Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Restoring Grout in the Kitchen

My family believes me to be a bit compulsive at times. 
I am fine with the imperfect, chipped or worn as long as it it's clean.
Take the great vinyl flooring incident of the 1990s. 
I pulled up the old, torn, dirty flooring when everyone left the house for work and school. I was doing fine until I got to the pantry and laundry room. 
I needed help and the helpers were a bit bitter. 
 I was in trouble!!  


Once something reaches the point where it can't become clean anymore I'm ready to kick it to the curb. 
I was getting so close to that point with my kitchen counters. 
I tiled them back in the summer of 2008. After tiling 500 square feet of flooring, tiling a countertop was a piece of cake.
I simply pulled off the laminate, which literally peeled off in big sheets and tiled over the existing plywood counter. 


They were so pretty! The tiles were pristine. The grout was gleaming white. 
You can imagine that after 5 years the grout was getting a little grungy. We are absolutely addicted to coffee around here so the coffee counter was extremely bad. 
I would break out the Clorox Clean Up every two weeks but the house smelled of bleach and it didn't stay clean all that long.
I was contemplating our next countertop when I saw 
Tile Guard-Tile Grout Coating 
at an Ace Hardware store.



I brought it home with the complete expectation that it wouldn't work but I was willing to give it a try.
It wasn't expensive so it deserved a shot.
It worked. Our grout is like new.


The sponge applicator top bit the dust almost immediately so I used a paint brush instead.
It only took about an hour to do all the counters.
I let it set on the counters for a four dry time. It wiped right off of the tiles and the grout looked new.


Spilled coffee cleans up without staining the refreshed grout.



I do love the look of these "vintagey" tiles.
I am okay with the few that have gotten cracked or chipped over the course of the last five years as long as they are clean!









Speaking of "vintagey", Cracker Barrel has some cute vintage inspired kitchen stuff right now. 
They had some faux Jadeite that was simply adorable. 
I picked up the utensil set and this soap dispenser. 




Thanks for stopping by clean kitchen.
Ahhh!
Katie   
Linking with,
Savvy Southern Style
French Country Cottage
Lavender Garden Cottage    
Common Ground

5 comments :

  1. That looks great, Katie. It looks like a brand new countertop. Don't you LOVE it when something works as good, or better, than advertised? xo Diana

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  2. Your kitchen is so pretty! Don't you love when something you don't think will work just does a fantastic job?
    Brenda

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  3. Oh your kitchen is so pretty! I will definitely have to check out the grout cleaner. Thanks.

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  4. Wow ~ your countertops are gleaming! I bet your entire kitchen feels fresh and clean. It's a beautiful space!

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  5. It's absolutely gleaming! It feels so good when everything is REALLY clean. I love the look of your kitchen, Katie!

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