How to Prevent Mold Buildup On Your Shower Tile

There is nothing better than a hot, steamy shower after a long day. However, there is nothing worse than being in that shower and suddenly realizing there is toxic, ugly mold all over the walls and floors.

How does the mold even get there? Doesn’t your weekly Scottsdale ceramic tile & grout cleaning keep it away? These are all questions we will answer, along with ways to prevent mold from returning. Our professional Scottsdale grout cleaning service deals with mold cleanup on a daily basis, and we are sharing our experience and knowledge so you can protect your family from the various hazards of mold and mildew growth.

What Is Mold?

Basically, mold is a fungus that easily grows both indoors and outdoors under the right conditions. Its intended purpose is to decompose dead plants, trees, and leaves outside. However, once mold makes its way into your home and begins to grow, it becomes a serious issue. Not only is it yucky and ugly, but it can become a major health hazard for you and your family, and cause respiratory issues and other concerns.

Mold flourishes in damp, dark areas, which typically describes showers and bathrooms. The constant moisture and humidity contribute to accelerated mold growth, and can make it difficult to fully eradicate this nasty fungus. Our experienced Gilbert tile floor cleaning service at Desert Tile and Grout Care have seen mold grow in all types of places in the shower, including the showerhead, fixtures, grout, drains, and walls. Anywhere that is damp, dark, and warm will surely see mold growth at some point in its lifetime.

There are many different types of molds that may grow in your shower. These include:

– Penicillium
– Cadosporium
– Aureobasicium
– Chaetomium
– Aspergillus
– Fusarium
– Serpula Lacrymans
– Ulocladium
– Trichoderma
– Alternaria (the most common type of bathroom mold)
– Stachybotrys Chartarum (known as black mold)

Plus so many more! The short of it is, any of these molds are going to cause respiratory issues, asthma exacerbation, chronic inflammation in the body, fatigue, infections, depression, and more. No matter which type, you need to perform a deep Gilbert tile and grout cleaning immediately upon discovery to fully eradicate the mold and protect your health.

How Do You Find the Mold?

Professional Mesa tile floor cleaning services will tell you there are multiple signs pointing to mold growth, so you just need to be aware of what to look for. These signature signs include:

– Black spots and clusters on the ceiling or walls
– Pink or black spots on a damp wooden surface
– Old and musty smells that will not go away
– Any sudden new allergic reaction that you cannot pinpoint to anything else
– New respiratory issues
– Yellow spots on wood
– Spots on bathroom wallpaper
– Black or yellowing in shower grout lines

The materials in your bathroom have a direct impact on the type of mold that grows and the signs that point to the mold. Wood, drywall, caulk, rugs or carpet, and grout are some of the most favored materials for mold growth.

You may be surprised to learn that mold only takes about two days to grow and appear in your bathroom. That is why it is important to check often and be aware of any appearance changes that suddenly occur. Additionally, remember that mold’s job is to decompose, so the more organic matter you have in your bathroom, the more substance there is for mold to feed on and grow.

How Do You Get Rid of the Mold?

The good news is that most mold infestations can be eradicated with common household cleaners. Once you find mold in your bathroom, the first step should be to create a bleach solution. Find a clean spray bottle, and mix together 1 cup of bleach for every 2 cups of water. Spray the entire affected area and let it sit for at least 5 minutes before wiping off with a cloth.

If you have a more stubborn mold growth embedded in grout or cracks, use a small toothbrush or scrub brush dipped in your bleach solution and scrub away at the stubborn area. This tactic will help ensure the mold growth is fully cleaned out and eradicated, and will help prevent the mold from returning.

When mold is deeply rooted in caulk, you will need to add baking soda to the mix for extra cleaning power. Simply prepare the same bleach solution, then add enough baking soda to make it into a paste. Smear the paste on the moldy caulk and let it sit for up to 2 hours, then wipe off with a wet cloth.

If you have stubborn mold that continues to persist, contact a professional ceramic tile floor cleaning company in Scottsdale for mold removal services. They will have the best tools, techniques, and cleaning solutions to fully clear out the mold and prevent its stealthy return.

How Do You Keep Mold From Coming Back?

So the toxic mold is fairly easy to clean away, but how can you be sure that the problem is really gone? Won’t the mold simply grow back over the next few days and weeks? While prevention is certainly the best medicine in this case, there are quite a few steps that can be taken to keep the mold away, both before and after it has started to grow.

1.- Increase airflow in your bathroom by installing a bathroom fan, opening windows after a shower, or even setting up a box fan to circulate air after showering.
2.- Consider using a dehumidifier after showering to lower the constant humidity level in your bathroom.
3.- Use a dry towel to wipe off your walls, glass doors, fixtures, and other tile surfaces each day, especially after showering. Keep a spray bottle of bleach, water, and vinegar to keep the surfaces clean, sparkling, and dry.
4.- If you have caulk or grout that has been thoroughly polluted with mold or mildew, consider replacing it entirely. While it may appear that the mold is gone, these materials are highly porous, and it is very possible that the mold is still rooted deep inside continuing to grow.
5.- If any tiles have been completely infested with mold growth, consider hiring a professional Chandler tile floor restoration service to assess the damages and provide a quote for expert deep cleaning and restoration.

Desert Tile & Grout Care

If you have found mold buildup in your shower and are struggling to combat it, consider contacting the tile cleaning experts at Desert Tile & Grout Care. Our local, Arizona-based company has extensive experience with deep cleaning tile surfaces affected by mold growth, and can help deep clean, restore, and rejuvenate your tile and grout. With high-quality work, extensive training, and years of experience, our company provides affordable, effective cleaning services to Phoenix and the surrounding areas. Contact us today to learn more!