I have those tiny dustlike black fungi that grow in the bathroom. They're like very very fine black pepper but can become a significant volume if left alone, and they're sometimes hard to rub or scrub off the surface. Though I wipe them off, and sometimes it's hard, they grow again. They also seem to be spreading to other rooms upstairs. I'd like to kill them off.
I found this spray in a nearby store that's made especially for this purpose. It's some antifungal spray. The only problem is that it seems a little expensive at the recommended dose, ~4=A3 for each 2 square meters. I have the bathroom and the whole upstairs floor to spray.
Does anyone know of a cheaper solution? Can bleach work? What about vinegar?=20
I have those tiny dustlike black fungi that grow in the bathroom. They're like very very fine black pepper but can become a significant volume if left alone, and they're sometimes hard to rub or scrub off the surface. Though I wipe them off, and sometimes it's hard, they grow again. They also seem to be spreading to other rooms upstairs. I'd like to kill them off.
I found this spray in a nearby store that's made especially for this purpose. It's some antifungal spray. The only problem is that it seems a little expensive at the recommended dose, ~4£ for each 2 square meters. I have the bathroom and the whole upstairs floor to spray.
Does anyone know of a cheaper solution? Can bleach work? What about vinegar?
Many thanks and regards. ====================================
A northern part of Europe where the temperatures these days average ~ 0 c=2E I shower at least once, usually twice and sometimes more a day, in warm to hot water. I economise on heating otherwise and prefer to wear layers instead. As a result it can get cold and a little humid indoors, it's too cold to ventilate often. Wet things like towels could take long time to dry, perhaps many days, if not heated somehow.
Perhaps I could open the window after each shower, perhaps I should.
A northern part of Europe where the temperatures these days average ~ 0 c. I shower at least once, usually twice and sometimes more a day, in warm to hot water. I economise on heating otherwise and prefer to wear layers instead. As a result it can get cold and a little humid indoors, it's too cold to ventilate often. Wet things like towels could take long time to dry, perhaps many days, if not heated somehow.
Perhaps I could open the window after each shower, perhaps I should.
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It's not unusual for a bathroom to have mildew problems, but if the rest of the house has problems, it's cause for concern. You really should find a way to ventilate. Is it possible to install a bathroom fan?
Cut the showers down to one a day or fewer. It isn't like you are sweating and stinking, and unless you are using moisturizers, you may be drying your skin in addition to creating mold problems.
If the place is cold enough that you have to take numerous showers to keep warm, you have other problems.
I don't take showers to keep warm per se (well, that's a side effect, perhaps a nice one sometimes), I'm just obsessive compulsive about cleanliness. I do get skin dryness problems, which I remedy by rubbing sunflower oil after a shower as an alternative to chemical moisturisers. For my hands though, which I wash often, I do use the chemical ones. I'll try to shower less, once or twice a day, but never more. I'll also open the window after each shower.
I need to do something about this black mold. After reading around I think I may perhaps try a mixture solution of white vinegar and detergent first, if that doesn't work, maybe I'll try baking soda, if that doesn't work, maybe I'll try bleach after a few days, as per page.
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I'll also wear gloves, dust mask and eye protection when dealing with them. I need to buy dust masks and eye protection anyway because I'm using power tools these days.
I have those tiny dustlike black fungi that grow in the bathroom. They're like very very fine black pepper but can become a significant volume if left alone, and they're sometimes hard to rub or scrub off the surface. Though I wipe them off, and sometimes it's hard, they grow again. They also seem to be spreading to other rooms upstairs. I'd like to kill them off.
I found this spray in a nearby store that's made especially for this purpose. It's some antifungal spray. The only problem is that it seems a little expensive at the recommended dose, ~4£ for each 2 square meters. I have the bathroom and the whole upstairs floor to spray.
Does anyone know of a cheaper solution? Can bleach work? What about vinegar?
Many thanks and regards.
bleach water mix should work. oxy bleach works well, too.
Try baking soda?, Try Vinegar, Try detergent? just do what works and kills mold by removing the plants Oxygen , Bleach. Try a Dehumidifier, you obviously have an excessive humidity environment that mold thrives in and can cause illness. Or try 2 showers a month instead.
I don't take showers to keep warm per se (well, that's a side effect, perhaps a nice one sometimes), I'm just obsessive compulsive about cleanliness. I do get skin dryness problems, which I remedy by rubbing sunflower oil after a shower as an alternative to chemical moisturisers. For my hands though, which I wash often, I do use the chemical ones. I'll try to shower less, once or twice a day, but never more. I'll also open the window after each shower.
I need to do something about this black mold. After reading around I think I may perhaps try a mixture solution of white vinegar and detergent first, if that doesn't work, maybe I'll try baking soda, if that doesn't work, maybe I'll try bleach after a few days, as per page.
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I'll also wear gloves, dust mask and eye protection when dealing with them. I need to buy dust masks and eye protection anyway because I'm using power tools these days.
Yes, do something, you may not be sensitive to its toxins yet but it can be cumulative. I have a friend who was made seriously ill (pneumonia)
What you are cleaning is the fruting bodies of a larger fungal colony. The fungal filiments reach deep into the wallboard and you cannot kill all of it without saturating the wall 100% which is not practical and will cause other problems like crumbling.
Sorry to say the only solution is to completely remove all infected wallboard and wooden studs in the area and replace. If moisture is s recurring problem, use a wood preservative on the replaced studs and buy a wallboard resistant to fungas. Use cement backerboard as a last resort.
Might as well take care of it right as any future buyer will need this disclosed and if you do not and they get sick, you're open to a law suit. If you rent, insist that it is repaired immedietly as it is a health risk and grounds for terminating a lease.
If you want a cheap spray. Use a garden product with copper sulphate in it. It may stain but you can prime and paint if you can kill it first. There are also paints with fungacide built in.
Fungus feeds on the paper in the wallboard. and thrives when warm and wet but will still grow in less ideal conditions.
I researched this stuff over the past couple of days. Mixing vinegar and bleach is dangerous, it produces chlorine fumes, which are toxic.
"Acids with bleach. Generates highly toxic chlorine gas."
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The last one is worrying
"Hydrogen peroxide/acetic acid mixtures. May explode upon heating."
Vinegar is essentially acetic acid.
So, guys, I need your advice on this. I so far have chlorine bleach, and I found some washing soda in the store yesterday and got it. I didn't find white distilled/spirit vinegar (the one I found had ammonia caramel colourant in it) so I'm going to another supermarket to look for it tonight. I'll also look for some oxygen bleach.
Now, I want to kill this stuff as sure as I can. I therefore want to apply as many substances as reasonable, as many times as reasonable. What should I start with? then what?
I know that vinegar neutralises bleach, and that bleach and vinegar produce chlorine fumes.
I have two things to deal with; 1. bathroom tiles and surfaces. 2. wallpaper on cement.
Bathroom tiles and surfaces should be easy to deal with; saturate with the substance and then rinse or wipe. It's the wallpaper that I'm not sure what to do with. I know that I want to remove it all, and I already have a steamer that'll do the job eventually, and then I'll paint the room(s).
I'm thinking of perhaps saturating the wallpaper with washing soda first. Then saturating them with vinegar (wait, perhaps I can just use the one with the food colourant in it, since I'm removing it anyway). Can I, if need be, after a few days, apply some bleach? Would it be a danger? do you think I wouldn't need to anyway? perhaps I can use oxygen bleach instead? perhaps I can forget about the washing soda and vinegar and just apply bleach from the start?
Just use one product, dont mix, dont worry it will kill the mold, use the laundry bleach and that is all. Even full strength it is apx 98% water. It kills mold by removing the oxygen. After it is dead or the next day you can clean the area with soap and water
i think muriatic acid might kill it for good, but i think it's pretty dangerous stuff. other than that, i'm not sure you'll get it for good. i've found that it's usually a recurring problem that you just have to keep up with.
just rinse thoroughly between them and there shouldn't be a problem.
you'll probably have to remove the wallpaper and replace it or paint. if you paint, use something like kilz to prime the surface.
I think I have everything I need right now. I have chlorine bleach, oxygen bleach, distilled vinegar, and washing soda. I think i'll mostly use the washing soda and the oxygen bleach first and spray it on them. I'll wipe the surfaces, and I plan to try to kill the black mold on the wallpaper first before I use the steamer to remove the wallpaper and then paint the walls.
I'll also get a humidity sensor, keep an eye on it, and make sure I ventilate often to keep the humidity down.
I'm somewhat worried about using the steamer, perhaps it'll spread the spores everywhere. How does it work? are the spores the same as the live organisms or are they different? Do the chemicals kill both the spores and the live organisms? Should I use a chemical wallpaper stripper instead of the steamer?
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