Now For the Rest of the Story

Saturday's run around White Rock was a huge failure. We didn't meet up with the running group, so all we truly accomplished was a drive downtown and a drive back home. In the rain.

Kind of dampened the spirits, to be honest.

So we decided to be uber-productive around the house. Amongst the many projects languishing was addressing the horrid state of our ceramic tile.

We knew the grout was naturally a creamy light color. (How did we know? We could tell where the former owners had a rug...beautiful clean grout there. Elsewhere, not so much.) However, much of our grout in the living/dining area looked like this:

I researched the best way to clean grout using natural cleaning products. We knew, you see, that our furbabies were not going to stay out of the way during the project and we didn't want to use a product that might harm there. Or us, for that matter.

The final "sauce" that we created worked wonderfully. A mixture of baking soda, vinegar and salt, plus a healthy dose of hand-and-knee scrubbing, gave us this:

The only downside is that we both feel like very old people today - stiff in places we didn't realize could feel stiff! That didn't stop us from going - successfully - on Run Attempt #2.

Natural Grout Cleaner

• 1/2 c. white vinegar
• 1/2 c. salt
• 1/2 c. baking soda

Mix ingredients together. Apply mixture to grout with a stiff bristled brush. Let sit for 1-2 minutes. Wash off with warm water.