ceramic tiles and grout

soak the sponge in descaler. Or brick acid.

hi NP thanks for reply.. .where can i get that? i've got some de limescale spray would that do it? i guess i should wear gloves with this sort of thing!

Try that first.

Builders merchant for patio or brick aid.

Even vinegar works on grout..its only a superior form of limescale.

Wear gloves if you like, but I let my hands tell me when they are being damaged...

but make sure neither the descaler/acid nor the sponge contain any colour die which will show in the grout.

can you please send a link to a screwfix product or b & q i could use for rubbing down the floor grout as well as removing set grout from tile surfaces. like you say i must need something chemical as hard rubbing alone just ruins the sponge with no effect. the limescale spray i have is coloured (supermarket product) so would probably not be a good idea. thanks guys

You could try a window scraper for the face of the tiles, and some coarse, fabric backed abrasive for the grout lines. Something for a belt sander would be ok. Just tear it into a useable size and fold it to get into the gaps. Hard work though...

thanks for that link but i dont think that would help as i dont want to dig up the grout, just smooth it off a bit.

any one got a link to this de scaling solution so i can try scrubbing with that, to try and smooth down some of the grout?

fwiw i used this exact thing to remove old excess grout from "overfull" grout lines and tile surfaces.

FFS try googling for it yourself !

NB how will you stop acids etc softening all of the grout depth ? you may end up redoing it all anyway?