Masking Tape

• Masking tape is one of the easiest ways to keep the edges clean when you are grouting a project. It also comes in handy if you have an accent strip, for example, in the center of a field of wall tile that needs to have a different color of grout. You can use masking tape to protect the edges where the tile meets the ceiling, for example, or where a tile wall terminates against a painted surface or baseboard trim. After the grout has hardened, you can remove the tape for a straight, clean edge of grout.
  
  

Clean Water

• One of the most important tips to any grout project is clean water. Rough-washing the tile during the initial cleaning phase will dirty the water quickly due to the excess sand and cement pulled off the surface of the tile, but once you have removed this majority, you need to use clean water for the final wash. The cleaner the water, the less streaks you will have and the less chances of a grout haze remaining once the project has finished curing.
  
  

Pre-sealing

• Pre-sealing natural stones such as slate, travertine or honed marble and granite is one of the easiest ways to help ease the grouting process. If these types of natural stone are not sealed prior to grouting, the porous nature of the stone sucks the water out of the grout more rapidly when compared to sealed tiles, which can make the grouting process significantly harder. The more time you have to grout, the better you can control the overall experience without needing to stress about whether the grout is drying too quickly on the face of the tiles.
  
  

Sponge Quality

• One of the most overlooked aspects of grouting is the quality of the sponge used for cleaning the grout off the face of the tile and smoothing over the grout joints. A ragged, poor-quality sponge leads to excess sand being retained in the sponge, which leads to less grout being removed from the surface of the tile during the cleaning process. The newer the sponge and the better the quality, the better the overall performance will be.