Emergency Help suggestions for Removing Grout! - Tile Advice

[ChrisC7]

Hi all, new here and I need some desperate help.

Recently got my dad to tile my kitchen backsplash, took a while as it’s was a herringbone style with lots of cuts, but once the tiles were on the wall it looked really good and was worth the extra time and effort.

I brought all the adhesive and grout from B&Q without much investigation to be honest, and I got Mapei grey grout. So my dads grouted and all gone in the joints fine, I was cleaning up behind him with a sponge but leaving about a 5mm gap to the edge of the tile as I didn’t want to drag the grout out the gaps. My dad from experience expected the small excess on the edges to dry overnight and be able to polish off, this isn’t the case. It’s dried solid and isn’t coming off.

So far I have tried dry scourer, warm water scourer (I’m getting through loads of scourers at this point). Now I’m onto 5% vinegar, little bit on the scourer and scrubbing, I also brought a nylon brush end from tool station that you use in a drill bit that hasn’t seemed to work either. The wcourers after some serious hard work seem to make a slight difference to the surface grout, but the tiles are rough with lots of indents, and I’m left with solid grey spot in the indents that won’t go anywhere.

I’m pretty devastated to be honest and the more things I try the more it’s pointing towards smashing them all off and going again, but this may be my frustration.

I have so many suggestions, shall I spray the vinegar on and leave to soak? shall I try sugar water? Will it come to grout removal fluid of some sort, if so how do I stop it pulling the grout out the gaps?

As you can tell I’m pretty gutted by it all, so any help suggestions would be an absolute god send.

 

[Dave]

It’s gunna be very difficult to remove tbh. Can you post pics so we can see the extent of the excess

 

[ChrisC7]

Appreciate the response, attached pictures. It’s a lot worse in some places than others, problem is it’s worst right about the hob.

 

[Dave]

Wow. Well and truly left some residue.
Personally i would try Lithofin cement away. Follow instructions on the bottle and try on a small area first and use a white scotch pad. Make sure you ventilate the room and wear PPE.

 

[serrow]

Appreciate the response, attached pictures. It’s a lot worse in some places than others, problem is it’s worst right about the hob.

Try a grout cleaner. It's a bit acidic and works well on grout. A toothbrush or similar would help with applying the cleaner. I've used it with great success.

 

[eddcottee]

Did you get it sorted with the Lithofin product? It's great stuff which i've helped somebody out with in the past to remove old stubborn grout which hadn't been cleaned off properly and it worked a treat