I realized something last Friday while home all day with a sick kid.
There are only so many excuses you can come up with for not cleaning your bathrooms. My go-to lately has been the classic “I’m just way too busy to properly deep clean this bathroom so let’s just all make a pact to never turn the lights on in here, ok?”
I snuggled with my girl on the couch for awhile, checked email, finished a blog post, checked Facebook, tossed in a load of laundry, checked Facebook, snuggled some more, watched Blues Clues, checked email, tossed in another load of laundry, checked Facebook, glanced at the clock and realized it was only 10 a.m. I guess since I had been up since 5 a.m. with my vomiting daughter I felt like half the day should be gone by this point but, alas, it was still morning and I had no more excuses. I had to clean the bathrooms!
And if I was going to clean them, then I was going to really CLEAN them. I was committed by this point. All or nothing baby! As I wiped down the counters I realized that even though I knew in my mind I was cleaning them, my eyes said something different. The culprit? Dirty, dingy grout lines!
So one quick Pinterest search later and my counters went from this…
To THIS!
And all it took were two ingredients and some elbow grease. Or finger grease. Is that a thing?
Simply pour baking soda into a bowl and slowly add hydrogen peroxide until you have the consistency of paste. Spread it over the grout lines and press it in while you’re spreading. Then leave it for awhile. Say….long enough to take care of your vomiting child, toss in another load of laundry from said vomiting child, decide to switch around some furniture and accessories, snuggle with aforementioned child, watch Lalaloopsy, remake bed of vomiting child and…well…you get the idea.
Then using warm water and a cloth simply wipe down the counters being sure to scrub the grout lines as you work. You will see the grime just lift right off!
I was so excited about how well this worked that I decided to put it to the ultimate test.
THE BATHROOM USED BY A BOY!!!
If you are squeamish you should just go ahead and turn away now because this isn’t pretty folks. This is what happens when you mix boys and white tile with white grout lines. Especially when that boy likes to see how closely he can “aim” towards the side of the toilet without going over. Yep.
I left the paste on even longer for this one and really held little hope that it would actually work. I might have even started thinking about how I could just paint the grout lines yellow and never have to worry about this again.
But after a bit of scrubbing the grout went from this…(told ya it wasn’t pretty and if I wasn’t so excited about the results I might be too ashamed to even show this to you!)
To THIS! And then I might have passed out for a bit from amazement.
Someday I would love to have non-tiled counters. I think a beautiful white marble would be so pretty in our master bathroom, don’t you?
But, we need to paint our house this summer. And my cooktop only has one burner that works at a time. And we need to repair/refinish the floors in our kitchen. And…well…new counters are so far down the line that they aren’t even on the back burner!
So, until they get there, I will just be content with my fresh, looks-good-as-new, white tiled counter.
And tell my son that the next time he decides he wants to see how close he can get to the edge of the toilet without going over he will have to be the one to clean the grout!
Can I get an AMEN? 😉
Speaking of that boy…today he turns 10. Double digits! He keeps asking me why I tear up when we talk about this milestone and I tell him they are happy tears because I’m so grateful that I get to be his mommy. And that is true, of course! But, inside I know that they are also bittersweet tears because I blinked and he went from that little boy doing itsy-bitsy-spider in the photo on the left to the big boy in the photo on the right who is growing into an incredible young “man”. And isn’t that the best dimple ever? I always tell him, “YOU are the one who made all my dreams come true and made me a mommy!” He is hilarious, tender-hearted, curious about EVERYTHING, inquisitive, his favorite word is “interesting”, he is a wonderful friend, an even more wonderful big brother and, along with his sister, the light of our lives. Happy Birthday sweet boy of mine! Being your mommy is the greatest joy and privilege in my life and 10 years ago today every hope, dream, prayer, longing and heart’s desire came to fulfillment when God gave us YOU!
Thanks so much for meeting me At the Picket Fence today,
P.S. If you don’t have white grout lines and are worried that this might change the color, test on an inconspicuous area first before using. Other alternative solutions are using baking soda and vinegar or even just lemon juice to clean the grout lines!
Looking for more awesome tips like this? Visit Ask Anna where you will find tons of ways to clean and organize your home! Check out these other ways to use Hydrogen Peroxide in cleaning your home:
I have got to try this. I have some grout that needs a little help. Happy Birthday to your son! Mine turned 16 on Sunday and I more than teared up…I was bawling. It was quite a scene. Not sure what came over me but it hit me like a ton of bricks. Lol
I’m going to dig out my baking soda and peroxide RIGHT now! My two boys love to play that game too. Happy birthday to your sweet boy!
Wow! Your grout looks great! I’ll have to try this! Happy Birthday to your son!!~~Angela
What a great tip Vanessa, and the pictures definitely do the talking. I’m pinning this and will give it a try for sure! Thanks for sharing!
Debbie
Would this change the color of grout? I have a medium blue grout in the boys’ bathroom and it sounds wonderful to have it truly cleaned and stain free, but I am concerned that it might permanently change the color in the area where I clean the grout. Thoughts?
Hi Linda! I did a bit of research and while hydrogen peroxide isn’t the same as a chlorine bleach it is considered an oxygen bleach and could possibly lighten colored grout. It’s recommended that you test it first in an inconspicuous area and see what happens prior to using anywhere else. I’ve also heard that vinegar and baking soda works as well as just lemon juice squeezed onto the areas you are needing to clean. Hope that helps!
Vanessa
Thanks for the shout out friend! Great post! 🙂
Anna
askannamoseley.com
This is a great tip! I have all boys, so I DEFINITELY know what you’re talking about. LOL! I love it when natural cleaners do such a great job. 🙂
Aw, happy happy 10th birthday to your boy, Vanessa! And I love this grout cleaning tip. Our last house had white tile countertops in the kitchen – I HATED them. Should have looked on Pinterest. lol But this is perfect for cleeaning our own “boy bathroom”. Blech. 🙂
Thanks for the tips!
xoxo, Claire
WOW!!!! Such an AMAZING difference. Happy Birthday to your Son!! My heart ACHES as I see my little one’s growing up so fast… I can’t believe my once Baby will be 18 yrs old in a few months.. SIGH!!!
xoxo
Where was this post last weekend??? LOL!! I’ll be putting it to the test next weekend. Thanks for the tip!
I’m pinning this, and I’m passing it along to some folks I know.
And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to your son!! (Every time I see his face, I remember how cute he was on a video that you two did together for a giveaway. It was a kid friendly computer thing, but I can’t remember exactly what since I don’t have kids.) I hope he never loses that spunk. I hope he just turns it into big boy spunk.
I smell a summer grout-scrubbing project coming on! Thanks so much for sharing this. I love a good before and after, and trust me-my bathroom is the perfect “before.” Can’t wait to try it!
I need to try this! I gave the kid’s bathroom a deep clean last week but I still have 2 more bathrooms to go LOL I’ve been scrubbing the house giving it a deep clean before we go to Texas to visit family.
Awwww your baby boy looks so sweet! My son will be hitting the teenage years in Oct. I am definitely going to cry.
Thank you for sharing your secret grout cleaner! I’ve been using magic erasers for everything.
That is AMAZING! Seriously, awesome!! It totally makes me want to clean some grout just to see the effects – and that’s saying something 🙂 Hope your daughter feels better soon!!!
Amen! Yes, that sounds like a real tool to keep in box of go-to-solutions! Thanks, Vanessa! Grout is always such a love-hate thing isn’t. But with this to keep the kids bathrooms clean I feel so much better. {I know I probably shouldn’t have chosen white but I do think in the long run it’s actually easier to keep looking nicer…same goes for white slipcovered furniture in my opinion.}
Great tip! Thanks!
I LOVE when you can make something so useful out of stuff you already have! Thanks for sharing this fab tip!
They grow up so fast….Happy Birthday to your beautiful son…he will always be your baby boy!…Mine is and he is grown and has his own family…and thanks for the grout cleaning tip…so much better than using the harsh bleach products!!!
AMEN sister! Those boys can kill some grout! Gotta try this one!
This works so well! I use it in our tiled shower sometimes. Using liquid/gel toilet bowl cleaner works wonders as well!
I’m still looking for my motivation to clean the bathroom…but when I do, I’m using your tips! Pinning so I don’t forget 🙂
Great tip! Don’t forget that grout needs to be sealed periodically. I believe the instructions were to seal grout when initially installed, and then re-seal every six months. Check the bottle. Sealing prevents stains from penetrating the grout. Good time to seal now that your grout is clean. Any experience with removing black mold in grout?
Thanks for the tip. We also have white tile bathroom counters. Not my favorite, but they are new-ish, so won’t be changing anytime soon. I’m going to give this a try!
Awesome tip! I bet it helped get rid of the smell too! Repinned this to my cleaning board.
Biz works well too and it is easier.
Does this help the grout stay cleaner longer? My kitchen tile gets dark so easily!
I needed this so bad!! I will give a try, thanks so much for the tip.
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