The white grout on my bathroom floor was beautiful — at first.But wow, does it pick up stains quickly. I can’t just keep up with the requisite scrubbing to prevent dirt, body oils, and other standard lavatory gunk from gaining a foothold in this pearly yet porous cement. So, on almost any given day, there’s at least a touch of an orange-brown hue, sometimes with a hint of gray mixed in.In my many attempts to restore my grout to its former glory, I’ve tried several store-bought sprays and even some DIY recipes. They’ve all helped, but none have quite gotten it back to its original alabaster finish.Toilet bowl cleaner, though — that stuff really works.My inspiration came from TikTok, where I was served up a few clips of people squirting the inexpensive goop into their grout lines, with striking results. So I gave it a shot.In about 20 minutes — including the application, soaking time, gentle scrubbing, and cleanup — my previously grubby grout looked much closer to its initial pearly shade. It’s still not quite pure white, but at least it’s a consistent color across the parts of the floor I see most often, since the grimier, high-traffic sections aren’t as noticeable.Was this a good idea? Well, none of the experts I asked after the fact thought so. One representative from a major grout company laughed in disbelief at hearing that anyone had thought to try it.But hear me out: Popular toilet gels often use the same active ingredients as grout sprays, and in the same concentrations. So chemically speaking, they do the same job. I’m convinced that toilet bowl cleaner can actually be fine for an occasional deep-cleaning — or at least no worse than most of the harsh grout sprays you can find in most supermarkets and home improvement stores.There’s still reason to be cautious, especially with acid-based formulas (like Lysol Power Clinging Gel, the star of the TikTok trend). But it’s not the worst cleaning hack in the history of the internet. Use with caution when cleaning groutClorox Rain Clean Toilet Bowl Cleaner BleachThis bleach-based toilet bowl cleaner has the same active ingredients as most mold-and-mildew grout sprays. This formula is strong enough to lighten stains yet relatively grout-safe.$6 from Target