White grout gone black

[marsaday1971]

Hello. I laid my marble tiles in the kitchen 2 yrs ago and the white grout has gone black.

It now needs to be raked out and redone. Here is a pic of the tiles laid in the conservatory when laid. They havent disclooured as much because we dont use the room as much, but they are also going.

So my question is, has the sealer not done its job, or is white grout always going to go dark ?

I will be raking out all the old grout and redoing it with a brown colour. Any tips to help stop this discolouring ?Picture 291.jpg

[whitebeam]

Hi and welcome..

What is your cleaning regime on these tiles..even white grout with a sealer and after 2 years can pick small particles of dirt over that time..

[Dave]

Hello and welcome..

Grout will discolour if the correct cleaning method is not used..

You need to dry vacuum before you mop or you will just wet muck into the joints , also you need to use a suitable cleaner and not just soapy water etc.

Anyway.. you can use a grout cleaner to spruce up that floor.

[marsaday1971]

I hoover and then mop with some supermarket floor cleaner stuff.

The thing is i have already cleaned the grout once with a green pad and soapy water (i think). It is now back to the same colour.

I think i also resealed the grout.

We have a small area my our front door and i have regrouted this with the brown colour and it looks better, even though this also discolours a bit.

The white is a nightmare and it makes the tiles look dirty as well.

[grumpygrouter]

I hoover and then mop with some supermarket floor cleaner stuff.

The thing is i have already cleaned the grout once with a green pad and soapy water (i think). It is now back to the same colour.

I think i also resealed the grout.

We have a small area my our front door and i have regrouted this with the brown colour and it looks better, even though this also discolours a bit.

The white is a nightmare and it makes the tiles look dirty as well.

This is why most people opt for a grey colour on floors as white is very hard to keep white. Epoxy is easier to keep clean but harder to use at installation.

[enduro]

You need to vacuum then use a micro fibre mop and this need to be just damp and not dripping with water and use a proper stone cleaner. The super market stuff is not good to use on stone floors. Sounds like you have been using to much water and moving the dirt from the stone into the grout joints, and if using the wrong cleaner this will leave a sticky residue in the grout joints and will attract more dirt. So get the right cleaner and apply it to the joint aggitate it and leave for a few minutes then give it another scrub then remove it..Once the whole floor is done give a mop with just plain water to remove all of the supermarket stuff...Then follow instruction on the cleaner for future maintenance.

[Brian the Tile]

hi white grout on a floor will always go off colour unsealed or sealed due to the chemicals in the cleaning fluid,the onlyway to go is epoxy grout harder to use but makes a brilliant job,if you are using your brown grout the reverse will happen and it will eventually start to come lighter and patchy ,good luck with whatever you use but i know whitch one i would use

[marsaday1971]

This epoxy grout sounds ok. How do i go about using it. any links to it. And why is it harder to apply ?

I really dont think the problem is down to the cleaning of the tiles. If i used a specialist cleaner the grout would still be getting dirty.

[Brian the Tile]

the best thing for you to do is nip to your nearest tile shop where they should have everything you need
you will need afirmer grout float than the normal ones some scouring pads like the green pan scrubbers but bigger and some good emulcifiing sponges,the epoxy now is not as hard to use as it used to be just take a little time with it and you will get a great result

[marsaday1971]

ok i will look into it.

here is the actual floor which looks very grubby.

[Marble Life Ltd]

If this was me I would not rake out the grout if done properly it is messy and getting all the old grout out is near impossible especially with natural stone.

If I was you I would clean and seal with something more suitable like LTP H20 then look into your maintenance of the stone. The main mistakes people make is

1.wrong product- You need a PH neutral cleaner none of this [No Swearing!]rubbish that you see on tv
2. Too much product- people have a thing about pouring half a bottle of product on the floor it is not needed just a CAP FULL
3. Never VACUUM stone you will put micro-scratches in the floor which after time build up and will get to you. instead microfibre mop with silicon spray
4. Your mop doesn't Last forever clean or change after 2 weeks or so

Your second option is to colour seal your grout this will then change your grout colour and seal at the same time acting like a epoxy grout.

[doug boardley]

aim-restore, please read the forum rules, we do not tolerate swearing here, wether or not it is implied with asteriks

[Marble Life Ltd]

aim-restore, please read the forum rules, we do not tolerate swearing here, wether or not it is implied with asteriks

sorry didn't mean by swearing i was trying not to use the product name which is as good as swearing I suppose "FLASH" is what I was Referring to

[Dave]

If this was me I would not rake out the grout if done properly it is messy and getting all the old grout out is near impossible especially with natural stone.

If I was you I would clean and seal with something more suitable like LTP H20 then look into your maintenance of the stone. The main mistakes people make is

1.wrong product- You need a PH neutral cleaner none of this [No Swearing!]rubbish that you see on tv
2. Too much product- people have a thing about pouring half a bottle of product on the floor it is not needed just a CAP FULL
3. Never VACUUM stone you will put micro-scratches in the floor which after time build up and will get to you. instead microfibre mop with silicon spray
4. Your mop doesn't Last forever clean or change after 2 weeks or so

Your second option is to colour seal your grout this will then change your grout colour and seal at the same time acting like a epoxy grout.

That depends on the vacuum used.. you should never wet mop a floor if there is dirt on it as that pushes the dirt into the joints... best to dry mop (micro fibre) or vacuum with bristle head.

The you can clean with appropriate cleaner with a fibre mop/pad as you say.

[Marble Life Ltd]

Think your mis-understanding me you should use a micro fibre mop with silcon spray on it this should then be swept across the floor what the silcon spray does is attract the dirt onto the dry micro fibre mop and this will also attract all the dirt out the joints then a lightly damp mop and as for vacuum with bristle head you must be mad you will put scratches in the floor STONE floors all together should never have a vacuum on them, its wrong a Vacuum is for carpets!

[jay]

Think your mis-understanding me you should use a micro fibre mop with silcon spray on it this should then be swept across the floor what the silcon spray does is attract the dirt onto the dry micro fibre mop and this will also attract all the dirt out the joints then a lightly damp mop and as for vacuum with bristle head you must be mad you will put scratches in the floor STONE floors all together should never have a vacuum on them, its wrong a Vacuum is for carpets!

interesting view think i will sit back and watch the replies (hope you have broad shoulders)

[grumpygrouter]

Think your mis-understanding me you should use a micro fibre mop with silcon spray on it this should then be swept across the floor what the silcon spray does is attract the dirt onto the dry micro fibre mop and this will also attract all the dirt out the joints then a lightly damp mop and as for vacuum with bristle head you must be mad you will put scratches in the floor STONE floors all together should never have a vacuum on them, its wrong a Vacuum is for carpets!

Bristles or nylon fibres are harder than stone then?

[Marble Life Ltd]

In most cases no but over time the bristles will put micro scratches on the floor which build up and become more obvious

The reason for this is simple restoring stone works on the MOHS scale so the harder the stone the softer diamond you use the softer stone harder diamonds you use. (appoligies if you know this). So in theory you brush bristles are soft your stone is hard! So using a micro fibre mop with the silicon spray will just attract the dirt gliding over the stone.

Another advantage is it is IMO 3 times faster than vac anyway.

[Dave]

What did you use before micro fibre mops and silicone spray.....


On certain stones it is as you say not suitable to use a vacuum.. IMO these being a high polish etc.. but on honed/tumbled etc then yes it can and has been done for years by more than just me.. A normal push type vacuum is deffo a no no but cylinder types with soft brush heads can and have been used for years.. but this is only to remove heavy dirt/debri or a soft brush can be used..

We like loads of opinions within a thread and one persons way may not be anothers.. but i know a few who do vacuum or sweep floors with soft brushes and no scratches...