After Zep
Before ZEP
How to clean old grout in retro bathroom floor tiles? Sleeping Bee Alice plays the role of Queen of Clean. Thanks, Alice, very impressive. I do want to caution – as I have been doing cleaning research, too — to be very careful about what you use on the glazed tile itself. That glazed finish can come off, even with a scotch brite pad, so treat it very carefully. More on tile cleaning to come.
Read on for Alice’s solution (pun!) —>
Hello Pam,
I’ve made a discovery that perhaps some of your readers could benefit from. You’ll recall the blue tiles in my bathroom (the ones PSS wanted to duplicate). I had scrubbed the grout with every cleaner imaginable and then was easily convinced when someone told me that the grout in this bathroom wasn’t actually white, it was “bisque”. However, just recently a friend asked if she could try a little product on them to see if she could brighten them and voila!, we actually do have white grout! I have attached the photos so you can see the before and after difference. One hour and half a bottle of Zep
(that’s the name of the product, available at Home Depot) later, and I have a blue and white bathroom – not blue and bisque!
Hope this is useful to your readers. What a great site RR is…thanks for keeping up the good work.
-Alice
p.s. Lest you think that I am a neat freak or something, since all of my questions to you have been about cleaning, that’s just the phase we are in of our move in process to our mid-century home. Really, it cracks my husband up to think there is a group of people out there that might have the impression that I’m all about cleaning
Retro kitchen: An off-the-floor dishwasher for Sleeping Bee Alice 
Replicating Alice’s blue 50s bathroom tile floor 
Alice’s picture perfect yellow Geneva kitchen… pink bathroom…and blue bathroom — a festival of 50s cheer 
Become a fan
Cleaning tips are always welcome, this is a great one! When my white kitchen sink was looking cream colored (even after scubing with cleanser), I tried a product from the dollar store made to remove hard water stains and rust from shower tiles – Viola! it worked great, even got the grime off the drain.
I’ve used Simichrome polish for shining up chrome and even plastics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28718267@N06/2878510631/
it brought some luster back to my formica countertop in the bathroom too. Via products that work!
I have that same tile in grey-blue.
(I’m sure there’s a vintage name for it. Dusty blue? LOL)
And, while I’m not a clean freak by ANY stretch of the imagination, it has always bothered me that the grout was beige – just like in your picture! I, too believed it was probably never actually white grout.
I’ll be buying some of that ZEP today! Woohoo!
Thanks,
DanaMc in Chicagoland
Hi — I was wondering if someone could tell me where to find tiles like the blue ones in the pictures above? I’m trying to restore a kitchen countertop made from tiles of a very similar color – in a house built in 1948…and I’m striking out so far. Please help!!
Thanks ~
Izzy in San Diego
Hi Izzy and welcome. Our first place to try for tile is B&W up in Gardena (I believe.) Give it a try and check back if you strike out there. Pam
Izzy, Definitely try B&W Tile. They have three locations: Gardena (LA), Riverside (east of LA), and Lake Elsinore (a small town off I-15 north of San Diego). http://www.bwtile.com.
You might also try DalTile. Though more expensive, their ColorBody Porcelain tiles in the PermaBrite, PermaTone, and Keystone lines come in shades of blue that perfectly match the colors of Alice’s floor, though it may require some adaptation in terms of tile sizes. DalTile’s Ocean Blue exactly matches my 1958 blue bathtub, sink and toilet. I’m sure they have a color that will match your kitchen.
Izzy ~ Definitely try Daltile in San Diego before making the trek up to Gardenia. It’s in the Clairmont Mesa area and the ceramic tiles are most definitely not as pricey as all the other stuff people are currently interested in (i.e. glass, stone, etc). Once you find exactly what you like there – you can look for the best price somewhere else since it’s just a design center : )
I was excited to try Zep, but the two places I want to use it are on terrazzo floor tile and shower (wall) tile. According to the instructions on the Zep Grout Cleaner, you cannot use it on vertical surfaces or terrazzo tile! Hmmm…any suggestions?
Thanks!
Susan
kittymommy, I have not found the solution to vertical cleaning of the grout. I tried a small spot of the Zep on the vertical surfaces and it just didn’t penetrate well enough to work (and wastes product).
I would reiterate Pam’s caution to us: the light glaze on the tile surfaces can easily scratch. Mine were already scratched so I took the risk and it was worth it…and the tile condition did not worsen. Try to be very exact with the application of the product as it is a form of acid, so it could possibly etch your tile as well.
here’s site that I found that looks like some useful information for terrazo cleaning
http://www.aldonchem.com/mt-terrazzo.htm
For those of you who have not discovered the Grout Scrub Brush – it is a must have. It really helped me clean the grout in my bathroom without touching too much of the tile. This might help for those that are concerned about damaging the tile. I think I bought it at Menards – but any home improvement store would have it.
I would also like to add – I have a similiar blue tile in one bathroom & pink tile in another. I had a couple areas that I am going to try the zep on that I could never get clean!
I use a Mr Clean Magic Eraser on the tile and grout in my bathrooms – I’m always amazed at how well it works…
…it removes the hard water spots from the glass shower doors and chrome faucet hardware too!
Please… if any of you need 4″ ceramic tile to finish/repair a project(it generally truly measures 4 3/8″), send me a pic, and I will let you know if I see it at my ReStore. They have a ton of it and are threatening to throw it away. I’ve vowed to buy it all before I let them do that! I have tons of pink on auction, but there are many other colors available. Email me at karmi_woolfe (at) yahoo dot com and I’ll be glad to keep you in mind as I search.
I was way excited about the Zep cleaner but got spotty results. I followed the directions on the bottle. Any tips with this cleaner would be appreciated. How long to keep it on, How many applications, ETc…
Zep is great stuff, but you have to be careful. Its active ingredient is oxalic acid. Oxalic acid does the same thing as chlorine bleach, but more strongly. It chemically releases oxygen when you use it. It’s really oxygen that does the whitening. But all such treatments, this includes Zud, a similar cleaner, have to be used with care. They can release powerful fumes which can be toxic. Always use them in well ventilated areas.
I am having wonderful luck with the zep. I will upload photos if I can later. I have found that it helps to scratch the grout surface with an exacto blade. My tile is 50 plus years and has never been taken care of. I am sure I can reseal the grout later!! I have also taken off a disastrous shower door. It looks wonderful and makes the bathroom feel so much larger!!! Oh, and by the way, my tile is pink!
I was wondering if there is any way to reglaze the tile ? I’m renovating a bathroom built in 72′. There is salt and pepper tile on the floor and around the tub but the tile on the floor seems a little dull.
Thanks
Thank you SO much for the tip. I have the same (maybe worse) problem with the SAME tile in our guest bathroom. I have tried, and ignored, and tried again to get it clean. As soon as we get a chance we are heading to Home Depot!
my boyfriend tried telling me it was supposed to be that icky color also! lol i’m going to have to try some of these ideas and see what happens. men! lol
Did you only clean the grout with Zep or the entire tile? I have original bathroom tiles from the 1940s and they are in serious need of a deep clean. Standard household cleaners have not cleaned the floor. While I’m sure the floor is clean, it doesn’t look it. Can you use Zep to clean the tiles?
Hi, so funny I happened upon this blog, as I just finished scrubbing the “mud job”
(one inch square tiles) on the floor of my 1950′s bathroom and walk in shower. The tiles are white, yellow and gray. I used a scrub brush, comet, kaboom and a very small, thin wire brush for the corners and hard to clean edges and grout. It worked out beautifully, although it was hard work and I had to go over a few spots a second time. We are keeping the original 4×4 tiles and having them regrouted . We are putting in a new white pedestal sink, toilet, medicine cabinet and lighting. So excited, thanks for your sharing your helpful info!
I noticed all this talk about grey grout leaching and turning white in places. I have that problem. However, my grout is pink . I have a 1952 Ranch style house in an old neighborhood in Central Phx. When I moved in with my boyfriend( now my huband), I absolutely fell in love with the original light pink and burgundy ceramic tile in his hall bath. I used this as the color scheme for the entire house. I used alot of pink/shades of pink/and earth colors throughout. IE: blue,rose,sage green etc. My hall bath was partially re-done,removing the horribly ugly old linoleum and replacing it with 6″ white hex tiles with Burgundy dots and pink grout. The small bath was gutted. then re-done with a 1907 claw foot tub painted burgundy,a white pedestal sink,and a high boy toilet. I had stained glass put in the bathroom window and the same floor put in as the other bath . The kitchen has a mauvey/rose color porcelain counter tile,large pink ceramic floor tile with pink grout. The walls are covered with wallpaper of roses. I must admit, this house is adorable. It reminds me of an English Country cottage. I guess I’m not the only one that thinks it’s cute,it’s been in the paper twice for my use of so much pink. I even have a rose colored picket fence out front. So,long story short, can this product be used also on pink grout without bleaching it out? When the grout get’s dirty,which is VERY often with 11 rescued dog’s and cat’s!,it looks grey. I also would like to clean the vertical shower surface that has the original tiles with white grout that looks beige. So, with so many experts out there, how about some educational help here. Thanks!!!
Just be aware that Zep tests their products on animals.