Let’s be real: there’s nothing luxurious about grout that should be white looking more brown-grey, and pretending your guests won’t notice doesn’t change the reality that stuff is just gross. Whether you’re looking to impress company with squeaky-clean tiles or simply not have to put on the blinders when you step into your own bathroom, here’s how to prevent bathroom and shower grout gunk on the cheap.
Break Out the Dollar Store Squeegee
I’ll be real with y’all. I had to wrestle with some part deep in my soul to convince myself that this effort was worth it, but I reached the conclusion that squeegeeing my shower and tile (rather lazily, some days) is worth the extra few minutes it adds to my routine. It’s not like the handheld squeegee was a huge investment, either.
I tend to wait until after I’m finished getting dressed post-shower, then I break out the squeegee and do a quick once over anywhere I see droplets. I also have a habit of stepping off the shower mat, so it’s nice to squeegee all the water I leave behind into one easy-to-clean puddle instead of desperately laying towels across the whole bathroom floor.
Use Homemade Shower Spray Every Day
I didn’t learn about shower sprays until way too late in my life, and now I swear by them. Initially, I splurged and bought them at the store to save even more of my time, but it’s much cheaper to just mix water, vinegar, rubbing alcohol, and a little bit of dish soap and pour it all into your favorite repurposed spray bottle.
Using this spray after every shower (and squeegeeing it) not only leaves your shower looking and smelling great, but it washes away the grime and bacteria that love to settle in your grout and give it that off-putting color.
Grout Replacement (Gross but Worth It)
This one requires more effort, but replacing the grout itself is worth considering. I was seduced into trying after a few too many videos made the process look easy. Luckily, there are several grout removal and replacement tool kits available that do speed up the process.
The worst part is realizing that the reason grout looks so gross is that it’s filled with some combination of dirt, dead skin cells, and even mold. However, to keep the room clean, I had to gain a fresh start. Seeing my tiles with white grout for the first time was certainly something.
Understanding the methods used to prevent bathroom and shower grout gunk will help shift your bathroom from feeling like a haunting gas station stop to a mini-luxury spa. It’s important to know that the main goal of all these prevention techniques is to stop the main culprit of nasty grout—mold. The bathroom has all the right conditions for mold growth, but I’ve found that battling against it with a squeegee in one hand and shower spray in the other has worked wonders.
