How can I remove what looks like mold in the paint above a shower? The ceiling is white, but looks be-speckled with black.
By Sylvia J Baeta from Fremont, CA
Bleach in a spray bottle. It might take several applications to get it all. The mold/mildew cleaners work too, but lots more expensive. (08/26/2009)
By Bella Swan
Twilightgift is right, but speaking from personal experience, if you use the bleach, also make sure you have plenty of ventilation, eye protection, and a baseball cap. (08/26/2009)
RED ALERT! No bleach! I used the bleach trick for removing mold in my sun room several years ago and ended up getting extremely ill afterward. The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with me but after a year I was ready to just lay down and die, it was that bad.
I found the Red Cross site online while searching for "headaches" and they had a box that asked if you wanted a nurse to contact you and I checked it. When the nurse called me she asked me to describe the symptoms and I didn't get far when she told me to stop, she knew the cause of the illness.
There is a certain type of mold that reacts with the chlorine in the bleach and creates an invisible gas that scars your lungs the first time it is created and you don't feel a thing. She advised me to use white vinegar and water in a 50/50 mix and do not rinse off. It will leave an acid base behind that helps stop the mold from regrowing for a long time.
My body is completely infiltrated with this mold now and I had to leave my house and continue to have some side effects from being so sick. It causes headaches along the trigeminal nerve pathway, I would actually have spasms in my eye balls that others could see, could not walk or stand up once the headache started, had about 6 headaches like this a day, lost almost 40 pounds in 2 months because I couldn't keep anything down.
The only thing that helped was IV's at the ER and serious pain meds and ice cold showers, wet towels frozen in the freezer and draped on me in front of fans and all the windows open, even during the coldest winter with snow on the ground.
This is a very serious problem and worth using the vinegar no matter what anyone else suggests. I live in Oregon and we lose babies every year to black mold because it infiltrates their lungs.
Please pass this info to your friends, it might make the difference between life and death. (08/26/2009)
By Virginia
Thank you for the heads up on bleach/mold problem.
Two children in my family got pneumonia from mold, as well as their mother. That was when my sister in law packed them out of their apartment and moved them to her house. She heard they were sick, went to the house, which was on a damp hillside, took one look and packed them. The house was infested with mold. The apartments needed to be demolished. (08/27/2009)
By PENNY K
Thanks to all who posted, very good information. Does anyone know how to tell the difference between mold and mildew? Is there a visual difference? Just wondered because someone who seems to know the difference just took a look at my ceiling and told me she is sure it is mildew from poor ventilation. I'm thinking that would be easier to remove. (08/27/2009)
You asked about telling the difference, I don't know but I have seen free mold kits on TV, maybe you could get one of those and see which one it is. Good luck. (08/28/2009)
By christi
I have had a lot of success mixing lemon juice, peroxide, and water in a spray bottle. The citrus and peroxide kill the mold. Just spray and let it sit for a while then wipe off. If you don't address your moisture problem it will return. After the mold is gone you can use a mild chlorine bleach and water solution mixed with a few drops of dish liquid to clean the wall really well. Good Luck. (08/28/2009)
I have mildew. It starts off looking just like the ceiling is a bit dirty. It is sort of grayish, but gets darker and darker. It grows above the shower, and was in the house when I moved in. I need to clean it off yearly. I dress in white, put on goggles, and think I will use a mask this time. Put bleach in a spray bottle, and spray that on the mildew. Give it some time to work - 10-15 minutes per patch. My ceiling is textured, so if I try to scrub, I get paint splotches dropping down. I do use a scrubber sometimes, but the bleach is what does the work.
I might add that I have an exhaust fan in the bathroom that we use all the time, as well as a window which we open when showering or bathing, when it is warm. And here in Saskatchewan, it is a pretty dry climate. When you get something like this, it is difficult to eradicate it entirely; the mildew spores hide in the grooves in the textured ceiling. If anyone knows of a paint especially made to cover this up after it has been cleaned, let me know, please. I haven't tried painting over it. (09/02/2009)
By Louise B.
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