Is your bathroom getting moldy?
Mold is a microscopic fungus that grows naturally on decaying vegetation under humid conditions. It propagates itself by releasing spores (approximately the same as seeds) into the immediate atmosphere, where they drift along until they settle in a humid place. A bathroom is the perfect environment for mold to grow. You have humid conditions (hot showers) and a lack of ventilation (small windows and an exhaust fan you never use).
How to Tell If You’ve got Mold
At first sight, new mold looks like a dirty stain that someone’s spilled. It could be in designer colors of pink, brown or black. Mold comes in all forms and colors. It will gradually spread and start leaving a musty sour odor on your clothes and furniture, and in your cupboards too.
An experienced bathroom remodeling contractor will be vital to help with your bathroom issues. We found a great bathroom remodeling contractor in Sunnyvale that was able to bring our bathroom back to life.
Discouraging Mold
The general trick is to prevent your bathroom from seeming like a tropical forest full of things that mold just loves. Here’s how to go about it:
Get Rid of Clutter – The first victims are going to be your precious pot plants because having them in your bathroom is as good as hanging out a welcome sign for mold. Your next step is to get rid of all your unnecessary bric-a-brac unless you really have to have some. Finally put out the towels to dry somewhere else, before they start smelling musty too.
Create Less Humidity – Hot baths and showers are debilitating and unhealthy. What’s the point of washing yourself when you’re already sweating before you’ve finished. Try taking cooler baths and showers. You’ll be amazed at how cleaner and more refreshed you feel afterwards. If you can’t live without a hot shower, be sure to properly ventilate the bathroom after so that the humid air doesn’t sit there.
Improve Air Circulation – Mold loathes fresh air. Install a suitably-sized extraction fan to ventilate the shower, and make sure the windows are open when you bathe. If you don’t, then the humidity’s going to settle everywhere, including in inaccessible areas where you can’t see it developing. If you have a bathroom without windows, then you most likely have an exhaust fan. People hate to use these for some reason, it uses very little electricity and can save you the headache of a moldy bathroom if you use it regularly.
Dry Off Wet Surfaces Afterwards – Mold only grows in grout because we let damp linger there. You’ll soon spot where you’re not drying properly, because that’s where the mold will start. Your bathroom will look bright again, and you’ll have less cleaning to do.
Turn on The Lights – Now you have your sparkling bathroom back, you’ll want to leave the lights on so you can admire it regularly. The good news is that you’ll be inhibiting mold as you do so, because the fungus detests bright illumination.
Getting Rid of Mold
It’s pointless trying to wipe mold away because the individual fungi are so small that you can’t see them. Besides, you’re helping spores to propagate. To get rid of mold you have to kill it. You could use a proprietary mold cleaner. However you’ll get similar results with a 50:50 chlorine bleach solution and an atomizer. If you follow up with a weekly dose of sprayed neat vinegar, it most likely won’t come back again. If you suspect mold starting to grow in inaccessible areas, such as behind the walls, then you may want to consider calling in a mold removal specialist as mold tends to grow if left untreated.
