One of the most common problems that everyone can suffer from is mould in the bathroom. Warm temperatures and the damp environment make an ideal breeding ground for mould spores. When mould spores are looking for somewhere to settle, so that they can get on with the business of breeding more mould spores, they look for areas that are slow to dry out, in the bathroom the idea place is the grout around your tiles. I’ve always found that the best way to clean this grout between tiles is to us an old nail brush and a solution of household bleach (Janola ) and water. I usually use a four to one mixture, as usual please be careful, wear rubber gloves and be careful of splashes into your eyes or onto your skin. Scrub the diluted bleach into the grout, leave for a couple of minutes and then rinse well. Dry off and buff up with an old towel and your tiles plus grout will look good for months; sadly you will then have to redo the whole exercise.
Sometimes the grout around your wall tiles gets so worn that you will need to replace it. In most cases this is a fairly easy job albeit a somewhat messy and boring one. First you are going to need a grout removing tool. I’ve never seen one of these implements on sale anywhere although I’m sure that some bright spark has invented one! Usually we make one from an old screwdriver with either a narrow blade or a ground down blade; or a six inch nail; a table knife blade , indeed any implement that will fit between the tiles and be strong enough to scrape out the grout without damaging the tiles will do the job.
Scrape away the grout (taking all the normal safety precautions like wearing gloves and other protective clothing) until it’s all removed. Try not to damage the surface to which the tiles have stuck, take your time and care. When all has been removed give the area a good vacuum clean and get rid of all loose particles. Then wash down the surface with a four to one water / household bleach solution making sure that you get in well between the tiles. This will make sure that any mould spores will be killed before you re grout. Leave to dry completely, use a dehumidifier if you have one. When dry you can grout the whole area. These days you will have many choices of grout available to you from different colours to powder or ready mixed. So to make your choice then pop down to the local tile shop and check out the range and buy the one that suits you, also if you haven’t got one buy a rubber squeegee at the same time. Apply dollops of the grout onto the tiles and using your squeegee spread it from corner to corner.. When you have filled all the gaps with grout wipe the surplus off the surface of the tiles using a clean damp sponge. To give the grout a neat finish move a thin piece of dowel, plastic , or similar round object along the grout line this will make the grout slightly concave. Once again wipe the tile well with your damp sponge. When dry give them a good polish with an old towel or similar and enjoy your restored tiled wall.
I picked up another handy hint just recently from Luigi at the Tile Depot in Manukau and that was: Wash your floor tiles with car shampoo and Wax for a great shine. Well I did and it worked so give it a go yourself.
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