Sealing grout is a relatively easy process but it needs to be done correctly . Knowing how to properly seal grout can save your tile and grout from hazing, streaking and many other potential problems you may encounter when you don't properly seal your grout.
It is important to properly seal tile and grout using a professional grade sealer to keep it clean, stain free and sanitary. Grout is an extremely porous material that can harbor dirt, mold, mildew and bacteria. Sealing your grout will protect it from these contaminates and keep your grout sanitary and clean. You should seal your grout 72 hours after it has been installed and you should also seal your grout periodically for the life of your tile installation. Also most stone tile surfaces should be sealed as well. This includes porous stones like travertine, limestone, marble and sandstone. You can read here about the various tile sealing options available to you.
Deep cleaning your grout with strong alkaline and acidic cleaners can break down the sealers in your grout so you should always reseal your grout after you deep clean your tile and grout. Grout sealers will also break down over time so you should try to seal your grout at least every 3-5 years. You should always thoroughly clean your grout before you seal your grout. You do not want to seal in any dirt and contaminates in your grout that will make this dirt even more difficult to clean if it is sealed in the grout. You can read about how to clean grout on our grout cleaning information page.
Shower grout gets a lot of abuse so you should seal your shower grout at least once a year. The wet grout in showers is a perfect place for dangerous mold including toxic to live and breed. You do not want the mold to grow in your grout and get into your homes walls. Mold in your homes walls can release dangerous mold spores that can be harmful to your health. This makes sealing shower grout extremely important.
There are two main types of applicators that can be used to seal your grout; the brush tipped applicator and the roller tipped applicator. The brush tipped applicator is convenient for small grout joints and for sealing vertical surfaces. The roller type applicator will store more sealer and it will apply more sealer quickly and is best for floor tiles in large areas with sanded grout. The concepts for sealing your grout work the same when using either of these grout sealer applicator devices.
You should seal your grout when it is not too hot and you do not want to seal the grout in direct sunlight. It is important that the sealer does not dry on the tile surface. If it is a hot summer day try to seal in the morning or evening when it is the coolest. You also do not want to seal in freezing cold temperatures. You should read the grout sealer manufactures instructions about the proper temperatures allowed for using their grout sealer.
It is important to only use a high quality professional grade sealer like Aqua Mix Sealers Choice Gold. Low grade sealers from local home improvement stores will not provide much protection for your grout and they will allow your grout to become easily stained even when they are properly applied. Also these low grade sealers will not last long and they will break down easily even when just using normal tile and grout cleaning products. Aqua Mix sealers choice gold performed as the best grout sealer in our grout sealer review. The one quart container of grout sealer will seal approximately 200 sq/ft of grout with 12 inch tiles and 1/8 inch grout lines.
Apply a liberal amount of sealer to the grout joints and ensure that the grout is thoroughly saturated with sealer. Do not worry if some of the sealer gets on the tile surface as this excess sealer will be wiped away later. Work in only small sections at a time and keep the grout joint saturated with grout sealer for at least 10 minutes. If you see that the sealer is absorbed by the grout and is starting to dry then apply more sealer to the grout joints to keep them thoroughly saturated with grout sealer for at least 10 minutes. Remember not to let the sealer dry on the tile or grout. If an area of sealer begins to dry on the tile surface add more sealer to keep that area wet with the grout sealer.
Applying grout sealer to vertical walls can be a difficult task to keep the sealer totally saturated on the grout joints for an entire 10 minutes. Using the brush tipped applicator try to keep applying sealer to the grout joints so they are saturated with grout sealer for the entire 10 minutes.
After the grout has been saturated with sealer for 10 minutes then you need to wipe off the excess sealer from the tile and grout surfaces. The easiest way to wipe off the excess grout sealer is to just use paper towels to wipe off the excess sealer. Roll up about 10 sheets of paper towels and wipe down the tile and grout surface. When your sheets of paper towels get saturated with sealer then simply throw them in the garbage and get a new wad of paper towels and continue cleaning up the excess sealer. Remove all of the sealer off of the tile and grout surfaces and ensure that there are no puddles of sealer left in the grout lines. Continue wiping until all traces of the grout sealer are gone and there is no grout sealer haze left on the tile surface. It is important to not leave any traces of sealer on the tile surface. Look at the tiles from different angles to ensure that there is no sealer residue or sealer haze left on the tile surface.
If you see that some sealer haze has formed on the tile surface then you can remove the grout sealer haze by adding more sealer to the spot where there is a sealer haze. Just apply the sealer to the spots of sealer haze and wipe the hazy area down and keep wiping with the paper towels. Keep wiping the sealer hazed are until all of grout sealer haze is gone from the tile surface.
After you are done sealing the entire area then do a final inspection to ensure that there is no grout sealer haze or sealer residue left on the tile surfaces. You should let the sealer dry for about 3 hours before using the sealed grout and tile surface.
Sealing grout can be laborious if there is a large are to be sealed. Also purchasing the correct sealer and applying it can be a costly endeavor. You may want to hire a professional tile cleaning and restoration contractor to seal your grout for you.
You can read some valuable information and tips on how to hire a tile, grout and stone cleaning and restoration contractor at our contractor information page here. Grout Restoration Contractor.