Damp wet cell
Remove mold in the bathroom: This is how you get rid of the fungi
In no other room does mold thrive as well as in the bathroom
© nadisja / Getty Images
No household is safe from it: mold. Above all, the warm, humid climate in the bathroom offers an ideal breeding ground for fungal spores. Once it has spread, it is difficult to get rid of. But it’s not impossible.
Mold in the bathroom is usually not harmful unless you have a weakened immune system or suffer from an allergy. The bad news is: It doesn’t make the fungal spores prettier either. On the contrary – 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 be sure that the mold will take over the entire wet room and give off a musty smell. In addition, large infested areas are a health hazard. Either way, you can’t avoid removing the fungal spores and preventing re-infestation.
Take the first measures: This helps against mold
A tried and tested home remedy that can help out in many situations is Vinegar. The advantage is that you can use it to fight the mold – but not the spores themselves. In plain language, this means: You can remove a superficial infestation with diluted vinegar, but if it has already eaten into the silicone, you don’t have any Chance.
Also found in many homes denatured alcohol. This is a cheap version of drinking alcohol, but it is not suitable for consumption – but for (temporarily) combating mold on all surfaces. It is best to apply the alcohol to the affected areas with a rag and work on them until they fade. However, in the long term, the spots will return.
And also hydrogen peroxide can be used to remove mold stains. The effect is the same as at the hairdresser’s: Apply the diluted solution (three percent is sufficient) to the affected joints and leave it on for 30 minutes. The hydrogen peroxide ensures that the fungal spores die off and the stains are bleached.
If only chemistry helps: These agents have an aggressive effect
Cleaning agents that contain chlorine have proven to be best against mold in the bathroom. Since they are particularly aggressive against fungal spores, they are also extremely harmful to human health. The strong odor in particular is a sort of warning signal to tell you not to inhale the fumes as they are severely irritating to the respiratory tract. Therefore you should have one chlorinated cleaning agent Only use in well-ventilated rooms – then you can literally watch how the mold is effectively and long-term combated.
!!Warning!! Never use this with other acidic cleaning agents, as highly toxic chlorine gas may be released!
Alternatively, you can also use cleaning agents that contain the active ingredient benzalkonium chloride. Although you have to scrub the moldy areas much longer and harder, you are not endangering your health – or the environment. And the best part is: the effect is at least as good if you’ve done everything right.
If silicone joints are so badly moldy that the spores have eaten their way into the material, the chemical mace is no longer of any use to you. Here you should remove the old silicone and remake your joints (or have them done). The use of special is recommended sanitary siliconewhich contains fungus-killing substances (fungicides) and thus prevents a new infestation.
After the old silicone has been removed, the joints must be resealed
© mphillips007 / Getty Images
Mold-free alternative: That’s why lime plaster makes sense
We have always been used to large parts of the bathroom walls being 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 likes to spread in the bathroom. So why tile the entire walls for a lot of money when there are enough surfaces that don’t get splashed. Here it is advisable to use lime plaster. It has the so-called blotter effect, which translates to: If a lot of water vapor is produced in the bathroom, for example when showering, the plaster absorbs the vapor. As a result, 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 great advantage.
How to prevent mold in the bathroom
So that you don’t even have to worry about how best to remove mold in the bathroom, you can take preventive measures such as:
airing You regularly: Since the damp and warm climate in the bathroom paves the way for mold spores, you have to air the room several times a day – but especially after bathing or showering. Instead of just tilting the window, you should open it fully for five to ten minutes, since regular airing proven to be more effective and economical. Even if you don’t take a shower that day, it’s essential to air it out, since the damp towels also distribute water vapor in the bathroom.
Keep the doors closed: In many households it says bathroom door wide open after the shower to quickly drive moisture out of the room. This also works, but it is distributed throughout the rest of the apartment. If you also have to contend with mold in one or the other place (e.g. the windows), this variant is definitely not a good choice. So it’s better to keep the door closed while airing the bathroom.
Heat up the bathroom: Since the humid 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 turn the radiator to the highest level, but rather that in the bathroom always between 21 and 23 degrees Celsius should rule. Because warm air can absorb moisture better – but only if it can reach all places. For this reason, the radiators should always be freestanding.
Spread the shower curtain from: Many people have the habit of closing the curtain after showering – this means that it can only dry very slowly and offers a perfect breeding ground for mould. To ensure that the spores do not stick to it, the curtain should always be spread out until it dries. In addition, most models are now machine washable, so you can clean the material from time to time. here find suitable models.
dry the walls: Since mold in the bathroom primarily spreads between the tiles, more precisely on the joints, you should strip the walls after you have taken a shower – this will dry the tiles faster and less moisture will collect on the joints. Although this may seem annoying, the process takes time shower squeegee less than five minutes. You actually always have enough time.
This will dry your wet windows faster On cold winter days, more condensation collects on the window © Akchamczuk / Getty Images
When temperatures drop, condensation in the bathroom (and sometimes other rooms too) tends to accumulate on the window. 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 use a window vacuum (e.g. from the Karcher company) – with the suction nozzles you can easily remove the water from every window, you can also use the device to clean the windows at the same time if you use the spray bottle with the microfibre cover.
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