Lazy Housekeeper Needs Help (mildew)

Once you remove the mildew by scrubbing and using a bleach solution, you will need to establish some ventilation. You can use a small fan if you can't open a window. I think that even with the best effort, you will have a little mildew to deal with. I use an after shower spray and that helps a lot. About twice a year I still have to spot treat some areas.

Add a fan that vents to the outdoors or install a window. If you already have a bathroom fan, replace it with a stronger one and put a

I suggest you start by applying paper towels well-soaked in vinegar to the mildewed areas, and leave them a couple of hours to kill off a good part of the mildew, and then a scrubby-sponge and a little detergent to remove most of the muck. Then see if a mildew-cleaning bathroom cleaner can handle the remainder. Vinegar may not be the most pleasant smell, but it's nowhere near as bad as full strength bleach fumes.

I did find that ZAP cleaner lived up to its TV promises to whiten particularly nasty mildewed bathtub tile when I moved into my previous apartment, but its are fumes as nearly as bad as bleach, so I wouldn't suggest using it without ventilation.

Most places I ever lived had health codes requiring either a window or a ventilation fan in all bathrooms. You should see about getting a ceiling fan installed.

If there's literally no ventillation you'll have worse problems than surface mildew.

A paste of baking soda and chlorine bleach will remove some tough mildew stains. Let it sit.

If you scrub mildew with a mixture of bleach and water, add a tablespoon of baking soda for each tablespoon of bleach. It's effective for cleaning and killing microbes but easier on the skin and nose.

Water with a little ammonia and a little borax can remove mildew. If it's not rinsed away, the trace of borax that remains will inhibit regrowth.