What you need to know about grout colour to make it easier to clean

Bright white grout is the stuff of home maintenance dreams, and the most satisfying result of cleaning it. But scrubbing and bleaching grout until it looks that way could be a complete waste of time and ruining your grout in the process.

Bryony Conlan, business development manager at The Grout Guy, told nine.com.au grout isn’t always white and actually comes in many colours.

“We offer everything from white through to a really dark grey, and then there are green and brown tones as well. Not all grout is white, you do just have coloured grout … there’s a really popular one that’s like an off-white. So if you’re then trying to get that constantly back to white, you’re actually never going to be able to,” she said.

Considering a colour or shade other than white can be a good choice so there’s less frustration with trying to keep grout nice and bright.

“In my bathroom, for example, I’ve got like a sandy tone grout and a dark grey grout, and the problem is where I live we’ve got really high calcium, so the dark grey does show up the calcium in the water a lot quicker so you can kind of see the build-up there, so the like sandy tone’s better for me,” Conlan said.

“I do find a lot of people prefer a light grey or even a cream, something that’s not as ultra-white so they don’t have to stress about keeping it as white, but it doesn’t show up those calcium deposits and things like that. 

“But really it comes down to personal preference and if you maintain it well enough, then it should keep its colour for a long time.”

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Good grout maintenance is about regular cleaning with the right products and tools, and sealing your grout. Skip the bleach and vinegar as they are too harsh for grout and lead to deterioration and mould. Instead, use a pH-neutral cleaning product and a microfibre cloth.

But that’s not all you can do to keep your grout’s original colour, squeegeeing water off your tiles after a shower, opening the door and window and running the exhaust fan are also important.

As for sealing grout, that should be done every one to three years. 

“If you’re using harsher chemicals on your grout to clean your grout, you’d want to seal it more frequently. If you’re using gentler cleaners and maintaining the grout relatively well, you can probably push that out to three to five years,” she tells nine.com.au. 

Sealing grout is something you can do yourself with products available at hardware stores and online. They come in different forms including with a paintbrush-like tip or aerosol, which is the type of sealer The Grout Guy sells.

The product can be applied yourself, or you can call in the professionals, which Conlan says can be worth it if you don’t know what material your grout is made from and therefore, which product is most suitable.

“It basically adds another layer of protection,” she says before warning that it won’t restore damaged grout.

“It’s only going to do so much in regard to if the grout itself is deteriorated because the grout itself is compromised. But if you’ve got new grout, fresher grout or grout that’s been well maintained, it just gives it an extra bit of care and longer life.”