How do I make tile grouting white again and cover the cracks ?

apples1

How do I make tile grouting white again and seal the cracks in the grout?

Where the pipes are boxed in in our bathroom it is tiled in white tiles with white grout. The grout has gone greyish and where the tiles join up to the white painted wall it has cracked. Can you just put more new white grout over the old to make white and cover cracks? It was only done few years ago but building work in house made dust that make grout dirty and cracks are settlement cracks I think.

poppyolivia

you cn get a whitening tube with sponge applicator for about a fiver, I used it in the shower not thinking it would really make that difference and its been really superb...you can get a pen version but I haven't tried that.

For the cracks I would scrape back the grout a bit then re fill with fresh grout. You could try putting some on top of the old..it might work but the scraping way will defo work.

Good luck XX

apples1

The whitener sounds good - do you remember the name/make of it? As I need to cover cracks too I wondered about doing what you said and trying covering old grout (and cracks) with new grout??

I have never tiled or grouted. Do you just buy grout ready mixed and then apply it over the old?

continualdiamond

I've used grout ready mixed. When we moved into our place, i had to re grout the whole bathroom, well actually i just went over the grout with new, just a thin layer obviously and it turned out wonderful.

Im not sure if your mean't to or not, but i ended up using my fingers as i got it more precise then and had less to get off the tiles. I have also used the white grout pen before, its obviously less time and less messy, i used it on my tiles in the kitchen and it worked really well.

moneylover

for cleaning neat bleach let on a few minutes is the bees knees I think!
My plumber used a whitener I think when he made good in my bathroom and it doesnt look like the rest of the grouting in my opinion

nwgsi

Ive just done my bathroom today. I used Wickes grout whitener £3.99, although you can get other products from other DIY places. Its turned out like new and makes a really big difference. It should be ok for covering the cracks although something like decorators caulk would probably be best and would prevent cracks in future as its flexible and can be painted.

apples1

continualdiamond wrote: »

I've used grout ready mixed. When we moved into our place, i had to re grout the whole bathroom, well actually i just went over the grout with new, just a thin layer obviously and it turned out wonderful.

Im not sure if your mean't to or not, but i ended up using my fingers as i got it more precise then and had less to get off the tiles. I have also used the white grout pen before, its obviously less time and less messy, i used it on my tiles in the kitchen and it worked really well.

Thats what I was thinking of doing. As a whitener won't solve the cracks problem this seemed a good way of doing both in one hit. It's not a big area so think I'll give this option a go and pray I don't balls it up!

_gav_

As mentioned before, give bleach a try first, it works wonders :-)

sizwizz

continualdiamond wrote: »

I've used grout ready mixed. When we moved into our place, i had to re grout the whole bathroom, well actually i just went over the grout with new, just a thin layer obviously and it turned out wonderful.

Im not sure if your mean't to or not, but i ended up using my fingers as i got it more precise then and had less to get off the tiles. I have also used the white grout pen before, its obviously less time and less messy, i used it on my tiles in the kitchen and it worked really well.

Can you use a grout sealer over grout that has been painted with one of those latex "whitening" products?
Thanks!

angelavdavis

I mix thick bleach with bicarb applied with a toothbrush (the bicarb holds the bleach over the grout longer to work better). Leave for a couple of hours and rinse.

I personally would use flexible silicone (decorators caulk) on the cracks you describe as it sounds like they need to move slightly.

melb

I second the bicarb of soda and bleach mixed into a thick paste. My bath sealant and that round my shower tray were both looking a bit manky - brown and black spots. I managed to leave a thick layer on for 24 hours and the results are miraculous. It's the second time I've done it - it seems to last a good few months.