Even the words are irritating me slightly…. the evil that is a grout pen
Television, radio the internet – we are constantly being bombarding with quick fixes. Look at this product it will do exactly what you want, quick fix. See this type of product will change your life, quick fix. The Grout Pen falls into this category.
We all want the quick fix. It ranges from starting a diet today and expecting to fit into those size …. jeans by tea time. Or heading to the gym once and expecting our guns to rival that of Dwayne Johnston.
So if i have any words of wisdom to bestow upon you it is this…. step away from the grout pen
This little seemingly innocent Grout Pen is a quick fix and we all know quick fixes aren’t worth the hassle.
Below ive lifted a few reviews from Amazon on these little grout pens
I’m not too impressed with this.
It’s hard work.
The nib broke very quickly and it’s hard to get the paint out.
Did a small section and had to stop.
Only got this to brighten up my grout, wasn’t in a bad way but just wanted it clean looking. Didn’t even cover half a small bathroom and the nib just keeps going into the tube, had to keep pulling it out with tweezers- waste of money.
Now I’m going to look at these 2 reviews. The 1st reviewer wasn’t impressed, noticed it was hard work. The grout pen broke after a small section. 2nd reviewer commented they just wanted clean grout. The grout pen didn’t cover half the bathroom and once again the pen broke.
Quick fixes never work
The grout pen works like tippex, do you remember when you were in school. The Tippex bottle used to get clogged and gluey. Lumps would come out with the brush after you had used it a few times. Then do you remember, if you wanted to you could easily scratch the tippex off. Well grout pens are similar. They do not go into your grout, they sit on top. Giving you a fresh white look initially. However after wear and tear it will start to flake away.
Some bits will stay put and other bits will fall off
Can you see how the grout isn’t smooth in this image. This is a kitchen wall. It doesnt take a lot of wear & tear. I doubt they would be cleaning is section constantly. Can you see how the grout has started to discolour and the texture is off, its not smooth like finished grout. This is a smokers kitchen so the grout when yellow and discoloured. The grout pen worked initially, however they went back to smoking in their home. Now the grout is nearly impossible to get deep cleaned.
Now look at this image. These tiles will have a lot of wear & tear. They are the back of the sink. So lots of water bouncing off the tiles and grout. Id say they get a quick spray when the sink is getting cleaned. So plenty of wear & tear. Now look very closely I can count 4 different types of colours coming through in this grout. The texture is different nearly with each tile. Now ill not comment on the tiling… which is pretty poor. We are looking at the grout today.
Grout is an absorbent product
Which is why the spores of bacteria can get inside and breed
This is what the black mould is in your grout. Its IN YOUR GROUT. You can scrub and scrub but unless you can get in the grout its a wasted battle. Grout Pens dont absorb they bond and sit on top of the grout. They make your grout look lovely and white. Then over time the water will get in behind it. Destruction but this time you are left with grout that has this bonded product on top
It makes cleaning your shower 100 times more difficult
This summer alone we’ve had to walk away from jobs 13 times. Our client thought they would try the quick fix and purchased the grout pen. Their shower was lovely for approx 3 months. Then the issues started. When we went out to try and help it was going to cost a small fortune to descale the grout before we could even get in to clean it.
Our clients are people that want clean grout in their showers
So 2/3’s of them have tried to clean the grout themselves and realised its a huge effort. The other 1/3 have looked for the quick fixes and without realising it have destroyed their grout.
Step away from the Grout Pen
Now in the act of fairness ive looked at a few positive reviews and these are below.
Brilliant pen, covered our whole en-suite shower cubicle grouting and made it look like new, effective and cheap and very easy to use. Found the nib lasted absolutely fine if you just press it a couple of times and shake to release the fluid and then don’t press it whilst actually using it, just glide it over the surface. Highly recommend!
Very easy to use and gives the discoloured grouting a new look. However I feel the fluid could do with being a little thicker as even with two coats you can still see some of the dark discolouration underneath. In addition, the nib wears down before the cartridge is empty. Overall very good though, worth the money.
Lets be fair here. Both reviewers commented on it being cheap, they commented on the nib because they must have read the other reviews. But if you are selling a product, are these the type of reviews you would like? They kinda go along the lines of cheap & cheerful. You only get what you pay for and beware of cheap imitations.
So please please put the grout pen down and give us a ring. Let us come out and have a chat and you wont regret it. Yes we are going to cost more than approx £3.99 per tube….. but as my grandmother always says..
you only get what you pay for
Check out the other Blogs to see what we can do for you
Cheerio xx
2 Comments. Leave new
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I always wondered what happened over time. The reviews most always complain about the nib, so i was just going to cut it off outright and use a brush. After reading your informative review I will definitely “walk away…” and put in the effort to clean it, but I haven’t found anything to truly do that. I’ve tried the poroxide and soda. Bleach. Toilet cleaner. Oxy powder. Even toothpaste, but nothing seems to get that oil and dirt out. I live in Arizona, USA. So I don’t think i can afford to get you out here. ;-). But could you recommend any DYI products? Hope you have a continued successful business.
Use cleanser with BLEACH, with a scrub brush — any store brand is fine, even Dollar Tree, as long as it has bleach in it. It lasts a long time, and is very easy to do. The brush glides over the tiles, but grips the group. You only have to do it every couple of months or so. I couldn’t believe the first time I did this — the ceramic floor tiles looked better than when it was new, because the installer left glue stains (which came out also!).
Another trick — if you have built-up gunk on your ceramic tiles: Take a single-edge razer blade, and hold it almost parallel to the tile and “slice” off the build-up. It will take it down to the tile itself, and will be shiny.