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This document gives advice on how to remove & prevent mold in bathrooms, including bathroom renovation tips - easy details that will help mold-proof your bathroom. This is a chapter of "How to Look for Mold" which describes how to find mold and test for mold in buildings, including how and where to collect mold samples using adhesive tape - an easy, inexpensive, low-tech but very effective mold testing method. (See MOLD TEST KITS for DIY MOLD TESTS for details).

This procedure helps identify the presence of or locate the probable sources of mold reservoirs in buildings, and helps decide which of these need more invasive, exhaustive inspection and testing. © Copyright 2010 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

How to Remove and Prevent Bathroom Mold

How to Clean off mold on tile, grout, or caulk

Small amounts of mold can be removed simply by cleaning or removing infected materials, something most homeowners can handle. Use any household cleaner or bathroom cleaner to clean off mold from tile, grout, or other hard surfaces.

You can use a fungicidal cleaner such as the product shown at left if you like, but any household cleaner, even plain soap and water will do fine. It's the cleaning that is important, not surface infection, when we're removing mold. Preventing future mold growth can be assured more reliably by fixing the conditions that invited it in the first place, rather than by relying on mold killing sprays.

Bleach solution to clean off mold is not necessary - the object is to remove mold, not kill it. But since cleaning off surface mold may leave stains in the tile grout, you might prefer to bleach that surface anyway. If you are going to use bleach to clean mold anyway, perhaps for cosmetic reasons, see MOLD CLEANUP with BLEACH for more advice.

You may find that moldy caulk just won't clean up - you'll need to cut and remove the old moldy caulk, clean the tile or tub surfaces thoroughly (we use alcohol), and re-caulk with a mold-resistant bath caulk. You may read that your bathroom caulk is "mildew resistant" which is funny since there is no mildew in buildings - mildew (a sub group of the larger group of molds) grows on living plants - unless you are growing grapes in the bathroom, it's mold, not mildew. But forgive the sloppy language and buy mildew-resistant caulk anyway.

Guide to Renovating & Improving Bathrooms to Avoid Future Mold Growth

At Bathroom Vanity Cabinet Mold we explained how water running under or behind a bathroom vanity or sink base can cause hidden mold growth on the vanity back, under-side, and on the wall behind the unit. Our two photographs just below show mold that was found on the chipboard vanity base back surface and on the drywall behind the vanity.

The drywall behind the vanity looked bad enough that we explored the wall cavity to be sure that additional demolition above the moldy drywall itself was not needed.

We take these steps to reduce future mold growth in baths:

• Install a high capacity low sone (quiet) bath vent fan, making sure that the fan is properly vented to outdoors and that fan duct condensation will drain outside and not into the ceiling space. See HUMIDITY CONTROL TO PREVENT MOLD
• Install sliding glass tub doors in baths where users are careless with shower curtains (that also grow mold, especially cloth shower curtains) and for people who splash water onto the bath floor
• Seal the un-coated hidden sides of new vanity cabinets, such as the vanity bottom edges, back and under-side before installing the new vanity. We use a spray shellac but any water resistant coating will do. Coating these surfaces reduces their moisture uptake and thus increases mold resistance.
• Caulk the sink vanity to the floor to be sure that spilled water from a shower or tub does not run below the vanity as we explained at Photo Guide to Mold Under Vanity Cabinets. We used clear caulk at the exposed vanity edges where they contacted the floor, extending caulk up the vanity sides as well. Against a white drywall bathroom wall use white polyurethane caulk for better appearance and easy cleanup.
• Caulk the floor trim at floor level - if installing new trim, run a small bead of caulk along the bottom edge of the trim boards before they are nailed in place - you won't see the caulk but you'll keep water out of the wall cavities when it spills onto the floor.
• Clean the tile surfaces after showering - use a squeegee to clean water and soap scum off of tile walls and shower doors - they will look better and you'll be reducing the organic debris on those surfaces, thus reducing mold growth.
• Do not leave very wet towels hung from hooks anywhere; spread them out on towel racks to dry, or put wet towels into the laundry. One of the moldiest closets we found in a home without other leaks was caused by an owner who daily hung his very wet towel on the back of the door to a tiny, clothes-filled closet, closing the door trapping moisture there.
• See CONSTRUCTION DETAILS TO AVOID MOLD for additional details about mold-resistant construction.

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Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

ACTION GUIDE - WHAT TO DO ABOUT INDOOR MOLD
AFTER THE MOLD CLEANUP
ATTIC MOLD
BATHROOM MOLD
  Is Bathroom Mold a Health Risk
  Hidden Mold in Bathrooms
  Bathroom Vanity Cabinet Mold
  Mold Behind Marble Walls
  Remove & Prevent Bathroom Mold
  Clean off mold on tile, grout, or caulk
  Renovating to Avoid Mold Growth
BASEMENT MOLD
BASEMENT MOLD WATER IMPACT
BASICS YOU NEED to FIND, TEST, REMOVE MOLD
Basketball Mold Syndrome - BBMS
BLACK MOLD, HARMLESS COSMETIC
BOOKSTORE - ENVIRONMENTAL
BUYERS GUIDE - home inspections for mold
CARPET MOLD CONTAMINATION
CARPET TEST GUIDE
CARPET STAIN DIAGNOSIS
CARPET TEST GUIDE
CONSTRUCTION DETAILS TO AVOID MOLD
CRAWLSPACE MOLD
DIRT FLOOR MOLD CONTAMINATION
DO IT YOURSELF MOLD CLEANUP

Books & Articles on Building & Environmental Inspection, Testing, Diagnosis, & Repair

• Books, Complete List of Environmental Inspection, Diagnosis, Cleanup, Air Quality & Design, Inspection, Repair Books at the InspectAPedia Bookstore
• Environmental Health & Investigation Bibliography - our own technical library on indoor air quality inspection, testing, laboratory procedures, forensic microscopy, etc.
• ...

More Information on Building Diagnostic Inspections and Repairs

Mold and Allergen Recognition and Identification - Not All "Black Mold" is Harmful; Some Suspect Stuff is Not Mold

• How to Find and Test For Mold in Buildings - Looking for Mold - A 'how to' photo and text primer on finding and testing for mold in buildings
• Recognizing Mold: What mold looks like mold identification photos to help identify mold - choosing what to sample in buildings
• Recognizing Allergens: What various indoor allergens look like - identification photos to help identify pollen, dust mites, animal dander, toxic or allergenic mold - Common Mold and other Allergens, Irritants, Remedies & Advice
• Stuff that is not mold but is often mistaken for it - things you may not want to test. Also, not all "black mold" is toxic - here are examples of harmless black mold.
• Mold Action Guide: an easy step by step outline of what to do about mold
• How to find mold without hiring anyone, for do-it-yourself'ers
• Associations: Sick House, Sick Building, SBS - Air Quality, Government, Private Associations and Information Resources
• Mold Test Kits - How to Collect and Send Your Own Mold Sample to our mold testing lab
• How to find a mold inspector or test consultant: Directory of IAQ,Sick Building, Mold Allergen Testing, Building Investigation Service Providers
• Meruliporia: the house eating fungus or "poria"
• Mold Investigation Tips for Home Inspectors how to find mold, where to look, what is likely to be important. Advice to building inspectors intending to inspect or test for toxic or problematic mold indoors, mold inspection methods, and mold test methods which are valid or invalid
• Mold Risk Levels in Buildings Based on Visual Inspection - simple visual clues help decide on action
• Mold in Fiberglass Insulation© 2005 comments about a field study in process, & more about health hazards from fiberglass insulation - DJF
• Frequently Asked Questions About Mold -- check this FAQ list & IAQ Site Map to see if you can find a quick answer to your mold concern
• When to hire a professional to inspect for toxic mold or other allergens
• Contact Us to arrange mold/IAQ building on site inspection and testing.

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The Mold Information Center: What to Do About Mold in Buildings, When and How to Inspect for Mold, Clean Up Mold, or Avoid Mold Problems

Use this simple, economical mold test kit by following our instructions on how to collect and mail mold samples to our lab

Environmental Inspection, Testing, & Diagnosis On-Site IAQ, Gas, Air Testing, Mold Investigation, Sick Building Diagnosis, Lab Services, & Remediation Plan Preparation - indoor air quality testing, problem source determination, supporting lab work, written remediation plan addressing removal of environmental and other hazards and prevention of their recurrence.

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