Grout is my nemesis. I can't seem to get and keep in clean. I had scrubbed and cleaned the grout in my main bathroom, and it never got clean. It drove me crazy! While looking for better solutions online, I came across the idea of painting your grout. I watched videos and read other blogs. Ultimately, I decided to go for it.
My main bathroom already had a vintage vibe, so I decided to lean into that by painting the grout grey. I purchased Grout Renew in Delorean Grey. Here's what I did:
Clean the grout and the floor: I know this seems like a step you want to skip. You're going to paint the grout; why clean it? First, you don't want any dirt or hair from your bathroom floor stuck in your wet paint. Second, freshly cleaned grout accepts the paint better than dirty grout.
Get yourself some rags that I don't ever want to use again. I cut up an old undershirt. I found that sponges held too much water and made too big of a mess. Rags worked better for me.
Get what you want to paint with. Different people have different opinions on what works best. The two main choices are toothbrushes and paintbrushes. I tried both and definitely preferred the paintbrush approach. My grout lines were small and detailed. The paintbrush allowed me more control. I did destroy multiple paintbrushes since you really want to scrub it in. Make sure you have more than one.
Get a bucket or large container full of water. You will want somewhere you can easily dump and refill this water. I used my bathtub and a bucket.
Pour your grout paint onto a plastic plate. Some people prefer plastic cups, I found a plastic plate gave me a place to rest my brush and allowed me greater control over the amount of paint on my brush.
Working in small sections, paint your grout. Do not worry about painting the tiles. The grout paint will wipe off the tiles easily, if it's still wet.
Once you've painted a small section, wet your rag and wipe the area down. Removing the paint from the tile while leaving it on the grout.
Repeat until you've finished your area. I ended up doing mine over the course of 4 days by working a few hours every day.
Don't get me wrong. This process was time consuming and hurt my back, but it was so worth it! I love how the floor looks. It cleans up like a dream. I would do it over again in a second.