How to remove paint from grout and tile
I spent today getting back to square one in the laundry room.
Not square 1 really– just back to where I was before I spilled a half gallon of paint on my floor, spread it out by using the floor as a paint tray, letting it dry and trying to scrap the paint out of the grout. (Didn’t work.)
I had some orange paint stripper in my garage so I thought I’d give that a try. Spread it all over with my chemically protected gloved hands — and let it sit for 30 min.
Then I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed with a steel bristled brush.
It looked like it was working so I cleaned up that goop with paper towels and then put a little more orange stuff on the spots that I’d missed. This is the point I got excited that it was working!
Scrubbed and wiped some more and rinsed and wiped and repeated a few more times. YES!
My house smells like an orange juice and chemical plant. But — DogGonit my tile and grout are clean! Protected my lungs, eyes and hands with serious gear — ’cause I’d like to keep them working well for as long as possible!
I still HATE the grey grout with this tile and am going to change it. I just didn’t want to change it with globs of high gloss paint.
Has anyone had any luck painting grout a color they WANTED to paint it? That’s what I’m planning!
Hi Sandra,
I recolored two bathroom floors and a tile shower with Mapei Color Refresh. They sell a limited color selection at Lowes. I ended up buying some at a fancy tile store where they hd a bigger selection. I also mixed some colors together for a custom color. It totally changed the look of the tile!
Nancy
We just had our grout color-tinted and sealed. It looks soooo nice and clean. I love it, and it costs $1-$2/sq. foot. Our tile is 12″ so it’s only $1 per tile.
http://www.grout-works.com/index.html
This wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that I said “oh you didn’t clean the paint up?” during the house tour the other day did it? 🙂 It looks awesome!! I’ve used those paint grout pens three or four times now and I have a couple right now to try to even out the grout color in my bathroom since we didn’t mix the grout/sealer mix completely and half is white and the other half has a grey tint :-/ I’ve always had good luck with those but they usually only come in white, black, grey, etc.
Oh you poor thing! I have done this before 🙁 Not a fun cleanup that’s for sure. Glad you got it all off 🙂
If anyone could do it YOU could! Awesome to see…and yes, protecting yourself from all the chemicals is top priority. I soo wanted to see what you would do–you ROCK! I am glad it cleaned up for you:)