A clean and healthy bathroom is essential for the well-being of your household members. But bathrooms are also a seedbed for mold due to moisture and prolonged dampness.
Mold doesn’t just look ghastly, but can also stir up health problems throughout your home and damage the bathroom surfaces. But the good thing is that while that black stuff appears too risky to deal with, you can get rid of it using a handful of ingredients available in your home.
In this blog, we will provide six exceptional tips to eliminate mold in your bathroom, so that you can prevent it from coming back and help maintain a fresh, healthy bathroom.
Neutralizing Mold In Your Bathroom: Six Handy Solutions
1. Borax
First of all, let’s begin with borax. Borax has mild fungicidal effects that can kill mold as well as its spores and prevent them from growing back. So, here’s what you are supposed to do.
Open windows for ventilation and wear gloves and glasses, as borax can irritate your eyes and skin. Next, mix ½ cup of borax with 2 quarts of hot water in a spray bottle. Apply the solution over the moldy areas and allow it to sit for some 10-15 minutes.
After that, scrub the area with a stiff brush and pay more focus to grout lines where mold likes to hide. Wrap the process by rinsing the area with clean water and ensuring it dries thoroughly.
2. Bleach
Next to borax, bleach is also a useful option to eliminate mold in your bathroom. Bleach contains Sodium Hypochlorite, which kills mold as well as any stains left behind by it.
Wear protective gloves and glasses to avoid skin contact with bleach, as it often releases fumes. In a spray bottle, mix a solution of 1 cup bleach with 10 cups of water. Spray the solution directly onto the moldy areas and allow it to sit for 15 minutes so the bleach can work on killing the mold.
Once the wait is over, grab a sponge and scrub the moldy part to remove the mold or any stains. Lastly, rinse the area with clean water to remove any residue, and make sure to dry it properly using a clean towel.
3. Distilled White Vinegar
Distilled white vinegar is another handy tool to kill mold. Vinegar is mildly acidic (about 5%), which helps break down the mold. Besides, as per studies, vinegar kills 82% of mold species, making it an effective option to deal with most common bathroom molds.
Additionally, it is safe to use with pets and kids around. So, start by pouring undiluted distilled white vinegar into a spray bottle and sprinkle it onto the moldy surfaces of your bathroom.
Let the vinegar sit for at least an hour so that it can seep into the mold and break it down. An hour later, use a scrub brush and scrub the mold to remove it. If the mold is too stubborn to wipe, feel free to repeat the process.
Finally, rinse the area with warm water to remove any mold or vinegar residue and ensure drying the area thoroughly.
4. Baking Soda With Vinegar
The powerful combination of vinegar and baking soda is another effective and natural method to remove mold in your bathroom. Vinegar, with its acidic properties, helps kill mold. On the other hand, baking soda, with its antifungal elements, helps absorb moisture and prevent mold growth.
There are two approaches to using this solution depending on where the mold has appeared. First, let’s discuss tile surfaces.
- Generously spray vinegar on the mold area and let it sit for half an hour.
- Now, sprinkle baking soda powder over the vinegar and use a scrub brush or sponge to scrub the mold and create a foam that helps loosen the mold.
- And lastly, rinse the surface thoroughly with clean water and dry it completely with a clean cloth.
For Grout Lines:
- Directly apply baking soda over the moldy grout lines.
- Carefully spray the vinegar on the baking soda paste. It will fizz as the vinegar reacts with the baking soda and seeps into the grout.
- Allow the mixture to sit for an hour or two before scrubbing the grout lines with a grout brush. Rinse the area with cool water and dry it completely with a clean cloth.
5. Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide has strong oxidizing agents that can destroy mold and its spores, eventually disrupting their growth. Most importantly, it is safe to use on various bathroom surfaces like tile, grout, porcelain, and laminate.
Use 3% hydrogen peroxide and pour it into a spray bottle. Spray it onto the mold and ensure you saturate it enough. Let it sit for some ten minutes. You’ll likely see bubbling, which is a good sign that the solution is working.
After that, scrub the area with a stiff brush to loosen the mold. In the end, rinse properly with clean water and pat dry the surface with fresh towels.
6. Steam Cleaning
The high temperature of steam (around 200°F to 310°F) effectively kills mold spores on the surfaces. Steam cleaning also helps you seep into tiny cracks and crevices where mold spores hide. This makes it an ideal option to destroy mold to its core and ensures leaving no trace of it behind.
Therefore, use a steam cleaner with a nozzle attachment to direct the steam jet onto the moldy spots. Pull on the trigger, hold it close, and move the steam machine in a back-and-forth motion slowly.
Pay extra attention to areas like grout lines between tiles, corners, and around fixtures where mold tends to gather. While the steam is still hot, use a stiff brush or microfiber cloth to scrub the loosened mold.
Wipe away the loosened mold and debris with a damp cloth. After cleaning, dry the entire area with a clean cloth to prevent mold from coming.
You can also read: How To Eliminate Water Stains From The Carpet?
So That’s A Wrap!
The bathroom is often damp, making it an ideal place for mold to grow, breed, and thrive. Even though its presence might be common, it is not something to ignore for long. Therefore, with a little effort and the right cleaning solutions, you can effectively eliminate mold in your bathroom.
However, if the mold is too tough to banish or let’s consider the solutions do not yield your expected results, you can always get in touch with professionals at PNW Restoration.
They offer the finest services to identify and remove mold from its source using advanced mold-detecting and neutralizing equipment, ensuring you have a safe and healthy environment for your family.
