Mold in the bathroom is generally not harmful to your health unless you have a weakened immune system or suffer from an allergy. The bad news is: That doesn’t make the fungal spores any nicer. Quite the opposite – most people are downright disgusted by the black coating that prefers to spread unhindered on the joints between the tiles. If you do nothing about it, you can assume that the mold will take over the entire wet room and spread a musty smell. In addition, large infested areas certainly pose a health risk. Either way, you can’t avoid removing the fungal spores and preventing re-infestation.
A tried and tested home remedy that can help in many situations is vinegar. The advantage is clearly that you can use it to fight the mold – but not the spores themselves. In plain language, this means: You can certainly remove a superficial infestation with diluted vinegar, but if it has already eaten into the silicone, you don’t have any Chance.
Denatured alcohol can also be found in many households. This is a cheap version of drinking alcohol, which is not suitable for consumption – but is suitable for (short-term) combating of mold on all surfaces. It’s best to apply the alcohol to the affected areas with a cloth and work on them until they fade. However, in the long term the stains return.
And hydrogen peroxide can also be used to remove mold stains. The effect is the same as at the hairdresser: Apply the diluted solution (three percent is sufficient) to the affected joints and leave it to act for 30 minutes. The hydrogen peroxide causes the fungal spores to die and the stains to be bleached.
Cleaning products that contain chlorine have proven to be the best way to combat mold in the bathroom. Since they are particularly aggressive against fungal spores, they are also extremely harmful to human health. The strong smell in particular is a kind of warning signal that is intended to tell you not to inhale the fumes, as they severely irritate the respiratory tract. Therefore, you should only use a cleaning product containing chlorine in well-ventilated rooms – then you can see how the mold is combated effectively and in the long term.
!!Warning!! Never use this with other acidic cleaning agents, as highly toxic chlorine gas may be released!
Alternatively, you can also use cleaning products that contain the active ingredient benzalkonium chloride. You may have to scrub the moldy areas much longer and harder, but you won’t endanger your health – or the environment. And the best thing about it is: the effect is at least as good if you’ve done everything right.
If silicone joints are so moldy that the spores have eaten into the material, even the use of chemicals will no longer be of any use to you. Here you should remove the old silicone and have your joints redone. It is recommended to use special sanitary silicone that contains fungi-killing substances (fungicides) and thus prevents new infestations.
We have always been used to the walls in the bathroom being largely covered with tiles. But is that even necessary? The fact is that the small panels are easy to clean and water-repellent – but the joints are not. And that’s exactly why mold in the bathroom likes to spread there. So why tile the entire walls for a lot of money when there are enough areas that don’t get splashed. It is advisable to use lime plaster here. It has the so-called blotter effect, which means: If a lot of water vapor arises in the bathroom, for example when showering, the plaster absorbs the steam. This means that less water automatically settles on the other surfaces, which significantly reduces the risk of mold. Apart from that, the plaster dries very quickly, which is also a big advantage.
So that you don’t have to worry about how best to remove mold in the bathroom, you can take preventative measures such as:
Ventilate regularly: Since the warm, humid climate in the bathroom paves the way for mold spores, you have to ventilate the room several times a day – but especially after bathing or showering. Instead of just tilting the window, you should open it completely for five to ten minutes, as regular shock ventilation has been proven to be more effective and economical. Even if you don’t shower on a day, ventilation is essential because the damp towels also distribute water vapor in the bathroom.
Keep the doors closed: In many households, the bathroom door is left wide open after showering to quickly expel moisture from the room. This works, but it is distributed throughout the rest of the apartment. If you are also struggling with mold growth in one place or another (e.g. the windows), this option is definitely not a good choice. So it’s better to keep the door closed while ventilating the bathroom.
Heat in the bathroom: Since the moist air condenses particularly quickly in cold places, the room should be heated continuously, especially in autumn and winter. This doesn’t mean that you should set the radiator to the highest level, but rather that the bathroom should always be between 21 and 23 degrees Celsius. Warm air can absorb moisture better – but only if it can reach all places. For this reason, radiators should always be freestanding.
Spread out the shower curtain: Many people have the habit of closing the curtain after showering – this means it can only dry very slowly and provides a perfect breeding ground for mold. To ensure that the spores do not adhere to it, the curtain should always be spread out until it dries. In addition, most models these days are machine washable, so you can thoroughly clean the material every now and then. You can find suitable models here.
Dry the walls: Since mold in the bathroom primarily spreads between the tiles, or more precisely on the joints, you should remove the walls after showering – this will help the tiles dry faster and less moisture will collect on the joints. Although this may seem annoying, with a shower squeegee the process takes less than five minutes. You actually always have enough time.
When temperatures drop, more condensation collects on the window in the bathroom (and sometimes in other rooms too). This is primarily due to the fact that it is very warm inside and very cold outside. If you are tired of wiping the glass dry with a towel every morning, you can, for example, use a window vacuum cleaner (e.g. from Kärcher) – with the suction nozzles you can easily remove the water from every window, and you can also You can also use the device to clean the windows if you use the spray bottle with the microfiber cover.
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