how do you bleach something?

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JHZR2

JHZR2

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Hi,

The PO of my house didnt apparently believe in claning their shower. the vent fan only worked marginally (fixed that), there was a lot of had to remove soap scum(got most of it), and there is a lot of brown mildew between the tiles.

While we have used everything from weak to strong grout and tile cleaners, 409, simple green, etc., we have never really gotten lucky. we got som solids to come off, but are still stuck with brown stains in our grout. Getting frustrated, I got laundry bleach (6% sodium hypochlorite or whatever it is, I just recall 6% at the moment), and sprayed it on, full strength. It made the bathroom stink, even with the window opened and the vent fan on (and my respirator in use), but didnt change the color... I tried again, this time with bleach and hot water, thining that this may ctivate it a bit better... no dice.

So, how do you bleach organic substances from brown to white?? I know its possible, Ive accidentally done it to shirts before!!!

Thanks,

JMH
 
Grout can be nasty. Can you tell what kind of grout? (cemetaceous or RTV or other?)

You did stuff in the right order. If strong bleach didn't clear it - AFTER all the cleaning - then you might be best to re-grout and reseal. Grouting isn't so hard - but for best results you'll need to dig the old grout out a bit with a special (purchased) or home-made tool.
 
When we moved into our house I tried everything to clean the grout. I ended up regrouting, resealing, and recaulking the whole shower. I also tried one of those fancy grout removal tools and that didn't work- utility knife/ blade/ boxcutter worked the best.
 
If the grout had been sealed then the bleach might not be able to work as quickly as you'd like it to. Either try bleaching a section each day for a week to see if that works, or hit a section with a small, stiff wire brush on the grout and then bleach it.

If that doesn't work the redneck way to get it fixed would be to give the guy that does the pinstriping on your truck a case of beer to pinstripe the grout. A big bathroom might take two cases :^)
 
Quote:

If that doesn't work the redneck way to get it fixed would be to give the guy that does the pinstriping on your truck a case of beer to pinstripe the grout. A big bathroom might take two cases :^)

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