The other day my wife called me upstairs to our bathroom and asked me if I had neglected to turn the bathroom fan on when I had last visited the facilities. I took serious offense and informed her that I never neglected the use of the bathroom fan while taking care of business. However, there was a distinctly unpleasant odor emanating from the bathroom as though I had been in there recently. So would you like to know how to get rid of mold?

My first thought was there was something in the waste basket or dirty clothes in the hamper that was causing the odor. After removing the trash can and taking the clothes hamper down to the laundry room and leaving the bathroom fan on for a half hour I ventured to the bathroom again. While the odor had abated some what it was still noticeable.

We have a stand up shower with a pivoting glass door that was closed. I stepped into the shower and used my nose to determine if there was an issue in the shower stall. Closer to the drain I notice the same odor that I had before I made the changes in the trash can and clothes hamper.

I was certain that we had a mold issue in the drain. Due to the nature of the shower stall construction and high humidity along with small confines of the shower toilet combination, mold grew frequently along the seems of the door and the water channels as well.

A liberal dose of tub and tile cleaner with Clorox and a good scrub brush eliminated those problems rather quickly. I never considered what might lurk below the drain cover after nearly twenty years of use. My next step was to remove the drain cover and try to bring up as much of the sludge in the drain pipe that could be reached with the tools at hand.

A large quantity of sludge, partially dissolved hair and a great deal of soap sum populated the interior of the pipe. Emanating from this noxious mix was the disturbing smell we had noticed before. My next goal was to pour a mixture of bleach and water and then ammonia and water to kill any mold or bacteria and hopefully any resulting smell from what remained in the drain pipe.

I then thoroughly cleaned the drain cover and attachment screws and put the drain cover back on. Hopefully, this process will take care of the problem for some time. If the smell returns I will know how to get rid of mold in my bathroom.

Mold creates respiratory problems in even the healthiest people. The presence of black mold in large quantities can cause a home to be condemned. Mold requires a moist environment to grow and some sort of organic substance to feed on.

Bathroom mold obviously gets the moist environment daily and feeds off of dead skin cells shed during the washing process along with any hair that is washed out as well. You can prevent the growth and spreading of mold in your bathroom by wiping down the walls and door of your tub enclosures and showers. Expecting your bathroom exhaust fan to eliminate the moisture is pure folly.

If mold begins on hard surfaces like tub surrounds, shower doors and walls or tile, it can be easily removed with a bathroom cleaner that has a disinfectant to reduce the chance of mold regrowth. If you get mold on your grout between any kinds of tile work the process is a little more involved. Here is how to get rid of mold in grouted areas. You will need a product specifically listing mold as something it cleans. Bleach is also a good cleaner.

You will need a good stiff nylon or wire brush to make sure you get the cleaner into any holes or crevices in the grout. If you wait too long and the mold is really into the grout you may need to learn how to remove mold and re-grout the area. If this happens you will want to consider sealing your grout before using the area for a shower or bath.

There are many ways to learn how to clean mold after all. The best way to combat mold is to keep it from growing in the first place. Keep moist areas dry and clean regularly with products that contain disinfectants and bleach to reduce the growth of mold.