Grout and hard water: my mother has spent years bleaching

[hedgehog]

the grout in her bathroom to remove hard water stains. Is there a way to seal grout to prevent hard water stains? What about coloring the grout gray to begin with?

[NNN0LHI]

1. I recommend getting a water softener

The new ones don't use very much salt either. Only about 4 pounds per recharge. The older ones, which were built better, used to use 20 pounds per recharge.

Water softener makes everything better. Use less soap and the rust problems are gone. Better on the washer and other appliances too.

Don

[hedgehog]

4. I'm ambivalent about this - my husband tries to cut his salt usage.

We could pipe the softened water just to the tubs and appliances.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. How to Seal Tile Grout

http://www.onlinetips.org/grout-sealant

How to Seal Tile Grout

There is a difference between sealing grout joints and sealing tiles themselves, and depending on the type of tile you're installing you should use one or the other.

Glazed ceramic tiles only need to have the grout sealed. Sealing tile grout gives your tile surface greater water and mildew resistance, and is indispensable for keeping grout from getting dirty. Unsealed grout will absorb dirt, grease and grime such that it becomes impossible to clean.

When you should you apply the sealer? For a new tile surface or re-grout, nearly all grout manufacturers advise that you wait at least 48 hours after grouting before applying sealers so the grout has time to finish setting. For maintenance of existing tilling, you should re-apply every year or two.

There are two main classifications of sealers: Membrane Forming, and Penetrating.

>snip<

More at the link.

[hedgehog]

3. Thanks!

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

5. People seem to think you have to scrub!

But you don't really. Say you use tile grout cleaner in a spray bottle for example. doesn't matter walls of floor same method. You super saturate the floor with your cleaning agent ,puddle the stuff.Open the windows ,than go golfing all day .When you return mop it up.It should clean itself. Not kidding here.On a shower wall for example ,you can spray the stuff on ,use lots of it, let it stand over night ,in the morning rinse the walls down ,spray again than use your scrubby on the tiles and the grout. rinse again than come back in a hour a look it over,you just might be surprised at how easy it really is.

Or you can scrub until the cows come home and it never seems to come clean. I learned that trick from a apartment manager who had more ways of getting out of work than you can shake a stick at! I tell the helpers how to do it, and the next day they all say the same thing, it sure beats the hell out of all that scrubbing.
The trick is to let the stuff penetrate and deep clean.
It helps a lot if the stuff you use is powerful,you might not like the ingredients ,but so what unless you would rather scrub!

You can find he right stuff at a industrial supply ,same place janitors and get their stuff. And if you do feel the need to scrub, a battery operated or even a electric scrubby is the only way to go! The thing about television is those commercials, how it is over the years they make you think they have this product that all you need do is wipe and it's clean! Sold at yer local supermarket!

[CTyankee]

6. I have an old house and my tiles were horrible. I finally called Bathfitter.

The acrylic covering of the wall and tub is beautiful, rich looking, stays clean w/o scrubbing even after years of use. I had it installed in 1999. It's space age stuff and it is a godsend. Worth every penny. Get this stuff and your mother will never scrub grout again...