How can I clean the grout dust off newly installed tiles?

Question

I am having a tough time cleaning out the white grout dust that is deep inside the tile because it has some holes in it too. I have a lot of tiles to clean and scrubbing vigrously and alot helps but jeez its going to take days and lots of work. Any easier way out with some special solution that dissolves this?

Answer 1

They sell specific products at Lowe's for your purpose, it costs about $7 a bottle, you'll want some grout haze cleaner, and some grout release. Mix them with water, and start scrubbing. The trick is two buckets of water, one with the chems, and one to rinse. And to rinse your sponge well, and often. Depending on how bad it is you may need to do it twice, make sure to buy enough.

Answer 2

Ok,first thing you need to do is STOP wet washing the floor ! Unfortunatly sometimes the more you wet wash it the more powdery residue you'll acquire. You should have washed it initially with a Grout Haze remover . Now, in all honestly the best you can do is DRY wash it with a terry cloth towel or similar,and vacuum up the dusty residue. You may have to do this once or twice and dont be afraid to give it a little elbow grease either. Continuous wet washing will only agrivate the problem. Oh and PLEASE....I beg of you..dont ever use PLEDGE on your ceramic tile. Not unless you want to break your neck walking on it afterwards. Ceramic tile should never be sealed or waxed. You can seal your grout,and seal your marble and or other stone tiles. But not ceramic. Hope you find this info useful and good luck Bellzie :)

Answer 3

You can use a mild wash of Vinegar and water to help release most of the haze, Just wet mop the area with a 10% solution. Let set and then dry with a towel. For the more resistant areas, like everyone said, elbow grease is the main ingredient. After you get it clean, make sure you seal it with a good quality acrylic or tile sealer. This will protect the pourous areas of tile and grout from accidental spills,pets and regular dirty feet.

Good luck.

Chris

Answer 4

If you did not wash the tile good the grout is like concrete. Actually is is..If your tile is UN-GLAZED then you could use a Scotch scrubbing pad. If it full glazed tile(like glass) use a hunk of burlap. If your are having friends over tonight, give everybody a tile or two to work on. What the hell, do something different for the New Year..Your friends will talk about it for years to come.!!!!!

Answer 5

You can buy grout remover from any home improvement store. It's still going to be hard to remove the grout, but it will make it easier.

Next time you tile, try sealing the tiles before you grout. It makes it easier to clean the grout off the tiles when you seal them first.

Answer 6

the fact of the matter is removing powder is all elbow grease.
Get old diapers & toothbrush, sweatsocks and levi's.
Wear the levis & socks, they'lll shine while you clean...wipe the tiles with the diapers and continue to brush out the holes with the stiff toothbrush.
In the future, seal your tiles b4 tiling, the powder comes right off the sealed tiles.

Answer 7

Use a damp sponge. Could take a bit of elbow grease, but will eventually do the job.

If you absolutely HAVE to, use a blunt butter knife or similar to chip off big pieces - be very careful if you do though.

Answer 8

Try to vacuum while they are dry and then scrub what the vacuum doesn't get.

Answer 9

bucket of water
sponge
repeat

Answer 10

baking soda!