Gr-out with the old, in with the Re-new! - Using Grout Colorant

Oh, you thought we were done talking bathrooms?

HA! No.  But, we're almost done talking about this bathroom (for now, at least).

Just for fun, here's a little throwback, taken a month after we closed on our house.

Everything is wrinkled and fresh out of a suitcase.

But as you may know, it doesn't look like that anymore.  In the very short life of this blog, we've covered:

- Building the pallet shelf
- Fixing the bathtub dents
- Refinishing the bathtub

We also replaced the toilet in here (we learned how from this Home Depot video) and painted the trim, door, and walls.

And now it's time to talk about GROUT! For some reason, I don't feel you're as excited about this as I am.  It's ok.  I once loathed grout, too.

Once upon a time I had mildew stains in the shower that wouldn't come up, no matter what I tried.  Comet.  Bleach. Elbow grease.  I was powerless.  So I investested $12 in Polyblend Grout Renew.  It's my magic wand, recoloring and sealing grout.  Grout is my new favorite thing! Grout all the things!

Stop judging me! This is a judgement-free blog!

I cleaned the grout lines and painted them with the Renew, using a little craft brush since our grout lines are only 1/8".  It worked well.  Then I used a paper towel to clean up anything that I got on the tile I was painting, and it came off fine... but for the times I missed it, I had to use a fingernail to go back and scratch it off. It dries very quickly.

I applied the Grout Renew on the shower shelf (over the stains) and also on the shower walls, just to brighten up the old grout. It didn't make a huge difference on the walls because the grout lines are so small (1/16").  I only notice because I know I did it.

I loved the results in the shower so much, I thought hey! Why not try the floor grout too?  I wasn't sure how it would look, but this stuff comes in a ton of colors, so I could always change it if I wanted.  I didn't decide if I actually liked it until it was finished.

It's a lot brighter right when you apply it, like it is here.  It softens a little when it's dry.

I like it, now.  It feels cleaner and doesn't draw attention to the ugly tile.  It took some getting used to, though.  And it took almost two hours to complete this small space.

All in all, this is some of the best $12 I've ever spent.  I will say, it hasn't held up so well on the horizontal shelf in the shower (it gets a lot more water exposure than the walls, plus I only waited one day to get it wet instead of three! oops), but the shower walls still look perfect, as does the floor.  Plus, I have about 1/3 of the bottle left for any touch-ups I might need - this little bottle goes a long way.

So anyways... here's the transformation so far.  The only thing that hasn't changed seems to be my wrinkly towels.  Sorry for the crappy phone pics.

Feeling inspired yet?  This is one of those tasks anyone can do!  Good luck!

posted by Emma