re-grouting - dig it out or is there an easier way?

Our new bathrooms at work have the grout coloured with a grout paint from day one, presumably to make it super-white, so it appears to work. Whether its so good on old greasy grout I'm not so sure. They are cheap so its worth a try. Raking out is best, but its not a nice job, and hard not to slip and damage the tiles. Simon.

dig out most. clean up with brick acid or similar.

If the grout is good and sound, scrape the surface and smear white tile grout on with your finger. Job done.

If grout isnt sound, remove it with a grout rake or bradawl.

NT

Totally agree. I've tried a pen thingy in a tenanted property not long ago, and when the tenants left after about 9 months it still looked OK. So, probably worth giving it a go at least and you can judge whether the effort of a proper job will be worth it next time.

David

Hi Peter I cleaned mine by spraying it with a bleach solution , approx 30% bleach, leaving it for 24 hrs and then rinsing off , It removed what mould was there and all came up really white. Might be worth a try before raking it all out. Devonsteve

Aldi, on Thursday 20/8, have these pens:

A grout rake requires a grout line a) wide enough to accept them and b) edge-glazed tiles.

Applying a grout rake to non-edge-glazed tiles (such as those glazed only on 3 or 2 sides) will rip bits of the tile face off. Better to use a stanley knife with a lot of blades and kevlar gloves (because you will slip).

Thick bleach is good for this too, paint on, leave for 30mins, scrub with nail brush and repeat throughout the day as a background task.