I have the same type of tile in my bathroom-- it's original to the building (1911) and I'd love to know what I could do to get it really clean, as well.

Looks like its time to remove the grout and re-grout your floor.

I feel your concerns...I also have the same tile, from the 1920s, I believe. I sorta gave up on cleaning it. But there may be hope!! :)

So many old places in Chicago have this tile ... yes, we love it but can never get it clean. When I had tile in similar condition, I tried flooding the floor with undiluted bleach and left it sitting for an hour. It did help to brighten it up, although it certainly was still far from perfect.

Oxyclean maybe?

I have tile like that and I use Bon Ami, water, and a toothbrush. It works, it's usualy under $3 and it's non-toxic.
http://www.bonami.com/enviroment/

This always works:

1 cup spic and span powder
1cup of ammonia
1 cup of water

Put the slushy mixture on the dirty tile, slate floor, whatever and let it sit for a while, at least ten minutes. Push it to the next dirty section. Scrub with a brush or something. Rinse well.

It works!

Muriatic acid is your best bet for white grout, but it's very toxic - you can usually get it at hardware stores and restaurant supply places.

Have you tried Tilex (let it sit for a half hour on the grout with the bathroom vent on before you scrub) plus a very stiff toothbrush?

And if all else fails, you can paint the grout white again with grout paint. I've done this in a couple of (rental) apartments where I'm not going to pay for re-grouting, and it works pretty well as a temporary, cheap fix.

Bicarbonate of soda, vinegar and a nail brush or toothbrush. Sprinkle on the bicarb, pour on some vinegar, let sit 10 mins or so, then scrub & wipe, rinse clean with clear water. Work in small sections at a time.

There is a product out there called Grout Colorant. It's not a perfect solution, but it might be a sort of in between fix until you are ready to spend the money on regrouting. You can get Grout Colorant at most Home Depots, and usually it is in the tile section. It's basically a very durable paint and grout sealer. I used it for for the (intentionally) grey grout in my old house. It always looked dingy. Get a tooth brush (maybe a baby one for your thin grout), a small container to put the colorant in (mini gladware containers are great), a few kitchen sponges with a rough scrubber side and a razor blade. You rub the colorant into the grout with the tooth brush and then let it dry for about 10-15 minutes then go over it with a damp sponge (using the scrubber side) to get the excess of the tiles. What doesn't come off with the sponge will come off with the razor. It's time consuming, but the difference is amazing! I am in a rental now, and the bathroom tile was very dingy. I got some colorant and went to work...looks like a new bathroom!! It's a great start and stop project, too. In my old house I would work on it a little each night.

Eventually (after a couple years) it will start to wear away in spots. You can just reapply, or decide to get the grout regrouted at that point.

Good Luck!

Everyone remember cleaning safety! Don't mix ammonia and bleach!
Have you tried Mr. Clean magic eraser? It takes the paint off my walls, I wonder if it would remove the top layer of ancient grout.

funny, i am just about to embark on this task here at HQ when i saw this post. i spray Scrubbing Bubbles pump spray Bathroom Cleaner and scrub by hand with a Mr. Clean Magic Sponge (or target or safeway brand). it isn't too much trouble, and gets the tile pretty bright. it's the most gratifying method i have found yet, and much preferred to retiling! cheers to the Bon Ami method, also.

Believe it or not I use those Magic Eraser things to clean my tile and they work great. You might need a few to get through all of that.

I had it in my 100 year old apartment also. Never got it clean ever after 8 years of trying.
I even had to use gray grout when I replaced some of it do to damage, just so it matched the rest of the floor.
I started to think maybe the grout was a light gray color to begin with----not white.
The paint drops and some of the other stuff might come up with a razor blade, paint stripper or oven cleaner.
I used oven cleaner on my old kitchen floor to get 40 years worth of paint dropings and years worth of layer and layer and layer of wax off the floor. It's a mess and you need to use those scrubbing pads and lots and lots of clean water in a bucket to clean the pads off. The floor was that 1960's black and white hard stuff that came in 12x12 tiles. Wax remover did not even touch the problem.
Good Luck

ps. yes, i meant Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. and i use gardener's knee pads or a contractor's kneeling cushion while i'm at it.

this works and there are lots of different shades to choose from....

www.thisoldgrout.com/

We're currently tiling our bathroom walls with white subway tiles and hexagonal floor tiles on the floor. To avoid this very problem, we've chosen and light grey coloured grout. IMO, white grout looks far too modern (and maybe even a bit cheap) when paired with vintage tiles. The grey looks far more old world and shows off the tile pattern far better than white would.

Oh! I have those exact tiles and that exact problem in the old apartment that i just moved into! I've tried something similar to the "grout colourant" it's like a "tile renewer" or something similar...it made both the tile and the grout nice and white and fairly uniform. It's a little time consuming and hard on the knees so I've only done sections of the bathroom so far, but it's worked better than scrubbing with bleach and other cleaners.

Does anyone know where I can get similar replacement tiles? I have approx 6 tiles missing (same white hexagon shape as shown in post image) and it makes me crazy! thanks and happy cleaning! :)

I colored my grout using a product from HD, but found this online which seems easier to use. http://www.groutshields.com/new.htm

I recently tried a new cleaning product called Soft Scrub that did incredible things to my bathtub and stainless kitchen sink. I really think it would be worth trying on your tile! You wipe it onto the surface you want to clean and leave it for an hour or two, and then come back and scrub it - it works like a charm. The only bad thing is that I'm pretty sure it's totally toxic - it smells extremely strongly of bleach.

I've lived in a 1928 apartment with this tile, and had it in a master bathroom after a miscommunication with a builder. Three possibilities for cleaning.

1) Carefully flood the floor with Clorox cut with water. This is easiest with the new gel Clorox. The strength of the mix and the length of time of application is tricky. I suggest you mix it 50/50 and leave it for a short period of time on a small area, until you see what you will need to get the job done. (I prefer to put it on straight, and get it up right away. The residual bleaches over a few hours.)

2) Pour Hydrogen Peroxide on the floor. Look for bubbling and hissing. It will both clean and bleach, and be sure to corral the liquid. (I think this is the easiest. HP will keep drains clean as well.)

3) Sprinkle baking soda on the area to be cleaned, and pour boiling water on the baking soda. It's like frickin' magic. (This method will clean the pan liners on top of the stove too, and really dirty marble pipes. I learned it from Martha Stewart.) Repeat until clean.

My choice, when faced with the floor I didn't want, was to cover it. I bought 64 oz. 100% nylon carpet, and laid it over the tile, securing it with double sided tape. The carpet is so heavy, the tape is only needed until gravity takes over. It can't rot, but can be removed for cleaning and/or drying. And it feels so good under the toes, warm and soft instead of hard and cold.

Good luck. I hope you find something that works for you.

I would try barkeeper's friend. If you mix it into a strong paste and use that with some serious elbow grease, you should be able get it cleaner.

the MR CLEAN MAGIC SPONGE is the answer. I had a tub in my last apartment that had all sorts of crap on it i couldn't even get off with a scrub brush and bleach but one wipe of the MR CLEAN SPONGE and its gone. I LOVE THE MR CLEAN SPONGE...best invention since sliced bread.

I've got the same tiles and I think I'll try some of these great cleaning suggestions.

Like kamaraderie, I needed a couple of replacement tiles - recently I was digging around in one of my flowerbeds and unearthed one! God bless messy contractors.

There is a pen type bleach product by Clorox - it is made for spotting clothes - it is perfect for this. Maybe a little time consuming.

I'd skip the magic sponges and go straight to classic scotch green scouring pads - they'll take off the old paint haze and spots that seem too be your biggest issue. Wet down the area first (just water) and let sit for a while before you scrub away. Barkeepers friend should help finish off the job.

If you still have discoloration on the grout, you can use one of grout colorants referenced above. I'd skip all the bleaching/peroxide/acids mentioned above as you may actually lighten the grout which is supposed to be dark in your case.

Leave bleach to sit for a few hours. Then scrub with a toothbrush.

One more vote for the Magic Eraser... I had this exact same tile / conundrum in my old apartment- 8 sponges and a few hours later, it looked like new!

i watched mall maintenance remove ink from a marble floor with a paste of cornstarch and bleach...i tried a small area in my kitchen, and it works. wear old clothes, old shoes etc when using bleach...i've ruined many a nice shirt.

What about an SOS pad? Or those brass mesh scrubbers? Elbow grease will definately be involved! Best of luck.

I have the same tiles original to my 1922 condo. I tried bleach. I tried peroxide. I tried scrubbing.

I give up.

Traditionally, this type of subway tile was grouted in a grey or black (usually called "charcoal") grout. It is meant to be a dingy grey, and it's likely that it will never become white, by definition.

Today, it has become more fashionable (due to designer tiles like Ann Sacks and their revival of subway tile) to grout this kind of tile in a snow white or bright white. But it's wrong to expect that style of grouting from an older era tile, when generally they were not ever installing the tile with white.

The other challenge is that frequently these tiles are unglazed, or the glaze has worn out entirely, meaning that they soak up dirt. This type of tile costs about $5 a square foot and is sold (in New York at least) at places like Nemo tile. It's relatively easy and cheap to replace.

comet scouring powder, warm water, scrubbing brush & lots of elbow grease

THis is super labor intensive but works: an old toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. Gets the grossest black grout shiny white!

I have this too and can never get it clean, it is charming but filthy looking!!

I know I'm late to join the crowd, but do go for the colourant. We avoided all the hassle of re-grouting or re-tiling using it and it was brilliant. We used it when we prepared our ensuite with white tile & originally grey grout for sale. And the beautifully clean white 'grout' that resulted was the equivalent of a fabulous bathroom reno. Go for it!!

A late added comment...

"Quick N Brite", the As Seen on TV/Infomercial product, does an awesome job at cleaning grout and tiles and works very quickly.

QNB and an old tooth brush (good size for grout), a little water and a little aggitation/scrubbing and grout cleans back to its original, intended color very quickly. Follow it up with a quick cleaning of the tiles with a wet sponge or mop (while QNB is still on the floor), and slide a towel around to dry.

I did this recently with my old tub of QNB when I moved into a studio with tiled a kitchen/dining area and it worked wonders.

Toilet bowl cleaner. The kind that comes in the bottle with the tip angled to reach up around the toilet bowl rim. Strong stuff. Squirt and spread it on; leave it awhile to do its stuff; wash off.

Or, boiling water and one of those copper mesh scrubbies.

I think the grout's not white to start with, but these 2 methods will work if it is....