Limestone floor tiles with grubby grout

[Alouiseg]

My floor is pale limestone with pale grout, it's 6 years old and while the floor still looks lovely the grout is grubby.

It was initially stain sealed but obviously that has worn off. I can getbthe grout clean with jif and a scrubbing brush but it doesn't stay clean. It's a large area so I don't want to do it by hand all the time.

Any ideas??

I live most of the time in a limestone area in France and the most important thing about the grouting is that it has to be made of limepaste mixed with a little sand. The concrete stuff is wrong for the stone.

Iam assuming that the grouting is concrete based; if it is it could be replaced i suppose, would cost a bit though.

I hav'nt got a clue! I dont think we could remove it as we have underfloor heating which could be damaged if the grout was chipped away.

Maybe see if you can find the sealant that was used originally; sorry if not much help

I have this problem too, with the pale grout, which looked lovely new, but frankly, was a poor and impractical choice. I am frequently on my hands and knees with a stiff brush and a bowl of strong bleach solution - it's by far the best thing to use. But it's so labour intensive I can never get round more than a fifth of the floor at a time, (quite big kitchen - two muddy dogs, one cat, thousands of marauding small boys in and out like yo-yos) so ultimately, it'as a soul destrying endless exercise. I've tried sealing areas as I go, but it hasn't made much difference. (mind you if I could learn to mop the damn floor more than once a fortnight I might be in with a better chance.)

I'm learning to embrace the grim now.

The problem with bleach on limestone is it will 'eat away' at the stone.

Not mine pp it's top quality can't spot the difference fake porcelain! All of the pros with none of the cons.

Bugger, I was hoping that someone would point me in the direction of a magic floor washing solution in a magic machine that would move all the furniture while I was asleep.

Useless, bloody useless

could you maybe use one of those pressure washing machines to 'blast away' the dirt in the grout?

A friend uses this at his restaurant for tile floors. Don't know if/how it could work on limestone though.

That sounds like fun! Not too sure what I could do with all the water though, I generally flood the garden when I use it outside.

Maybe a steam cleaner, I've got a steam mop but it needs a directed nozzle I think.

I've got a Steam Buggy thing. Bought it on QVC years ago in a fit of over-excitement at being able to order things off the telly. Have NEVER EVER used it. Maybe we could have a joint 'steam the grout' party - first at mine, then at yours - with wine.

We'll do mine first, then if it hasn't worked much I haven't wasted all that time at yours.

Lol! I've got a very disturbing vision of ypu clanking round your house in the hybrid lovechild of Ivor the Engine and NooNoo from tellytubbies.

(opens wine)

You'll find out soon. Actually, I got that the wrong way around. We should do yours first, that way we can drink your wine, and if it hasn't worked, but merely moved the dirt around a bit in an untidy fashion, my floor will be no worse off. And I'll have drunk your wine.

DH got one of those blast cleaning machines and broke the limestone patio boys toys eh! i'm not sure they're suitable for normal inside floors.

My DH sandblasted jet-washed the stone cobbles in the little courtyard outside our back door a few weeks ago. He was very proud of how clean it looked. The only trouble was, 140 years worth of muck and grime was displaced onto the house walls and caked onto all the windows.

And he couldn't understand why I failed to contratulate him on the cleanliness of the cobbles.

I have just redone mine with HG/Hagersan "super remover", then resealed with their "impregnating sealer". It was a soul destroying, back breaking job as I had to scrub at the grout once I'd removed the varnish, then leave to dry for a day so kids and animals were banned but it looks fabulous now. I have now vowed to redo it every 18 months. I bought the Hagesan from a DIY store.

Same problems here. I've tried using the steam cleaner with the scrubby nozzle, and it has improved, but it gets grubby again quickly as the tiles are in our entrance hallway and the dirt gets walked in on peoples shoes (even though we are a shoes off house).

I will look into the HG stuff - sounds good.

I have a Vax V120 floormate which is designed for cleaning hard floors, slowly slowly my grout is getting cleaner....

Oh I love a new gadget.