Avoid Straight Vinegar So, how do you clean grout with vinegar and baking soda? Apparently, vinegar is a popular natural household cleaner, but it's too acidic for cleaning grout. In fact, the acetic acid in vinegar can corrode the grout over time, so you might want to avoid using it for cleaning in this case.
Cleaning Grout with Baking Soda
Baking soda is a safe deodorizer, whitener, and household cleaner—and it's an effective natural grout cleaner. Because baking soda is also a mild abrasive, using it for cleaning grout lines gives you extra firepower without the risk of scratching your tile.
Grout that hasn't been sealed, needs to be resealed, or is in poor shape should not be cleaned with vinegar. The vinegar penetrates into the pores of the grout, further weakening the material. Over time, vinegar will deteriorate the condition of the grout by etching or wearing it away.
Make a baking soda paste with water and spread over tile and grout. Leave on overnight and spray with vinegar in the morning. Follow with your regular morning shower and rinse off any baking soda/vinegar residue. No scrubbing needed!
Clean grout with a commercial grout and tile cleaner. Apply it to the dirty areas of the grout following the manufacturer's instructions. If you prefer cleaning grout with a DIY mixture, make a paste of 3/4-cup baking soda, 1/4-cup hydrogen peroxide and 1 tablespoon of mild dish soap.
Avoid Vinegar and Baking Soda
Do not use vinegar or baking soda to clean tile grout. Alkaline cleaners are a better choice than vinegar or baking soda because grout contains cementitious mortar that can be dissolved by acidic cleaners, including vinegar.
The easiest way to clean grout without scrubbing involves hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. Mix the two into a paste with some dish soap and apply to the grout lines. Alternatively, you can use a cleaning solution of water, vinegar, lemon juice, and baking soda.
To avoid damaging the grout, opt for a medium-bristle nylon brush, not a hard steel one. Simply spray warm water on the grout lines and scrub in a circular motion, then let it dry. Don't use too much water or let it sit on the grout for too long. Remember: Porous cement grouts absorb water, which could lead to mildew.
One mum demonstrated her method in a TikTok video, which shows her covering grubby grout in $6 Gumption before using an electric toothbrush to buff away dirt instead of scrubbing the lines by hand. She then used a pressure sprayer to blast away grime.
What do professionals use to clean grout? Whether you believe it or not, most professionals use a solution of white vinegar and water with a 1:1 ratio. This solution is often more effective than dedicated Ph-neutral grout cleaners.
The secret of the blue dawn solution is the effect of cutting grease and grime. Blue Dawn dish soap is the best multi-purpose grout cleaner you can effectively use in your home.
Although mixing vinegar and baking soda is not considered dangerous, you should still avoid mixing these in a container. Vinegar is acidic and basic soda is basic, so the by-products are sodium acetate, carbon dioxide, and water that are not toxic.
While vinegar is a standard household cleaner, you shouldn't use it to clean unsealed grout. Vinegar seeps into the air spaces in the grout, weakening them. With time, the vinegar deteriorates the grout by etching it or wearing it away.
Method 2: How to Get Grout White Again with Lemon Juice or White Vinegar. Saturate the grout with lemon juice, a mild disinfectant that gets rid of grout stains naturally. You can also use white vinegar for chemical-free grout cleaning.
Dirt and mould can cling to limescale, so regular use of a distilled white vinegar spray is a great way of keeping limescale at bay and maintaining the shine. You can buy a pre-made spray, but making your own is easy and cost effective.
“Mix baking soda, a few drops of dish soap, and enough water to make a cleaning paste. Apply the paste liberally, let it sit for 20 minutes, then scrub the grout with a toothbrush and rinse.” As well as being effective when paired with baking soda, white vinegar can also be used on its own to naturally clean grout.
If for some reason the grout haze does not come clean or you waited just a little too long, you can use a solution of ½ cup of vinegar, ½ cup of ammonia, 1 cup baking soda and 2 quarts of water or pick up a commercial haze cleaner at the store.
If you're looking for ways on how to remove baking soda residue from tile, all that you'll need to do is create a vinegar and water solution, or another baking soda solution with vinegar and water. Removing baking soda residue is essentially the same as removing any other substance from grout.
Baking soda, which is a bit abrasive in nature, can effectively loosen up the dirt particles without causing any damage to the tile surface or the indoor air quality.
Bicarbonate of soda or cleaning with baking soda is an effective tile cleaner, especially for stubborn stains and grouting. We love this method.