Tile Grout - It's A "Piece of Cake Part 2

Obviously the holes in an angel food cake would collect more dirt than the holes in the more dense pound cake. In either case, even if the cake became so stale as to almost rock hard it would be very, very difficult to clean the cake by rubbing a rag over the top. All the filled holes would hold on to their dirt and the rag would at best just move dirt from one hole to the other. When mopping tile the rougher surfaced grout in effect cleans off the dirty mop water from the mop and further fills itself up with dirt. If someone challenged me to clean a cake I guess the best approach, other than not getting it dirty in the first place, would be to use a liquid to loosen the dirt and then a strong vacuum to pull the dirt up out of the holes. The same process works best for dirty grout, either don't get it dirty in the first place, or use a solution to loosen the dirt and a vacuum to pick up the dirty solution from out of the holes.

    Over the years after similar discussions with our clients we have developed a six part solution to the "grout problem":

              1. Use narrow grout lines - if the tile dimensions are true, consider using 1/8 to 1/4" grout lines - obviously the narrower the grout lines the less grout that you will have to deal with over the years! In addition, what you are buying is the benefits of tile not grout so try to get more of the "good stuff" that you are paying for and less of the grout.

              2. Use a grout additive instead of water. When you use a grout additive you make the equivalent of a pound cake rather than an angel food cake! Your holes are smaller and closer together so there is less area to become dirty! The additive will slow down and create a more uniform curing process which will result in a denser, stronger and better colored grout.

Tile Grout Continued