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I Thought I Had to Re-Caulk My Shower, But I Just Needed This $14 Cleaner

Shifrah Combiths
Shifrah Combiths
With five children, Shifrah is learning a thing or two about how to keep a fairly organized and pretty clean house with a grateful heart in a way that leaves plenty of time for the people who matter most. Shifrah grew up in San Francisco, but has come to appreciate smaller town life in Tallahassee, Florida, which she now calls home. She's been writing professionally for twenty years and she loves lifestyle photography, memory keeping, gardening, reading, and going to the beach with her husband and children.
published Jun 28, 2021
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Credit: Jessica Isaac

Through the years, I’ve tried so many things to clean all the grout lines in our house. We have grout everywhere we have tile, which is in the kitchen and bathrooms, where the grout is not only on the floor, but around the tiles in our showers and bathtubs.

While I can’t say I’m happy with the cleanliness of the grout on our floors, I’m able to look past it most of the time. With somewhat regular cleaning by me and occasional professional cleaning (that lasts for a few months at most), I’ve come to terms with the general condition of the floor grout in our home.

But the grout in the shower and tub enclosures is another matter because this grout doesn’t only get dirty, it gets moldy. Cleaning my body or bathing my kids in a shower or tub marked by unsightly black mildew feels counterproductive and gross. And none of my usual methods (Magic Eraser, hydrogen peroxide, even bleach and Tide) touch it, at least not enough to eliminate it. I resigned myself to having to re-caulk if I ever wanted showers and tub enclosures that felt truly clean… until I stepped out of my comfort zone by trying one product that I’d normally never consider.

You see, I try to “green clean” with more organic solutions, and mainstream cleaners with purple bottles or sudsy scrub brushes with happy faces never made the cut. I was desperate, though, and open to new things before I took the drastic step of re-caulking the grout in the seams.

Kaboom Mold & Mildew Stain Remover with Bleach
$3.88
Walmart
Buy Now

I’m glad I did, because I tried Kaboom Mold & Mildew Cleaner with Bleach, and it worked so super duper well. I’m mad at myself that I didn’t try it sooner! The foaming cleaner maintained contact with trouble spots in the grout and caulking, and when I washed it away, it was white! I feel like I missed years of having completely sparkling showers and tubs.

I’ll never not have a bottle of this stuff around now. It’s been a couple months, and I haven’t had to use it again since that first time. I enjoy my pristine shower each time I step into it, and I love knowing that when mildew creeps in again, I’m a few sprays away from getting my perfectly clean grout lines back.

Filed in:
Bathroom
Cleaning