I bought some EdFred shower cleaner after seeing a video which was linked on a similar thread. It did the job on the shower and I also had read that it cleaned grout. I put it directly on the grout lines, used a small brush to brush it in, wiped up with a towel and when it dried the grout was like new. It's biodegradable (but I still wore vinyl gloves). No effort at all to clean up miserable-looking grout lines in our kitchen in front of the sink and cooktop. Worth every penny (shipping was more than the 16 oz. bottle). I'll be using it from now on. Here is a link that might be useful: Easily cleans grout

Ceramic tile is a mixture of clays and other natural materials. The special clays are mined from the earth, shaped, colored and than fired in kilns. Traditional ceramic tile can be naturally colored and left unglazed like terra cotta, or they can feature colored or highly designed surfaces which can be glazed (finished with a glass surface) either in a high gloss or matte finish. Most ceramic tile has either a white or red body coloration underneath the glazed, colored top layer. Glazed porcelain has a body made of the porcelain material and then a glaze is applied over the surface much like a regular ceramic tile Porcelain tile is a newer form of ceramic tile and extremly popular among homeowners. Porcelain tiles are composed of fine porcelain clays and fired at much higher temperatures than ceramic tiles. This process makes porcelain tile more dense, less porous, much harder and less prone to moisture and stain absorption than ceramic tiles. For these reasons, most porcelain tiles are suitable for both indoor and outdoor installations. Porcelain tiles are also harder to cut due to their density and hardness. For other information you can check this site Ciciliot

I had the same dilemna. I have golden oak floors throughout the rest of the house, but I wanted a darker floor in the kitchen. I would have loved an rustic, wide plank wood floor. This floor would not have matched the floors in the rest of the house and I was warned that the transitions from one floor to the other would not look so good by the saddles. In the end, I decided to go with the wood look tile because it works better with radiant heat than wood. I am so glad we did. Between the children and dog it was a good choice for us. I still have to stain the saddles at the two doorways that lead out of the kitchen, but it will be fine. If I used any floor other than golden oak, I would have the transition issue anyway. Love my tile floor! So easy to maintain.

We have glass tile behind our Wolf range and so far...(hate to jinx myself!). We were assured by Artistic Tile that the tile was perfectly safe for use behind a pro-style range. It cleans up easily (it's non-porous) which is a big plus, too. I will say, that we noticed the very slightest discoloration of either the grout, the thinset, or the tile (the paint on the back of the tiles, I'd guess) right near the top of the island trim on the range. If it remains as is, that's fine (it's faint). If it happens to worsen over time to the point of looking truly noticeable and bad, we'll consider swapping out the island trim for a higher riser (which will then scorch and look bad on its own!).