Dear Readers, we went to the Dark Side.
You may recall that about a month ago we wrote about our moldy shower dilemma. We'd tried vinegar, borax, non-chlorine bleach, and Ecover Cream Scrub. We also tried baking soda, lemon juice, hydrogen peroxide, and grapefruit seed extract. All to no avail.
Jump to a day or two before our landlord began showing the apartment to prospective tenants.
We panicked, and in that panic, we ignored the fact that years ago we became very ill after using bleach as a cleaner -- the reason we use green cleaners now. We borrowed some Tilex and Comet, and along with a bottle of Windex for the glass doors, we tackled the shower. No, we didn't mix these products, we used them at separate times. And yes, they worked. But we ended up sick. And we're going back to the Land of Green Cleaners.
(Oh, and after we moved out, we used Emma's Eco-Clean. They did a much better job than we did.)
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I find plain ol' bleach out of the bottle in a well ventilated area to be much much less irritating than those products like tilex or 409 that are filled with all the perfumes and all kinds of other stuff. And nothing kills mold like straight bleach diluted with water! Powder cleaners like Bon Ami and Comet don't aerate it all into the air as much as a spray will, either.
I bought some Moldzyme natural enzyme killer and have been seeing some results! The closet with the water heater has black mold, and the moldzyme has reduced it a bit, even though I didn't follow all the directions. I just sprayed it a couple times, but haven't scrubbed it clean. http://www.zymoco.com/Products/MoldZyme/tabid/189/Default.aspx
I don't know if anyone has discovered how amazing Comet Spray is, but it truly is the best cleaner (although the stinkiest) I've ever used. My sister in law lived in the country, and their water had a lot of sulphur in it and would leave yellow deposits in her toilet, sinks and tub. The Comet Spray was the only thing that got it off. Sadly, not eco-friendly at all, but good for the desperate times...
after you use the shower dry it off with a towel or other absorbant cloth.
Anyone else have any luck with a steam cleaner, like a Scunci? I haven't had mold in my tub yet (crossing my finger) but it's great if I accidentally get a moldy spot under the veggie drawer in my fridge, and worked like a charm on the ancient, old built-in wood cutting board in my rental apartment. Now I can chop with glee, clean it each time, and every once in a while it gets a thorough cleaning with my Scunci.
It seems great on old, worn-in dirt. The blowing/steamy action gets in there, and following up with a paper towel is effective. Perhaps a combo of the steam cleaner with a scrubber brush & Bon Ami?
My grandmother always had a squeegee in her shower. My mother seems to have found a white one (probably this:
http://www.thecleanteam.com/productdetail.cfm?id=3003 )
That plus one of those super-absorbant wonder towels (she got a lavender one from Trader Joes) that wrings out completely, and she actually dries the shower after she uses it. I'm not as zealous, and (shocker) my shower tends to be a bit moldier.
For that, though, you need a fresh start. And you do want the mold dead (Bleach will do that: dilute in a spray bottle, spray, leave. Later, rinse/scrub down, repeat. Don't use the spray bottle for ironing water later.)
Once, I moved into a room with an actual fluted fungus thing growing in the shower. It would have been beautiful if I wasn't so overwhelmed by how filthy it was. While my roommate was tackling the shower stall, I began scrubbing the sink and discovered, much to my surprise, that it was blue and not grey.
Slightly diluted tea tree oil works wonders too (coupled with some elbow grease for stubborn spots). Seems to be the locals' favorite secret trick here in Marin. Typically others go with a 50/50 dilution with water, but I use a bit more tea tree oil in the mix to act as a deterrent (hasn't returned). Good luck!
I just checked my window frames and found mold.
Thank you for writing about this!
Sealing your tile grout will inhibit mold from growing in between your tiles. You can find grout sealer at your local hardware store. Grout should be sealed when the tile is first installed, but it needs to be renewed if the sealant has worn off.
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