Darken Grout Color

Ada Wilhelm has a gorgeous rectangular tile floor in her house in Hernando, FL. She wrote to me with a very simple question:

"How can we darken a grout that is too light?"

Well Ada, I'm wondering why you want to lighten it after looking at the photo you sent below. The grout, to me, looks perfect. It really compliments the darker tones in the tile.

I'm wondering, are you worried that the grout will be hard to clean because it's a light beige? Guess what? If you use my Stain Solver Color-Safe Grout Cleaner, you've got no problems. It will keep your grout clean and looking new! If you do want to darken the grout, read on!

I'm also wondering if you saw the color of the grout when in was wet just after mixing and loved that color. It's a mistake to think the grout will stay that color when it dries and cures. The color of the grout DRY poured out of the bag is what it will dry to when mixed with just pure water. Do NOT use additives in the grout as they create mottled coloration.

Here's Ada's tile floor. Look to the right. You can see that the grout is not yet installed in between the tile. I wonder if Ada doesn't like the color of the grout now? Photo credit: Ada Wilhelm

But if you do want to darken the grout changing its color, you can do it much like you stain wood.

You can buy all sorts of colored stains that soak into the grout and change it's color.

CLICK HERE to see all the different stains you can get.

Realize it's VERY HARD work to stain the grout. You'll be on your hands and knees and you must not allow the stain to get on the tile. You have to use a small brush and take your time.