Cleaning up black gunk

October 11, 2012 2:43 AM

I have black gunk growing in my stainless steel sink, also different black gunk on my plastic bath mat. What cleaning products and procedures do you advise?
posted by Surprised By Bees to Home & Garden (16 answers total)

A mild bleach solution, or a bleach-based spray cleaner like Tilex. In the sink you can probably just put in a stopper, fill with hot water, add half a cup or so of bleach and let it sit for 20 minutes or so before pulling the plug.
posted by jon1270 at 2:59 AM on October 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Is the plastic bath mat one you put into the bottom of the bath so you don't slip over? If so, I usually soak those in the bath in a couple of inches of water and a splash of bleach, then put on rubber gloves and scrub the blackness off with an old toothbrush.

For the future, you'll get much less buildup if you pull it out of the bath after each use, turn it over so the suckers are facing upwards, and drape it over the side of the bath to dry. The black gunk is mould.
posted by Georgina at 3:29 AM on October 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Bon Ami (a mild abrasive) is great for stainless steel sinks.
posted by agentmitten at 4:13 AM on October 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Barkeeper's Friend is another great stainless steel cleaner. I use it on my pots and pans.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:21 AM on October 11, 2012 [3 favorites]

Thirding a bleach solution.
posted by pmurray63 at 4:36 AM on October 11, 2012

You definitely don't want to use bleach to clean stainless steel - it can cause discoloration (oxidation) and pitting.

Seconding Barkeeper's Friend for stainless cleaning - it's amazing. Bon Ami is good too -- both are mild abrasives -- but BKF contains oxalic acid which will remove oxidation (caused by bleach and other chemicals) and restore stainless steel's "stainless" nature. Citric acid will work too.

More details on stainless steel passivation here.
posted by sriracha at 4:40 AM on October 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

You could always try a baking soda or white vinegar solution if you're looking for a mild/eco friendly method.
posted by BoyBlunder85 at 4:53 AM on October 11, 2012

I'd bleach solution once -- and then use a vinegar/water solution regularly for maintenance. I read once that vinegar is better than bleach for keeping mold out of the bath.
posted by vitabellosi at 6:15 AM on October 11, 2012

Vinegar kills mold pretty well and gets stainless steel nice and shiny. I've also had good luck using Soft Scrub (the variety without bleach) on my stainless steel sink.

I would use a bleach solution on the bath mat, like everyone else says.
posted by BlueJae at 7:08 AM on October 11, 2012

No matter what cleaner you use, when start to notice the dark gunk around the sink fixtures, I use the NOT FOR VEGETABLES vegetable brush (cheapy IKEA one) that I keep for grime-cleaning purposes.
Paper towels never get in there enough and the thought of using a sponge kind of grosses me out. You can boil most brushes if you don't have a dishwasher.
posted by cobaltnine at 7:24 AM on October 11, 2012

Aggressive brushing can remove the caulking around your bath, so I would first try soaking the area in something like Tilex for a few hours to see if that takes care of the problem. It worked for me.
posted by Dragonness at 8:52 AM on October 11, 2012

Clorox Cleanup spray will work for killing the black gunk on both. Once you've killed the mold with Cleanup on your bath mat, you can throw it in the washer with a towel load once in a while to keep it fresh. Air dry.

Then to get a killer shine on that stainless sink, you'll want to work it over like the pros - three stage process.

First, pull on your rubber gloves, then:

1) Spray Clorox Cleanup on the sink first, then spray Scrubbing Bubbles right over it. Let sit for about 3 minutes. Wipe down with the scrubber side of a scrubber sponge. Be sure to clean around and behind the faucet and hot and cold water handles. DO NOT RINSE WITH WATER.
2) Wipe down with Clorox wipes or Kirkland wipes if you have a Costco near you.
3) After wiping down with Clorox or Kirkland wipes, wipe down the remaining residue by spraying Windex and then wiping down with paper towels. Do this once a week and your stainless sink will always shine.
posted by Lynsey at 9:21 AM on October 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

In the short term, any of the solutions listed above will work. In the long term, you need to make sure your bathroom is better ventilated so that it is less damp. It is almost impossible to fully eliminate mold because the spores are so hardy and ubiquitous: the key to long-term resolution is to create a hostile environment that prevents it from flourishing.

Also, try to be more aware of instances where you wake up in the morning with a headache, dizziness, or have difficulty breathing - all of those can be caused by mold spores.
posted by wolfdreams01 at 11:49 AM on October 11, 2012

Obligatory warning: do NOT mix cleaning products with bleach (like Clorox) and ammonia (like Windex). It can cause a dangerous reaction. Check the labels of cleaners you are using.
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:33 PM on October 11, 2012

No offense intended, but Lynsey's process seems unnecessarily complicated. I would just scrub with Barkeeper's Friend. That stuff works really well on stainless.
posted by Quiscale at 3:34 PM on October 11, 2012

Response by poster: Thanks so much you guys!
posted by Surprised By Bees at 7:04 PM on October 11, 2012