My bathroom tile job turned into a weird science experiment

I decided to try that trick where you use dish soap in the grout mix to make it smoother. Saw it on some forum, figured why not. Mixed up a batch for my small bathroom floor, maybe 50 square feet, and added a good squirt of blue Dawn. The grout went on fine, but the next morning it looked like a mold farm. These weird, fuzzy blue spots were growing out of the lines. My wife walked in and said it looked like a petri dish from a high school lab. Turns out the soap had sugar or something in it that bacteria loved. I had to chip out all the grout, scrub the lines with bleach, and start over. Has anyone else had a home fix tip go totally wrong like that? What was your worst one?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_claire27d ago

Actually, that trick works fine if you do it right. You probably used way too much soap. A tiny drop is all you need, not a whole squirt. The problem wasn't the idea, it was your mix. I've done it on three different jobs with zero issues. You just created a perfect wet spot for mold by making it too wet.

morgan.jason27d ago

So @the_claire, you're telling me the secret is basically just making a bubble bath for my walls? Guess I'll try again with an eye dropper next time.

robinp8927d ago

Honestly though, is mold from a one-time wet spot really that big of a deal? It's not like the wall stays soaked forever. Seems like it would dry out long before any serious mold could even start.