I tried the viral DIY grout cleaner – here’s what happened

Grout is one of those parts of a house that's easy to overlook when doing a deep clean. I clean my kitchen and bathroom floors weekly, but I never gave the grout itself a second thought. (In my defense, I only moved into this house a year ago.) I assumed the dark gray color of the grout was intentional—then I came across this viral video that got me started scrubbing.

The video shows the creator mixing a few simple ingredients, rubbing the mixture into the grout, and revealing a much lighter version of the same grout shown previously. I decided to try the cleaning trick to see if my grout should be as light as this too. Here are my thoughts on this cleaning trick – and what I think you should look out for if you try it at home.

What is the DIY grout cleaner?

The popular video posted on Instagram by a professional organizer and cleaner has nearly 22,000 likes. The video's caption features the recipe for the creator's homemade grout cleaner, which requires just three ingredients:

In the video, the author mixes all three ingredients and pours the mixture into a squeeze bottle. The video shows the author applying the mixture to the grout using the squeeze bottle. She instructs people to let the mixture sit on the grout for 15 minutes before wiping it clean.

My experiences with the Viral Grout Cleaner

I followed the directions exactly when mixing up my own grout cleaner mix—I even had an empty squeeze bottle on hand that looked just like the one in the video. I started with the grout for my kitchen tiles and applied it in just one vertical line. I immediately liked the squeeze bottle idea—it made application easy and with minimal mess or product waste. I followed the same steps with the grout for my bathroom tiles and waited the recommended 15 minutes. Up until now, the trick seemed super simple: the cleaning solution was easy to make and the technique was quick to implement.

The results

After the 15 minutes were up, I wiped the solution off with a damp cloth. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my grout was actually a few shades lighter in the areas where I had used the cleaning solution. While the results weren't as noticeable as in the video, I was still impressed that my grout was visibly lighter. It turns out that my grout was dirtier than I had imagined. And since this homemade cleaner was so easy and inexpensive, I immediately turned it to the rest of my grout.

What not to do if you try it yourself

It may be tempting to scrub the grout as hard as you can, but doing so can actually damage your flooring. Vigorous scrubbing can damage or even remove the grout itself, so it's best to clean gently with a soft brush.

Many cleaning sites also recommend sealing the grout after cleaning, as scrubbing can remove the previous sealant and leave the grout vulnerable to mold and mildew – which in turn makes cleaning more difficult in the future. After the grout is clean and dry, apply a clear liquid sealer and allow it to dry completely.