Comments on: Something growing in my shower

Question: Something growing in my shower

exhilaration — Tue, 10 May 2005 20:28:09 -0800

I just moved in with a couple of friends, and there's this stuff growing in the shower... here are two pictures: pic1, pic2. Can anyone tell me what it is, how do I get rid of it, and can I keep it from returning?

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Tue, 10 May 2005 20:32:20 -0800

Looks like mold. Put some bleach into a spray bottle and go to town. To prevent its return, install some kind of air circulation in the bathroom.

By: nathan_teske

nathan_teske — Tue, 10 May 2005 20:32:53 -0800

That's just nasty.... mild bleach solution and elbow grease.

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Tue, 10 May 2005 20:32:58 -0800

mildew. scrubbing with a stiff brush and your favorite cleanser. scrubbing with a stiff brush and your favorite cleanser quickly once a week.

By: Carbolic

Carbolic — Tue, 10 May 2005 20:55:28 -0800

How have you gone thru life without coming into contact with mildew before? I'm really interested. (Having grown up in New Orleans my view of the prevalence of mold and mildew may be skewed.)

As far as getting rid of it - clorox, clorox, clorox diluted in a spray bottle.

By: angry modem

angry modem — Tue, 10 May 2005 20:56:30 -0800

You may find instructing your roommates on a reasonable cleaning schedule more effective in the long run.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Tue, 10 May 2005 21:15:10 -0800

oh man, thats a baaaad case of mold. it also looks like you have a fair amount of rotted wood and/or drywall. You're going to want to rip that out and replace it, maybe with something a little more mold resistant, i.e. plastic.

Mold is caused by water getting where it shouldn't be, or just moisture. Since yours is right by the shower, you could work on not getting water there, and maybe improving the ventalation in the bathroom. Oh yeah, and bleach bleach bleach, like everyone says.

Most mold found in homes is harmless unless you're allergic to it, but there is also the deadly "BLACK MOLD", which is more rare, i believe.

oh also, get some tilex on that shower door dude, that's nasty. :)

By: wsg

wsg — Tue, 10 May 2005 22:24:21 -0800

I'd say hazmat team.

By: bh

bh — Tue, 10 May 2005 22:24:48 -0800

Don't dilute the bleach. It's cheap. Fill a spray bottle with it, hold your breath, go to town. Exit when you need some air. Come back and do it again. Eye protection might be a good idea, too.

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Tue, 10 May 2005 22:35:58 -0800

Dilute the bleach. One part to three parts water. Even that will eat your skin.

By: bh

bh — Tue, 10 May 2005 22:44:26 -0800

wgp - What kind of bleach are you using that will eat your skin? And where can I get some?

By: sbutler

sbutler — Tue, 10 May 2005 22:46:00 -0800

I let my shower go and it had some good mildew on it (hey, I shower without my contacts in... leave me alone). Anways, I finally got tired of it and picked up some Lysol Mildew Remover (with BLEACH^tm). Wow... I love this stuff. Squirt it on, walk away for 5 - 10 minutes, come back, scrub a bit and your shower is clean. Caustic as all hell though.

Probably mostly the same as the bleach suggestions above, but it has a better scent :).

By: bh

bh — Tue, 10 May 2005 22:52:59 -0800

I don't have a bottle handy, but I think the Lysol Mildew Remover is just bleach with added fragrance.

By: hortense

hortense — Tue, 10 May 2005 22:53:07 -0800

after the bleach you need to paint. buy one ounce of tea tree oil and mix it with a quart of latex enamel this mixture impedes the growth of mildews ,worked great on my Morro Bay Ca.bathroom ceiling.

By: Marky

Marky — Tue, 10 May 2005 23:35:03 -0800

I second everyones diluted bleach suggestions, but... WEAR GLOVES!

By: Clay201

Clay201 — Wed, 11 May 2005 02:12:15 -0800

Once it has been sprayed on, be sure to let the bleach sit for a bit (maybe fifteen minutes or so). Maybe I've been imagining things, but it seems that when I spray it on and leave it.. at five minutes, the mildew is reduced in square footage... at ten minutes, it's downright anemic... and at fifteen minutes, it's gone. That's with no wiping or scrubbing at all. And also, it seems to work better on horizontal surfaces where the bleach can truly sit and hang out for a while. It works less well on vertical surfaces where, due to that pesky gravity thing, the bleach doesn't stay where I spray it.

And oh yeah... this is straight, one hundred percent clorox bleach. But for the love of god, if you're gonna use this stuff, open all the windows, turn on all the fans, and maybe even wear one of those disposable face mask thingies. And wear clothes you really don't care about. Even a tiny bit of bleach will create ugly brown splotches on your clothes. (Unless the clothes in question are all white).

Good luck

By: kc0dxh

kc0dxh — Wed, 11 May 2005 12:37:06 -0800

Everyone has told you to use bleach to get it off. No one has mentioned how to get the bleach off. Rinse with vinegar to remove the bleach. You can also put vinegar into a spray bottle and apply once per week to keep the mildew from establishing again. Vinegar is, of course, much less harmful than bleach.

By: PurplePorpoise

PurplePorpoise — Wed, 11 May 2005 13:18:31 -0800

If you can get your hands on it, "Scrubbing Bubbles" kicks ass - takes care of mildew + any other crap that might accumulate.

To prevent/delay the return of the killer mildew, leave a squeegie in the shower - when you're done, squeegie down the walls/ceiling. If you're lazy you can get a bottle of tilex something-or-the-other that you can spray when you're done in the shower (it's just isopropanol, a little SDS (detergent), and EDTA (a chelator - sucks the metal ions away, prevents some microorganisms from growing/sticking to surfaces) and water).

By: kindall

kindall — Wed, 11 May 2005 16:48:12 -0800

DO NOT get bleach anywhere near ammonia. In fact keep it away from any other cleaning products, you never know what they might contain. Free chlorine is NASTY stuff and the gases that result from mixing it with many common household chemicals can kill you.

By: thedevildancedlightly

thedevildancedlightly — Wed, 11 May 2005 17:04:45 -0800

Lots of light helps to prevent mildew from activating - install a bright light and leave it on after you shower until the room is dry. By "bright" I mean "bright", not a weak shower light. Makes a huge difference in how fast mildew comes back. Mold is not affected as much.

I fought the law, but the law won.