Tile grout is the material that is in between tiles. It's best if the grout used in our homes and businesses are sealed. This provides the best protection against stains, germs and bacteria. However, even sealed grout can fall a victim to mold, mildew, juice mishaps and other accidents, not to forget simple everyday traffic.

The first decision to make is whether to make a homemade cleaner, or to use a commercial cleanser. The most important thing about cleaning is to never mix an ammonia or vinegar product, with a bleach product. The fumes can be deadly. Vinegar and bleach products will kill mold and mildew, but decide on upon only one. Popular commercial cleansers are those with a mild abrasive bleach formula that will not scratch tile. A popular homemade cleaner can be simply made by combining:

• 1/2 cup of baking soda
• 1/3 cup of household ammonia
• 1/4 cup of white vinegar
• 7 cups of warm water

The tools needed will be a scrub brush or old toothbrush, and some good ole-fashioned elbow grease. With these tools, a little cleaner, and the know-how below you can learn how to clean tile grout in a snap.

Apply the cleaner of choice to the grout. Use enough to saturate the grout fully. Allow the cleaners to soak on the tile grout for about 5 minutes, depending on the level of dirt.

Once the grout has soaked, take a scrub brush or old toothbrush to scrub away debris. As the scrubbing is taking place, the grout should begin to become noticeably cleaner.

Once the grout is completely clean, rinse the cleanser off and allow it to air dry. Repeat this process if necessary.

After the grout is completely dry, apply a sealer if necessary. This can be done by applying an acrylic sealer, which can be found in a hardware store. The grout can also be sealed with lemon oil. Simply apply 3 coats, waiting at least 1 hour between coats.

Clean weekly or as needed with a simple vinegar and water rinse after a deep cleaning to avoid mildew and mold build up. This should help reduce the frequency of deep tile cleaning. For a whitening job, wash the grout with bleach solution of 2 tablespoons of bleach per quart of water. Again, remember to never mix the base (bleach) and acid (vinegar) together.

Many stores have special brushes made for the sole purpose of cleaning tile grout. Of course, a toothbrush can be used, the grout brush has a bit more to offer the serious cleaner. The brush is usually designed with a padded handle for comfort. The handle is also longer and curved. The bristles are stiffer than that of a toothbrush, providing more cleaning power. The bristle bed is the perfect width and longer, making cleaning grout faster. This product should be located in the cleaning section of most major retail stores.

This method of cleaning tile grout is super effective at whitening dull tile grout, it works in a snap. The only draw back is that it could get expensive to do a large amount of grout.

Obtain an empty, clean hair dye bottle. These are available at beauty supply stores, such as Sally's. The narrow opening on the bottle is perfect for getting into that small space between tiles.

1. Fill the dye bottle up with 3% hydrogen peroxide.
2. Run a small stream of peroxide over the tile grout.
3. Allow it to penetrate the grout for 5 minutes.
4. Use a brush to soften the surface, it should take much effort.
5. Rinse the grout off.

This method works wonders on most old, stained tile grout. If it is not seal, it might be necessary to whiten it once a year.

Is it really possible to achieve white, sparkly tile grout with something as simple as a coke? Yes, indeed! Who would have thought it was possible? To clean tile grout with a coca-cola simply pour it directly on the grout. Use full strength coke straight from the bottle or can. Allow it to saturated the grout for several minutes, about 10 to 15. Then rinse the grout clean. The grout should be much whiter and sparkly. Of course if a coca-cola is strong enough to use as an industrial strength cleaner, perhaps it is a bit to strong for consumption?