Dingy, dirty tile grout. It’s a vexing problem, I know. I have a lot of tile and grout in my home — all of it white or light-colored. No matter how diligent I am to clean it, that grout appears to be hopelessly stained. It is a problem for me and is right near the top of questions I am asked most often.
I’ve recently made an awesome discovery — a product powerful enough to clean dirty and dingy-looking grout. It’s super cheap and contains no acid, bleach or ammonia. How cheap? I just bought a 20-ounce bottle of it for $1. Not on sale. Not a loss leader. That’s the regular price.
But first, a story. One Saturday years ago, the doorbell rang (how weird is it that I remember this so clearly?). There stood a young man bursting with enthusiasm. He held a bottle of his “miracle cleaner,” moving right into demonstration mode to prove just how awesome it was.
Like a whirling dervish, he sprayed the door frame and wiped it clean to show me all the dirt on the cloth. He sprayed the welcome mat. He went to work on the steps and before I knew what was happening, he walked right into the house, ready to clean everything in sight.
I looked at what he was holding and sure enough, it was awesome. That was the name of it: “Awesome.” I bought a bottle to get him to stop talking and promptly put it on a shelf in the laundry room. And there it has sat. Until now.
Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of money to test commercial grout cleaners (they can be pricey!). And I’ve made and tested a lot of DIY recipes using everything from baking soda and lemon juice to cream of tartar, salt and lime juice. Nothing so far has given results I would be enthusiastic to share with you. It’s been so frustrating! Here’s what happened:
In deciding whether to try yet one more commercial product that promised to be the one, I was reading Amazon reviews, which were all over the place. One review stood out to me as being authentic and helpful. The reviewer said that she’d tried the subject product and found it disappointing and way too expensive.
She went on: “So, I decided to use what I have already, a bottle of Awesome. I sprayed it full strength on the grout and five minutes later scrubbed it with a brush, wiped it away, and rinsed with water. The dirt just disappeared!”
And that’s when it hit me. Awesome. In a bottle. That guy. What are the chances I still have it? I found it in the first place I looked!
I have no recollection of packing and moving it from California to Colorado, but apparently I did because well, here it is! I couldn’t wait to give this at least 20-year-old bottle of cleaner a try.
I sprayed Awesome on the dark, dirty-looking grout, waited 5 minutes, scrubbed it with a stiff brush, wiped it off with microfiber and rinsed the area with water. Wow!
This sent me into even deeper research mode on this Awesome product. I easily found the company’s website and learned the cleaner is alive and well, with a slight name change to “LA’s Totally Awesome Concentrated Cleaner, Degreaser and Spot Remover.”
I was anxious to learn where LA’s Totally Awesome is sold. Are you ready? Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Family Dollar, 99 Cents Only, Big Lots and a number of grocery chains like Food4Less and Unified Grocers. It’s a regular in nearly every dollar store in the country.
I couldn’t get to my local Dollar Tree fast enough. I wanted to see for myself if indeed it’s a regular product there. But more than that, I wanted to see the going price. I easily found LA’s Totally Awesome All-Purpose Concentrated Cleaner, Degreaser and Spot Remover in the 20-ounce size for $1. Not kidding. As I write — one dollar.
By the way, LA’s Totally Awesome Concentrated Cleaner, Degreaser and Spot Remover is available at Amazon, but far more expensive that at a dollar store.
I’m testing Awesome on everything washable, as promised right there on the bottle. Maybe even the front door frame and welcome mat. This stuff really is… Awesome!
Mary invites you to visit her at EverydayCheapskate.com, where this column is archived complete with links and resources for all recommended products and services. Mary invites questions and comments at https://www.everydaycheapskate.com/contact/, ”Ask Mary.” Tips can be submitted at tips.everydaycheapskate.com/. This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually. Mary Hunt is the founder of EverydayCheapskate.com, a frugal living blog, and the author of the book “Debt-Proof Living.”