How to Prevent Mold in the Bathroom

The bathroom is the one room in your house that is regularly filled with moist air, making it the perfect environment for mold growth. The best way to prevent mold from taking hold in your bathroom is to practice regular preventative maintenance to keep the bathroom as dry as possible in between showers and baths. Once mold takes hold it may discolor or stain bathroom surfaces, especially the grout between tiles, so practicing mold prevention in the bathroom is definitely worth your effort.

Things You'll Need

• Bleach-based cleaner

Instructions

1. Turn the bathroom exhaust fan on while you're taking a bath or shower, then leave it on for 10 minutes afterward to help the bathroom dry out again.

2. Open windows and doors after you take a shower, if at all possible. This helps vent humid air to the outside and return your bathroom's humidity level to normal as quickly as possible, thus discouraging the growth of mold.

3. Stretch the shower curtain out across the length of the shower rod after use. This gives it a chance to dry completely instead of harboring water in its folds.

4. Wipe down your shower walls, including the grout between tiles, with a bleach-based cleaner every week. This will help prevent mold growth.

5. Deal with clogged or slow-moving bathtub or shower drains immediately. Otherwise the pooling water may provide a suitable environment for mold growth.

6. Pour a little bleach down your shower or bathtub drain every 3 or 4 months. This helps to keep mold from taking hold.

Tips & Warnings

• If it's time to repaint your bathroom walls, use a semi-gloss paint. This creates a hard surface that is difficult for mold to grow on. You can make your own bleach cleaner to wipe down the bathroom walls and prevent mold growth by mixing one part water to one part household bleach in a spray bottle. Make sure the bottle is clearly labeled so that nobody mistakes it for plain water.

• Never mix bleach products with vinegar or other cleaning products that contain ammonia; the resulting toxic gases can be deadly.

References

• RestorationSOS
• Creative Homemaking