How To Clean Coffee Stained Grout

Your morning drink of coffee might be essential for you, but not for the grout in your kitchen.

Unfortunately, your morning coffee habit might be causing some stains in your kitchen’s grout.

If you find yourself in this situation, you will need to know how to clean coffee-stained grout in order to not ruin your grout!

Follow the steps below to learn how to clean coffee-stained grout.

What You’ll Need

Now that you have everything you need, continue reading to learn how to clean coffee-stained grout.

1. Mix Your Cleaning Solution Together

In a small bowl, mix baking soda, water, and dish soap.

The mixture should be more of a liquid than a paste.

Using the baking soda to clean the grout will help create consistency to scrub the coffee stains from your grout.

Be sure not to add too much dish soap.

Aim for only a couple of drops.

2. Pour White Vinegar on Grout

In preparation to remove the coffee stains, pour out some white vinegar along the grout line.

The acidity of the white vinegar will help to break down the acidic coffee.

I recommend using Lucy’s Family Owned – Natural Distilled White Vinegar.

It’s excellent for all types of cleaning projects plus it gets wonderful reviews on Amazon.

3. Pour the Cleaning Mixture on Grout

After the white vinegar has had time to penetrate the coffee stain, pour the baking soda, water, and dish soap mix on top of the white vinegar.

The baking soda will help to scrub the coffee stain away.

When the baking soda mixes with the white vinegar, it helps to attack the coffee stain buildup.

4. Scrub the Cleaning Mixture and Vinegar into the Grout

Once the mixture has been poured on top of the white vinegar in the grout, begin to brush with a stiff brush.

I recommend this ALAZCO 2 Soft-Grip Handle Heavy-Duty Tile Grout Brush – Extra-Stiff Bristles.

It’s specially made for cleaning tile grout and gets good reviews on Amazon.

After scrubbing the mixture and white vinegar into the grout, let the mixture and white vinegar sit on the grout for about five minutes.

Brush all of the grout once more after the mixture and white vinegar has had more time to dissolve and remove the coffee stain.

5. Sponge up the Cleaning Mixture

After having the mixture and white vinegar scrubbed into the coffee-stained grout, use a sponge to soak up what remains.

Doing this should help to dry up the grout.

It will also reveal any areas and spots that will require more attention.

If any areas still have some stains, you can repeat the steps above.

6. Scrape Coffee Stains with Grout Knife

If the coffee stain remains on your grout and you have a tough coffee stain on your hands, you can use a grout knife to scrape the stain to remove the coffee stain lightly.

If you’re looking for a good grout knife, try this Coitak Tile Grout Saw Angled Grout Saw.

It comes with 3 blades and gets good Amazon reviews.

Be sure to only lightly scrape as this knife is used to remove the grout, and you do not want to damage the grout.

7. Seal the Grout

To help avoid getting coffee stains in your grout, use a grout sealant to go over your newly cleaned grout.

Doing this will protect your grout and help keep it from getting stained by coffee.

Give this Waterproof Tile Grout Colorant and Sealer Pen a try.

It received the best reviews of all the sealers on Amazon.

Some grout sealants also have paint or ink to make the grout the original color of your grout if the color is fading or changing.

Video Instructions

Step 1 (1:08) — Mix solution
Step 2 (1:10) — Pour white vinegar
Step 3 (1:51) — Pour mixture
Step 4 (2:06) — Scrub
Step 5 (2:40) — Sponge
Step 6 (3:34) — Scrape stain
Step 7 (3:52) — Seal grout

Frequently Asked Questions

Will White Vinegar Make My Kitchen Smell?

No, white vinegar is a natural deodorizer.

Initially, when the white vinegar is wet in your kitchen, its strong smell will be present.

When it dries, however, the strong white vinegar smell will dissipate.

In addition, it is less harsh and more natural than most cleaning products, whose scent is noxious.

In addition, mixed with baking soda, another natural deodorizer, the smell of the white vinegar should decrease as well while waiting for the white vinegar to dry and dissipate its smell.

How Does White Vinegar Clean Coffee Stains?

White vinegar is very acidic, and that acidity will help break down the buildup of coffee stains.

Because most coffee stains are acidic themselves, the acid will dissolve away other acids.

They paired together with baking soda will help remove the coffee stain by dissolving and absorbing it.

How Can I Reduce Coffee Stains?

Spills are a natural part of any kitchen, so it’s no surprise to find some coffee stains crop up now and then.

However, if those coffee spills sit for too long, they will stain the grout and counter.

Reducing the amount of time that coffee sits on your grout and counter will help minimize coffee stains.

In addition, the more frequently you clean your kitchen thoroughly, the less likely you will have coffee stains on your grout.

Will Any Of These Cleaning Solutions Harm My Grout?

Yes and no.

Too much of anything will be a bad thing.

If you are using these cleaning solutions on unsealed grout, particularly white vinegar due to its acidity, it will likely loosen the grout and weaken it.

When using the cleaning solutions, do so in moderation to avoid this issue.

Will This Discolor My Grout?

No, the white vinegar, baking soda, and dish soap should not discolor your grout.

At most, these cleaning agents should help to return your grout to the original color.

In addition, if you use a grout sealant with ink or paint to seal your grout, it should also add color to your grout.

Are Coffee Stains In My Grout Permanent?

No, you may have tough, set-in coffee stains, but by no means does that indicate they are permanent.

If you have dark coffee stains that remain even after your typical kitchen cleaning, that only means you will have some difficulty removing them.

If this is the case for your grout, you may need to repeat some of the steps above a couple of times to get out those tough coffee stains.

If this article was helpful, you may want to check out our article dedicated to showing you how to remove coffee stains from a white tablecloth.