How to Get Drywall Dust Off of Grout

Putty Knife

• The thickest layers of drywall compound leave behind a hardened clump of texture, which is formed out of the drywall dust, or powder, and water. Thankfully, all drywall compounds are water-soluble, but for the thickest areas, you first need to scrape the majority of the texture off the face of the tile and the top of the grout joint to reveal the grout joint itself. Use only minimal pressure as you scrape with the putty knife to avoid damaging the face of the tile.

Water and Sponge

• Slight coverage of dust on the grout joint is removed with water and a sponge. Wet down the grout joint with a damp sponge and gently scrub the surface to remove the dust from the joint. Make multiple passes if necessary to clean the dust from the face of the grout joint. For new installations, wait at least two weeks before using water on top of the grout joints to avoid discoloring the joints with too much water.

Scrub Brush

• A scrub brush is the next step if a sponge isn’t enough to clean the dust. Soak the hardened dust in water and then scrub vigorously to remove the dust from the grout joint. Wipe up any final residue with a clean, damp sponge. For large-scale areas where excess mess was created, use a floor cleaning machine with a scrub pad on the bottom of it. Guide the machine with both of your hands while walking behind it and scrub the entire floor, then mop up the residue when finished.

Considerations

• Typical drywall dust comes off easily with water, and thus you can always just keep soaking an area to remove the dust if an initial pass is not sufficient. Drywall dust and texture, as a general rule, does not stain grout because the grout is generally hardened and cured before the drywall is applied, so even if some texture falls onto the grout joint, it does not actually discolor the joint. Plus, joint compound does not generally have dye included in the mixture, so there are no colors to stain the grout. Exceptions to this rule are in cases of fresh installations when, for example, fresh texture falls onto grout joints that are within the first two weeks of curing and the two moist compounds cure together, leaving a discolored grout joint. This discoloration is not from dye, but from different levels of water saturation and curing. In these cases, removing the grout and regrouting the area is the only solution to remove the discoloration.