grout itself.

Use Placemat for Drinks and Food

One of the problems with having tile on a coutertop is that it can be easily stained through regular everyday use. By placing a glass on the tile and letting the condensation settle into the grout you will see a dark ring develop. Juice from food is also a notorious cause of stain on the grout. Always use a placement, or a cutting board to prepare foods.

Dye the Grout

While this is not actually a way of preventing stains it is a way to hide the presence of a lot of stains. You can dye the grout before you even put into on to the tiles with special dye packs. You can also dye the grout while it is already on the tile. However, there is a lot of risk in ruining the tile itself. Regrouting the tile is an option if you want to add dye to the grout.

Source: www.DoItYourself.com