Want a quick way to clean your tile floors without separate cleaning products? Learn how to clean grout with vinegar and baking soda!
Most of us have a few things in our kitchen at all times. Basics like flour, sugar, baking soda, and vinegar come to mind. What you might not realize is that some of those items are powerful cleaners too! They can turn a challenging cleaning task like tile floor grout into one of the easiest things you’ve done later!
How to Clean Grout with Vinegar and Baking Soda
No matter how often you mop your tile floors (whether they’re in the kitchen, in the bathroom, or throughout the house), there comes a time when the grout needs to be refreshed.
It’s not something I’d ever thought much about until one day when I realized that no matter how often I cleaned the floors, they didn’t seem as clean as I thought they should!
That’s when I went on a hunt for the best homemade grout cleaner. I’ve done my fair share of using vinegar to clean around our house so cleaning grout with vinegar made a lot of sense to me! If it’s worked on other things in my house, why not the tile grout?
How to Clean Tile Floors with Vinegar and Baking Soda
To get started, you just need to grab the baking soda and vinegar out of the cabinet!
You’ll also need some water, a bowl, and perhaps an old toothbrush or other scrub brush (for any really stubborn areas of grout).
If you find that you’re out of baking soda or vinegar, add it to the shopping list and keep them both stocked! They’ll work wonders around your house! (You can really clean almost anything with baking soda and vinegar!)
Arm & Hammer Pure Baking Soda, 8 Ounce
Heinz Distilled White Vinegar, 1 gallonOXO Good Grips All Purpose Scrub Brush
The Key to Cleaning Grout with Vinegar
If you’re ready to learn how to clean grout with vinegar and baking soda, there is one simple thing to remember. It’s the key to success!
It’s all about making a paste!
The paste is the key to making this an easier cleaning job! By easier, I mean less elbow grease and scrubbing. If you have miles of dirty looking tile in your house (like I do in my kitchen and laundry room), you will want to minimize scrubbing as much as you can!
That’s the secret. It’s all in the paste.
How to Clean Grout with Vinegar and Baking Soda
Follow these easy steps to success on your tile floors and even tile in the bathroom shower or tub area too!
- Scoop baking soda into a mixing bowl. (The amount depends on the amount of homemade grout cleaner you need for the amount of tile you have but it’s not an exact science! Just eyeball it!)
- Add some vinegar and mix together until you have a mixture that is thick enough to call a paste. (If it’s too thin, add more baking soda. If it’s too thick, add more vinegar.)
- Spread the paste in a generous layer along the area of grout you’re cleaning.
- Let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
- Rinse with warm water.
It’s really that easy!
Now, I won’t lie and say you’ll never do any more grout scrubbing. That’s just not the truth. If you have some really stubborn areas, you might find that scrubbing really helps.
If you’re like me, you might not be able to resist doing just a bit of scrubbing! Old habits die hard, I guess!
But for the most part, I haven’t had to scrub the grout if I make a thick paste with the baking soda and vinegar! The last time I did this, I even knew some cleaning was happening because the paste turned a little bit darker as I let it sit. It started turning gray so I knew something good had to be happening!
Cleaning tile floors with vinegar and baking soda is my secret to keeping them looking bright and fresh! It works well in the bathroom if you have tile around your tub or in your shower.
When I’m doing bathroom tile, I do find that my paste can be a little bit thinner than when I do the floors. I think the bathroom grout might not get as much dirt ground in. So don’t be afraid to play around with the mixture!
It’s easy to figure what works best for your floors with just a bit of experimenting!
If you’re looking for more cleaning tricks, learn how to remove permanent marker from almost anything!
Photo credit: depositphotos.com/Thamkc/nanaplus/serenthos
Views From the 'Ville says
I’ve always known vinegar was a great cleaning product, but I didn’t know you could mix it with baking soda to clean your grout! What a great tip, thanks :)
Mariah says
After seeing it on Pinterest again and again, I had to give it a try!
Loide says
Thanks for the info!!
My husband did some serious scrubbing on our bathroom grout (I am currently out of commission). We are very pleased with the results, having used the paste and an old toothbrush!! Then mopping the entire floor with clear water to remove the Soda grit.
Do you have suggestions for keeping the grout clean longer and naturally?
Another great use of the Baking Soda and Vinegar: Each time I discard a Fridge/Freezer deodorizing box of Baking Soda, I pour it into a sink drain, then splash some white Vinegar and watch it fizzle while it does the work of freshening the pipes. I believe this has helped keep the old drains working.
Joanne says
That’s awesome! I pinned it here: http://pinterest.com/joannegreco/money-saving-tips/
Brandi Elam says
Ok, to be honest, I didn’t think your floors were that bad and didn’t expect to see much of a difference in the before and after photos. But WOW, what a difference!!
You need one of those large pushbrooms, you know, like you would use to sweep out your garage or something. Mix up a whole bunch of paste in a bucket, poor it on, and use the pushbroom to push it around and scrub. You could probably do it with a mop as well, but it wouldn’t have as much scrubbing power as something with bristles! Good luck!
Mariah says
Thanks for the great tip, Brandi! I really didn’t want to do the entire kitchen and laundry room with a toothbrush. But I love the difference so I want to clean it!
Brenda says
I just tried it and it is the biggest mess EVER I think I will have baking soda grit on my floor forever. And the grout is still not perfectly clean.
Brandy says
The same happened to me! Huge mess! How did you get it off/up?
Grout Guy says
Great post! Yes, I like cleaning grout with vinegar and baking soda, because first of all, it is natural, no chemicals . which means its free of harsh odors that sends us into choking spells. It also saves money, because we have these ingredients in our kitchen, and there’s no need to buy a commercial cleaner from the store. Most importantly, it disinfects and kills germs, whitens the grout, and makes it sparkling again. Thanks for sharing your post!
joe says
White vinager and baking work great in fiberglass showers too. Spray walls and floors with a even mix of hot water and vinager, sprinkle on baking soda and let sit for 10 min. then scrub.
cherylb says
I don’t even make a paste. I squirt the vinegar on the grout and then sprinkle the baking soda on and stand back and watch it work! I guess you could rub it lightly with a bigger brush to help it out :)
Latoya Roman says
The tile grout color in my kitchen is pale yellow, but most of the time, it’s brown. I clean the floor weekly, but it looks like the grout will never get its original color. Your recipe seems to work great. I’ve never thought about scrubbing the grout with baking soda and vinegar. Thank you for the idea!
Sarah Kite says
Great, great tips! Thank you!
Geoff Forrester says
After cleaning uPVC window frames I use a good car wax to polish them up.
I have also tried this on tiles/grout (NOT floor tiles, obviously) and the grout stays cleaner longer as the polish repels the water. Try it.
Dawson Burgman says
Love the results! Also love the use of in-home products.
Victoria says
I’m definitely trying this on our new tiled floors!! Thanks!
Sarah White says
Thank you for this post Mariah! I just found your blog on Pinterest and decided I would try out this floor cleaner and it worked wonders on my kitchen tile! I usually have a local tile cleaner come out and clean my floors about ever year, but with your solution I can go much longer in between these cleanings! Thank you! I can’t wait to read more of your posts :)