Remove mold

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lovingit

Member
I noticed this brownish almost black stain on the grout in the shower floor.  I assume it's mold.  It's a dark line within the grout.  I used bleach which removes it.  It eventually comes back.  I read that because grout is porous, bleach won't penetrate into the grout and only removes mold on the surface.

I read that hydrogen peroxide and vinegar are good solutions that will penetrate the grout and remove the mold.  I put vinegar and allowed it to sit for one hour and then cleaned.  I did the same with hydrogen peroxide.  However, none of these two household solutions did anything.  I'm not sure what else to try?  Vinegar and hydrogen peroxide should have removed the black stain.  Any other tips?
 
1 part blue dawn to 1 part vinegar.  Mix it in a spray bottle, spray the shower tiles and grout, let it sit for 2 hours then rinse / scrub.

Works well getting the soap scum and hard water stains off the glass shower doors too.
 
Oh ya forgot to mention the fumes are pretty intense so open your windows, put on a fan, and take breaks to get some fresh air every few min.
 
Aqua and AW, with your mixture, does the mold come back or does it completely kill it?

Hydrogen peroxide by itself does nothing like some of these articles say.
Vinegar by itself is useless also.
 
It comes back over time. Everything gets dirty and grimey over time.
1 part baking soda 2 part vinegar. 
If you do 1:1, it'll neutralize as one is base and other is acid.
The end result does produce salt and water, which may explain why it cleans grouts well?

Just don't throw everything at it as certain chemical reactions are toxic like ammonia and bleach
 
AW said:
It comes back over time. Everything gets dirty and grimey over time.
1 part baking soda 2 part vinegar. 
If you do 1:1, it'll neutralize as one is base and other is acid.
The end result does produce salt and water, which may explain why it cleans grouts well?

Just don't throw everything at it as certain chemical reactions are toxic like ammonia and bleach
Click to expand...

I actually sprinkled baking soda all over the floor.  Then I added vinegar.  It fizzles upon contact.  I left it close to an hour and then scrubbed but it didn't do anything at all.
 
Sounds like it's some really stubborn grout.
Dunno, maybe it's time to yelp a cleaning service that does grout cleaning or re-grout?  I know Home Depot have tools specifically to scrub out old grout
 
AW said:
Sounds like it's some really stubborn grout.
Dunno, maybe it's time to yelp a cleaning service that does grout cleaning or re-grout?  I know Home Depot have tools specifically to scrub out old grout
Click to expand...

What is interesting is that I added a layer of grout ontop of it to cover the suspected mold.  Except the mold grew threw the grout.  I guess grout is really porous.
 
lovingit said:
AW said:
Sounds like it's some really stubborn grout.
Dunno, maybe it's time to yelp a cleaning service that does grout cleaning or re-grout?  I know Home Depot have tools specifically to scrub out old grout
Click to expand...

What is interesting is that I added a layer of grout ontop of it to cover the suspected mold.  Except the mold grew threw the grout.  I guess grout is really porous.
Click to expand...

Did you seal the grout?
 
You added grout on top of your old grout without etching first?  That's probably where all the mold is gathering in between layers.
 
lovingit said:
AW said:
Sounds like it's some really stubborn grout.
Dunno, maybe it's time to yelp a cleaning service that does grout cleaning or re-grout?  I know Home Depot have tools specifically to scrub out old grout
Click to expand...

What is interesting is that I added a layer of grout ontop of it to cover the suspected mold.  Except the mold grew threw the grout.  I guess grout is really porous.
Click to expand...

That won't get rid of the old mold. Try scraping all the grout out and regrouting.
 
This, seal the grout after you re-grout.  I used Miracle 511 Porous Plus for frequently used areas like the bathrooms and kitchen.

WTTCHMN said:
lovingit said:
AW said:
Sounds like it's some really stubborn grout.
Dunno, maybe it's time to yelp a cleaning service that does grout cleaning or re-grout?  I know Home Depot have tools specifically to scrub out old grout
Click to expand...

What is interesting is that I added a layer of grout ontop of it to cover the suspected mold.  Except the mold grew threw the grout.  I guess grout is really porous.
Click to expand...

Did you seal the grout?
Click to expand...
 
Ready2Downsize said:
lovingit said:
AW said:
Sounds like it's some really stubborn grout.
Dunno, maybe it's time to yelp a cleaning service that does grout cleaning or re-grout?  I know Home Depot have tools specifically to scrub out old grout
Click to expand...

What is interesting is that I added a layer of grout ontop of it to cover the suspected mold.  Except the mold grew threw the grout.  I guess grout is really porous.
Click to expand...

That won't get rid of the old mold. Try scraping all the grout out and regrouting.
Click to expand...

Didn't know you had to regrout every time. Most people just clean it out.  Videos show mixing baking soda and vinegar and scrubbing to get the mold out.  Apparently that doesn't work on some mold.  Some people have luck though.
 
Just put bleach into a spray bottle. Spray the entire area and let it sit for an hour. You don't even have to scrub the area. The mold comes right off when you turn on the water to clean the area
 
qwerty said:
Just put bleach into a spray bottle. Spray the entire area and let it sit for an hour. You don't even have to scrub the area. The mold comes right off when you turn on the water to clean the area
Click to expand...

I did that but mold comes back.  Bleach only cleans the top layer and doesn't remove it entirely. Plus bleach isnt healthy esp with kids. 
 
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