When Hubby and I looked at this house initially, we looked at the house itself. How it would function with our family. Whether we could change and adapt it to suit our needs. How much work would it take to make it "home".
Did we ever look at the grout lines of the tiles? Nope, who does? lol.
Well now that we have been here a while, I have been looking. For that matter I looked more closely at them the morning after we moved in. They weren't pretty! The house itself was pretty neat and tidy and clean. The walls are not too bad. I mean, yes they do need a repaint but considering this was a rental property that had been bought brand new and always been used as a rental over its short 6 years of life, it was pretty good. We will get to the paint job,,,,,,eventually (heck it took 10 years for me to paint my last house lol and even then it only got done because we were selling it!).
The tiles have become an obsession to be lately. With 2 dogs and 3
cats calling this home with us, you can imagine the amount of fluff and
fur that I sweep up each day. Add to that the amount of rain we have
had and our back yard swampiness, we have also had mud getting tracked
in courtesy of the greyhound mainly (she enjoys nothing more than using
the backyard as her racetrack!). I have placed one of our flattened
packing boxes just inside the sliding door where the animals come in and
out, this seems to be picking up majority of the mud from her feet at
least. But it is because of these constant mopping events that I seem
to be doing daily at the moment, that the grout is really beginning to
annoy me. It just looks grotty and disgusting.
So
today I got down on hands and knees with a strong bleach solution and
began scrubbing the grout lines with an old toothbrush. The difference
was amazing. While it didn't take long really, it really isn't my idea
of fun and the novelty of clean grout wore off pretty fast lol. But I
am telling myself that if I just dedicated about half an hour a day to
the task, I will end up with a much cleaner looking floor in,,,,,,oh I
don't know,,,,,,a couple of years time??? lol.
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| This is supposed to be about the same colour as the skirting boards! |
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| I couldn't believe the difference in colour,,,,,now of course I can't leave it like that lol, I have to keep going! |
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| This going to take a while |
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| A looong while...... |
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| The kitchen area will be neverending I think, it is going to be a regular on my "to do" list |
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| Then of course we have the laundry,,,,,,,complete with cat litter tray, another regular spot to do |
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| The ensuite isn't as bad as the rest but still needs work |
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| Kids bathroom/toilet,,,,not a pretty sight either up close |
I never had to scrub my grout in the old house. It was grey grout and it camoflauged things fantastically. Mopping alone seemed to keep it really clean. This is a light beige colour and seems to show everything!
Oh well, back to spending quality time with my new best friend the toothbrush.......
4 comments:
LOL!
Oh what a lovely job. My tiles need this doing to them. They have grooves in the tiles that collect the dirt. Hubby has bought me a steam mop so I think I might try that first before getting on my hands and knees...
You are doing a great job Colleen, and by the time you finish it will be time to start again lol!
Happy scrubbing...Think of it as a great workout!
x
Oh the joys!! I had light grout in my old house...drove me mad...hand scrubbing the only way to clean it!! A friend cleaned hers like you and then sat down and hand painted on a sealer? and she says it has worked a treat...not sure how practical it is to do in a busy house...but worth a thought. xx Oh and my laundry also comes with a cat litter tray...lol
Thank God for wooden floors! Every few years they need a good ole sand back, but you can hire a man to do that - or at least hire the machine - and it's BIG! lol :)
Thinking of you Colleen - and your new BFF - the toothbrush
Greenie x
I think you need a bigger scrubbing instrument than a toothbrush! What about a new scourer (Scotchbrite)? I am all for bleach etc but maybe try good old vinegar and carb soda - it does cut grease and might be cheaper in the long run. Other than that, even Ajax Spray n Wipe. I think once you get it all clean, it will stay cleaner with you mopping it regularly. You can also buy a sealer to seal over clean grout which we did in our bathrooms when we built our house. It does work.
Cheers - Joolz
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