All over the place in our residence we’ve used darkish grout with tiles. I really like the way it appears in opposition to a traditional, cheap tile (see our toilet right here) and there’s the practicality of it not highlighting mould, stains and marks, particularly in a excessive visitors space comparable to a household toilet or kitchen.
So why didn’t you employ darkish grout within the kitchen I hear you asking? Properly, we did, however we additionally used crackle glaze tiles – which we sealed! However solely as soon as – and the darkish grout bled onto the tiles so badly that we needed to tile a whole new layer over the part (as a result of to take away them would’ve taken the plaster beneath off).
We then sealed them an additional thrice to make sure however nonetheless bought scared so simply went with a lightweight gray grout.
It was high-quality, they seemed good, but it surely simply wasn’t my imaginative and prescient, you realize? Our tiles (‘Ludlow’ in Ammonite from Porcelain superstore), for my part, would sing that little bit extra with a darker encompass.
I had been which means to strive a grout pen for ages, in actual fact I purchased one (through Rainbow chalk) and it sat unused on my desk for ages – partly out of nervousness however principally out of lack of time. However we’ve lastly bought spherical to it and listed below are the outcomes!
It took a variety of getting used to at first, as we had gotten used to the lighter grout, however for me, the room immediately feels extra ‘us’ and what we initially wished – the tiles ping, as do the gadgets leaning in opposition to the wall. Right here are some things to notice:
I didn’t ‘prep’ the room or the tiles.
Our grout within reason current (below 2 years) so it was in a superb state, and our tiles had been miraculously fairly clear!
One pen won’t do a whole room
Don’t give it a go along with only one pen (like me) in case your house is as giant (or bigger) than this. I booked out a whole day after which ran out of juice (each metaphorically and actually!) after a few hours. Ultimately we used three pens for this space, I in all probability didn’t use the pen proper till the final doable drip because it will get trickier to navigate and extra room for error (and I used to be filming on a deadline so wanted to be considerably fast).
There are completely different dimension nibs
I used a 7ml one however they promote smaller and thicker (we by accident purchased a 15ml one and it was like a jumbo marker – we despatched that one again).
The nib typically will get worn down and tough after some time
Because of this your traces aren’t as clean and it will get a bit more durable to make markings on the grout. That’s while you change pen.
To make use of the pen you shake, then push down on the nib to carry the ink out (a bit like these gold pens all of us utilized in college?!) – I’d suggest having a notepad useful to do that as you go. In the event you push down straight onto the grout the nib shall be ruined faster (see above picture!).
Strive a tester space in a much less seen a part of the room earlier than you begin
Simply in case you don’t prefer it! I examined it below the breakfast bar first.
Don’t fear should you go over the tiles
I typically had a humid flannel that ran over the sting of the tiles and would tidy up after it had initially dried.
I’ve not tried this in a toilet or moist room and can’t say whether or not it’d maintain up – just a few folks on TikTok have stated it’s high-quality; just a few haven’t! It appears much less upholding on ground grout (for apparent causes).
Be certain, when you’ve got completely different tiles like crackle-glaze, that they’re sealed earlier than trying this. Possibly thrice to make sure! You should buy some right here (and we discovered utilizing a mini curler was a very fast and useful manner to do that).
All in all, we’re actually proud of the outcome and it’s precisely what I ‘thought’ our tiles had been going to seem like after we first completed our kitchen. It’s value mentioning that that is clearly freshly finished and I can’t vouch for a way lengthy it lasts – however will in fact share if there are any main flaws. If this was one thing you had been contemplating (or possibly you hadn’t considered it as an choice earlier than!), it’s a very reasonably priced change you possibly can make with out an excessive amount of effort.
See the grout pen in motion on my TikTok residence account
