In order to really make things shine again and get a bathroom ready for guests or even an open house, you need to harness the power of bleach.

Note: While using bleach, it’s important to keep your own safety in mind. Use rubber gloves when dealing with harsh chemicals like bleach and even safety goggles to prevent the dangerous liquid from getting in your eyes. This stuff is powerful, but potentially harmful. You will also want to wear clothes that are older and don’t mind getting stained if some bleach splashes on them.

Now, you’ll use a similar formula as the bleach solution, but instead of 1/4 cup water, use 1/8 cup bleach and 1/8 cup water. If you’re really serious, you can try using a full 1/4 cup bleach. Combine this with 4 tablespoons of baking soda and create a paste. Soak the grout with this paste for 20 minutes and then scrub the dirt and grime away with a  dirt destroying tool for cleaning grout.

After you’ve applied the paste to all dirty sections, scrubbed it away and rinsed the tile, you should be staring a a bathroom or kitchen that sparkles like new!

If the bad guys (dirt, mold and mildew) are overpowering, call in the hired guns.
Yes, sometimes the answer is a professional cleaning service. Think about how much it would mean to you to have a kitchen where you don’t want on pins and needles, afraid of what organisms might be living between your very toes. Professional services use a special high powered pressurized steam cleaning process that will not only clean by disinfect your floor. In my mind, if the problem is big enough, a service to make you walk and breathe easier is priceless.

Check your pantry for solutions
Try using household vinegar to sit on the grout for about an hour and see if the dirt dissolves. For extra cleaning power, sprinkle some baking soda on top of the vinegar and let it soak an hour as well. It could be as easy as wiping this solution off with a sponge or other grout cleaning tools, and you’ll be on your way to clean tile and grout from stuff you already have!

Cleaning your bathroom? Try shaving cream.
If you’re already in the bathroom, try using a common object most of us have inside: shaving cream. This technique works great for people like me who make all kinds of excuses to not clean. I don’t want to buy any expensive cleaners or scour my house for a specialized cleaning solution. With this, I have no reason to not at least TRY. Just apply some shaving cream to the dirty areas and spread it around. Let it sit for 15 minutes and the wipe and rinse it off. Nothing could be easier!

You have a many choices to choose from when trying to figure out the best way to clean your grout. What’s right for you? It depends on how much time and money you have, and also on your personal style.

The easy, but potentially pricey path
Perhaps the most effective way is to hire professional cleaners who will use high powered and very hot steam cleaning devices to go deep and clean and disinfect your tile and grout. Search the internet or the yellow pages to find someone in your area. Other options are to pick up your own household steam cleaner that can be used in a variety of other cleaning methods. There are also store bought products that can work wonders. Ask people in your local stores what they recommend for grout and depending on what’s available they will help you out. One such product I’ve heard of is Kleen Strip Green that works for mildew and can be found in the paint section of Home Depot.

The DIY and household methods
If you’re looking to spend less money and are willing to do some manual mixing of solutions, the magic bullet for destroying dirt in your tile grout could be sitting in your fridge or pantry right now! Popular methods include bleach, peroxide, vinegar and baking soda. A good method is to mix one the the liquids with baking soda into a paste or thick solution and let it soak on the grout for anywhere from 15 minutes to 4 hours. Check out more about the powers of baking soda and also what kinds of tools to use.

Tool #1: Steel Headed “toothbrush”
At a store like Home Depot, ask the person for a brush that resembles a larger toothbrush, but has bristles of steel. These bristles shouldn’t be too thick and still be flexible. But using this tool with the  magic of baking soda can make a world of a difference when cleaning your grout.

Tool #2: Tough sponges or scrubbers for dishes
At the grocery store, check out the area where the dishwashing liquid and sponges are. You should see a variety of sponges and cloths. Find ones that look tough enough to handle the stains, but depending on your tile, you might want to find some that won’t scratch the tile. Softscrub sells great sponges designed to not scratch dishes but do a great job of cleaning them on one side, and they also work great for grout.

Tool #3: Pencil Eraser
Depending on the type of stain or dirt you have, the solution could be as easy as back in elementary school! Try using a pencil eraser to remove stains. You can try small ones on the backs of pencils or you can use the larger handheld erasers.

These are just a few tools that I’ve found useful to clean grout, feel free to leave comment on what works for you!

Baking Soda is a magical compound that you may keep in your fridge to keep it fresh. Maybe you even have toothpaste that contains baking soda. When you bake, you even add this to some cookies or cakes. But did you know that baking soda is one of the most effective ways to clean the grout in your shower? Here’s how to use it.

Mix 4 tablespoons of baking soda with 1/4 cup of water and create a thick paste. Make sure all the lumps of baking soda are mixed in and it should have a pretty thick, spreadable consistency. If it’s still running or watery, add more baking soda. The consistency should be similar to that of elmers glue, but not as thick as, say, pancake batter.

Once you have this paste ready, spread it on the grout areas which are dirty. You can use your fingers, an old toothbrush or even an old paintbrush. Let the paste sit for at least 20 minutes.

Now you’re ready to scrub the dirty areas. Depending on how dirty and the extent of the stains, you may have to scrub more or even less. I’ve had experiences where after soaking in this paste, the dirty rubs right off with a wet towel, but each situation is different depending on the age and type of grout and the type of stain it has.