Smartseal Grout Magic – Dark Brown, 20ml – Professional Reviver & Colour Restorer – Long-Lasting Sealer Superior to Grout Pens & Paint – 15-Year Durability

I used the light brown version of this grout restorer and have to say, the colour match was spot on. It blended really well with the existing grout and instantly made the tiled area look fresher and much cleaner. The product itself works well and gives a more even, professional-looking finish compared to standard grout pens. It also seems quite durable once applied, which is reassuring. That said, it’s definitely not a quick job — especially if you’re doing a whole room. Because it’s quite precise work, it takes a bit of time and patience to apply properly. Worth it for the end result, but something to be aware of before starting. Overall, really pleased with how it looks, just be prepared to set aside some time to get through it all.

The product absolutely works and you can get a good finish, but how it comes out is completely down to your preparation, method, and how good the grout has been done in the first place. Firstly, you need to clean the grout thoroughly, if there's any grease on the kitchen grout or slime on the bathroom grout then it will not penetrate and will come off when you rub off the excess. As someone else in the reviews has said, a wire brush (I used a firm toothbrush) is a good idea, a scourer at least. Secondly, the instructions say that you can remove the excess immediately but I haven't found that to be the case. It needs a good 45 minutes to an hour to soak into the grout, and at least two coats. Lastly, and this likely only relates to darker colours; if your grout is poorly done (as mine was) then making the colour darker show up the poor workmanship. Excess grout on the tiles will show way more and uneven tiles will become more apparent. If you're doing white on white then you should be fine. A decent product, but needs to come with MUCH better instructions and support - a guide video would do the trick.

Really impressed with this product. Our kitchen tile grout was very old and had gone almost totally black in places, it looked awful and felt like it was never clean, despite scrubbing and bleaching. This product has made the grout look new and the floor so much cleaner. It's been nearly a year since we used it and it still looks perfect. It isn't difficult to use, but it does take a LOT of work across a large area, so be ready for that... But it is worth it! We bought a stiff bristled paint brush that was the width of our grout lines to apply it, which worked really well. Wiped off the tiles as we went. You don't need a lot - it looks better if you use as little as possible and really work it into the grout with the stiff bristles. We used the brand's grout cleaner to prep before applying and I think it made a difference. Basically, it's a whole lot of work to do and my back hated the process but the result is excellent! Wish we had done it sooner.

Video made this product look easy to use. IT IS NOT! comes off the grout easier than it comes off the tiles! It says leave 15-30 minutes and then wipe off the excess….. I tried this, it wasn’t coming off my tiles so I had to scrub it off…. But that made it come off the grout but still be all over my tiles. Then as it was coming off it made the product all ‘bitty’ like rubber glue…. And it moves around and dries leaving ‘bits’ all over my tiles and and my bath. Nightmare product and it’s expensive for such a small tube. Would not recommend

Ok, so when I grouted the tiles on the chimney breast in our kitchen, I totally should have used grey grout. Years later, with steam and fat splashes and grease, they began to look decidedly yellow. So I thought I’d get some grout paint and try to cover up the ugly. I plumped for this one. So - product-wise, it does the job and does it very well. It’s a bit thick going on (a little like that undiluted child’s poster paint in litre bottles). It is also VERY unforgiving if you don’t have a 100% steady hand and a very small brush. I sprayed on the cleaning solution (they are very prescriptive about PPE and it is quite pungent) but that didn’t touch the years of grease that had soaked into the grout. In the end I had to painstakingly use washing up liquid and hot water, with a tooth brush. Took me ages but it worked. I tried using a tooth brush to paint, to start with, hoping to wipe off the excess, but this wastes a lot of paint and it ain’t cheap. Also it flicks the paint everywhere. So I eventually bought some artist sable brushes and used those, which seemed to do the job ok, but again took me back to my days of painting lead figures for Dungeons and Dragons. I had to water the paint down (yes with water which works just fine) and this made the job a bit easier but it was my prep that let me down. Here’s my tips. If your grout is the least bit greasy, this paint will run off like a child at a funfair. If when you grouted, you were (like me) a bit liberal with where the grout went, then tidy it up first. This paint sticks to grout like a mother to a child who just ran off at a funfair. If your lines aren’t straight in the grout then this will show up every mistake. Don’t go ‘liberal and wipe off’ - take your time, the effort will pay off. Make sure your grout is grease free (and dry - it needs to soak in). Use a good detergent - the cleaning fluid is useless. Make sure your grout lines are clean and true. Use a small, good quality brush and take your time. You will either end up with something looking really nice, or something looking really nice from a distance. The paint will not be to blame if it’s the latter.

This is a very good paint but I ordered the ivory and unfortunately Its more of a pale yellow against my tiles.

So easy to use. Made the grout come up like new. Had a friend try and tell me it wouldn't work that well, and they were amazed how good it looked and how easy it was. Did the kitchen first 2 years ago and still looks brilliant. I did dark grey straight over white. No pretreatment. Just a quick clean, let it dry and then painted on, not perfect, wiped off and it looks like it has been newly re-grouted. Full kitchen took less than half a day!!

I brought this product to try to cover up the shading of the grout of a recent (4 weeks) bathroom retile, I followed instructions, used a spray bottle to wet and a new clean cloth after 15 minutes to remove the excess from the tiles. Very difficult to remove even though the instructions state it can be left for up to 60 minutes and the the water started leaving runs in the paint on the grout and also wiping was removing some of the paint from the grout as well. I had to persevere as i had already begun so I started on the next wall which was dry and clean, i painted the grout and left to dry buffing away the excess with a microfibre cloth, very laborious and the grout now has a semi sheen or satin sort of finish which i did not expect and do not like. Very disappointed, i would only use this product if raking out and re grouting is not an option which is what i will now have to do.