ReeHart – Blogging from the Heart

Posts Tagged ‘tile’

There are numerous homebrew remedies that are available for all household problems you can think of. Even when one seems to be talking about the mundane task of cleaning out grout, there’s always someone with a remedy for it. It happens as there’s always something that needs to be done regularly, people will always look for cheap, effective alternative methods to do the job for them.

But the sad truth of the matter is this; almost all of these homebrew remedies are not effective. Take the aforementioned task of grout cleaning, for example; one of the common remedies that I hear is vinegar. Perhaps they saw the acidic properties of vinegar as an effective agent in cleaning grout. I’m of the opinion, however, that all this very mild acid will do is make your bathroom and/or kitchen smell funky.

I advise you to just stop it with these home remedies. I would much rather recommend you to clean it in the old-fashioned way. Using a cleaning detergent and scrubbing it out is still the best way. This method works best if done as often as you can, maybe once a week. It’ll prevent unwanted organisms and dirt from getting lodged into your grout.

Chances are, you’re really not diligent enough to ensure that grout stay cleans. You probably have a lot more things that need more attention and time, at least in your head. You aren’t really able to prevent the grout from getting dirty. If so, then you’ll be a lot better off if you call on the professionals to come help.

In our particular grout-cleaning scenario, grout cleaners are not that hard to find. Even here on the World Wide Web, you can find people that are ready to help you with your dilemma. Have these professionals go through your grout, and watch as they make it look new again.

The other day I took my normally hyperactive German Shepherd dog to the veterinarian. He looked weak and unresponsive and didn’t have much of an appetite. This concerned me a bit and so, I brought him to the vet.

But even more concerning was the diagnosis given to me by the vet. Apparently, my dog of three years had a bit of infection in his lungs and according to findings, the cause is black mold.

That was new to me. I never even knew I had black mold in my grout! I like keeping my surrounding area clean. And to keep my beloved pet (and me, of course) healthy and safe, I browsed online for possible places in which the mold could grow.

Black mold or Stachybotrys Chartatum is a fungus that commonly grows in the grout between tiles, I read. Finding this out, I searched around the house for areas which have tiles. None in the kitchen that’s for sure, as I use polished concrete for my floor and kitchen counters. But the bathroom, though, had tiled surfaces everywhere.

While I do regularly clean my bathroom once every two weeks, my focus has always been the toilet seat and the tiles. But I’ve never really taken notice of the grout in between. So I always scrubbed it, but not much attention was spent on turning it white. In fact, I kind of liked the contrasting of the dark grout with the white tiles. Unfortunately, the black gunk in between was apparently harmful.

Because I read that it was potentially harmful while being scrubbed, I called professional grout cleaners to do the dirty work. So, in a day or two we scheduled a meeting, and they proceeded to clean my grout. They were done in a couple of hours.

On the other hand, I cleaned the rest of the place myself, not leaving a single dust bunny lying around. I want to make sure that when my dog is cleared, then this home will be a safe place for him.his home will be a safe place for him.