Winter is a harsh season as many states in the United Stated deal with frigid temperatures, ice, and snow. To protect ourselves from the elements, we wear heavy boots and clothing. Unfortunately, we, or guests in our homes, can drag a lot of unwanted things into our home like salt, mud, water, and snow. The salt, dirt, and water can easily seep into our grout lines and under our tiles, which can compromise or break them. The excess moisture can cause tile and grout to move, crack, or become dirty. And that’s just your inside tile! Outdoor tile and grout have to face the elements consistently.

It’s in your best interest to protect your grout and tile (inside and out) so you don’t have to spend a lot of money to replace a floor, path, or patio once the winter is over. The best way you can protect your grout lines and tile is to take care of them throughout the year. With the proper grout cleaner and sealer, your grout and tile will have a protected shield on them to keep liquids and other dirt from seeping through. A grout and tile sealer can help protect from excess moisture that causes cracks, breaks, and movement.

Some other preventative measures you can take are:

• Wipe off/kick of snow from your shoes on a mat before entering the house. Ask your guests to do this, as well.
• Keep your shoes, boots, socks, and outwear in one room only, so you’re only getting a smaller area wet.
• Sweep, vacuum, and mop your floors regularly during the winter to pick up dirt, sand, and salt that gets dragged around the house.
• Dry off your pet as soon as they get in the door.

To protect your tile and grout, you need a real grout sealer. Grout Shield offers a variety of sealers that can help keep water from seeping into the tile and grout lines.

Grout Shield Clear Sealer – This clear-colored sealer protects tile and grout from becoming stained, dirty, and discolored.

Grout Shield Color Sealer – This sealer revitalizes and restores color to the grout. This sealer colors and seals in one product. You can choose any color in the world! Changing the color of your grout can change the entire look of a room!

 Grout Shield Enhancer Seal – The enhancer seal is used for ceramic, slate, or Mexican tile floor to make the tiles look vibrant and new again.

Before you seal your grout, you want to clean it thoroughly with a grout cleaner. Grout Shield Grout & Tile Deep Cleaner and Grout Shield Maintenance Cleaner will help you get deep stains out. These are also great to use to clean your tile and grout throughout and after the winter to keep germs and dirt from spreading.

Looking to protect your tile and grout this winter? It’s never to late to start taking care of these things! Let our Grout Shield team help you choose a product that will best work for your space and tile type For more information on Grout Shield products, click our grout sealer page, or call toll free at 1-800-631-0716.

The post How to Care for Your Grout and Tile This Winter appeared first on Grout Shield | Grout Restoration System | Grout Cleaner.

After ringing in the new year, you’re probably ready to kick off the year with your New Year’s Resolution.  Do you have a resolution? Lose weight? Work harder? Be kinder? Spend more time with family? Use social media less? How about cleaning your grout?

Don’t wait till Spring Cleaning to get your grout clean. Get your house looking great the whole year by cleaning it now! The cleanliness of your grout can change the entire look of your room. It’s time to take charge now and have your grout and tile looking practically new.

Your kitchen and bathrooms see a lot of traffic on a daily basis. Not only do the grout lines encounter your shoes and feet, they can come in contact with dirt, mud, food, liquids, pet urine, hair, leaves, dust, debris, etc. Grout is porous, which means whenever it will easily absorb liquids and other things that touch it. For example, if you spill milk, the grout will absorb the milk. Over time, your grout will change color and even start to smell from everything it has absorbed.

There’s a lot of things in your home to clean. Floors, windows, countertops, mirrors, toilets, showers, etc., so we understand that cleaning grout lines may get overlooked. Don’t ignore them any longer. Because grout it porous, it can cling onto bacteria and other germs, making you susceptible to sicknesses in your own home.

Ready to clean your grout? Don’t just buy any household cleaner or vinegar or bleach. All these times won’t work well. In fact, many of them can actually ruin your grout lines. You want to use a grout cleaner that is pH balanced that is tough to clean stains and dirt but also is gentle on your grout.

Grout Shield’s Grout & Tile Deep Cleaner help lifts deep stains that have been sitting in your grout for a while. This is great to use especially if you haven’t cleaned your grout in a long time. To keep up your clean grouts throughout the year, Grout Shield’s Maintenance Cleaner will help you clean on a regular basis.

You will feel better starting off your new year with a clean, shiny home! Happy New Year!

For more information on Grout Shield products, click our grout cleaner page, or call toll free at 1-800-631-0716.

The post Make Cleaning Your Grout Your New Year’s Resolution appeared first on Grout Shield | Grout Restoration System | Grout Cleaner.

Many people don’t know that grout and caulk are different things. Many people think you can use grout or caulk for projects, but they are not the same thing and they are not used for the same process. Caulk is not another word for grout and vice versa.

Grout is made up of cement, sand, and sometimes tint. Grout is used to fill in spaces and lines in between tiles. Grout helps keeps tiles from moving, cracking or chipping. Grout is porous and should be sealed after it is applied to keep it protected from spills, dirt, liquids, mold, etc.

Grout can be sanded (cement-based grout but sand is added), non-sanded, and epoxy grout, which is the most durable grout.

To keep your grout clean and protected throughout the year, you need to use a grout cleaner and sealer, not just any cleaner.

Grout Shield’s Grout & Tile Deep Cleaner help lifts deep stains your grout. This product is great if you haven’t cleaned your grout in a long time. Grout Shield’s Maintenance Cleaner will help you clean the grout on a regular basis throughout the year. Grout Shield’s cleaners are pH balanced and do not harm the grout. After cleaning the grout and letting it dry, you can apply Grout Shield Color Sealer or Clear Sealer, which will protect the grout from absorbing things it comes in contact with.

Unlike grout, caulk is soft, rubbery, and flexible. It is applied along seams and edges where two different surfaces meet. The purpose of caulk is to act as a sealant and to keep water leakage from occurring. Caulk can be used to fill in gaps, cracks, and breaks in tiles, windows, baseboards, doors, and more. Caulk can dry out or shrink so it cannot be used in place of grout. Caulk can be latex, silicone, specialty, and siliconized acrylic latex.

Before you caulk something in the bathroom, make sure you should be using caulk and not fixing or restoring your grout instead.

If you’re looking to restore your dirty and/or dull grout lines, consider Grout Shield. Our products will “wow” you!

Grout Shield’s grout products can clean and restore your floors and other tile and grout services and have them shining again. Our color sealer can even change the color of your grout to give your room and home a whole different look.

For more information on Grout Shield products, click our grout cleaner page, or call toll free at 1-800-631-0716.

The post Are Grout and Caulk the Same Thing? appeared first on Grout Shield | Grout Restoration System | Grout Cleaner.