Florida is a beautiful state, especially in the middle of winter. While the rest of the nation is shoveling snow, we’re strolling around in short sleeves. The only drawback to the more temperate climate is the humidity. It’s a breeding ground for mold and sadly our bathroom used to be a prime example of what happens with the black darkness takes over. Now, my husband and I are very good about keeping our bathroom clean. We cleaned it regularly and bought one of those daily shower sprays to help prevent mold. We’ve scrubbed and sadly the black moldy nastiness did not go away.
Because I have my new fabulous theme, I decided to do a little research. My husband had some serious doubts that something homemade would work, so we had a mini competition. He bought Kaboom, the latest advertised bathroom mold destroyer, and I made a homemade tile and grout cleaner.
My tile cleaner smelled like vinegar and didn’t work at all in the shower. I think the black mold simply laughed at me.
Kaboom didn’t really work either. To start, it reeks! Our shower stall is enclosed and when you spray Kaboom the fumes will make you cough and gag. The product did a good job with some of the shower stains, but we still had nasty mold that would not die.
I also tried using Bartender’s Best Friend, a powdery substance that worked wonders on kitchen stains. I scrubbed, let the substance soak and had no luck whatsoever. The force is strong with this mold.
We were about to give up when we talked to our apartment complex manager. They recommended Tilex. We bought it the version specifically for mold and were thrilled. The Tilex doesn’t have as many fumes as Kaboom so you can actually breathe when using it. The best part is that it actually works. We have banished the black disgustingness back to the abyss it came from!
great writeup. have you tried magic erasers at all? love them and no chemicals; don’t know if they’d help the mold issue but I use them a lot b/c we get a hard water film. i will have to try your recipe…
I have tried the magic eraser before and it only works part of the time. I didn’t even think of trying it in the bathroom because I was mainly trying to kill the mold. I’m still not sure if the homemade version can really do that. It’s possible you’d have to use bleach. I hope you enjoy your new bathroom cleaner.
I will need to try this to clean the grout in the bathrooms! I hear vinegar works wonders. Thanks for sharing!
Let me know if yours works better than mine. I might have had a tougher time because of the Florida humidity. If you use it on your counter tops or as a general bathroom cleaner it works like a charm. Hope you enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by my blog, and great post! I’ve been trying to figure out how to clean the grout around my shower. I recently tried Clorox bleach pens to mixed success. Will have to try Tilex now!
The Tilex has not let us down yet. Anything that requires less scrubbing is always a good thing in my book. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog in return. I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
I have been looking for a good grout cleaner. Glad to know that Tilex is the way to go!
Anytime! I’m glad the article helped.
So happy to learn I wasn’t going crazy ! I tried lots of home recipes for my grout and had little luck. I too went back to good old reliable Tilex — I believe that the humidity and the water have a lot to do with the build up on tile.
You’re definitely not going crazy! I love the idea of natural cleaners, however there are some things that require a little more of a kick. In those cases, chemicals are really the only way to go especially when you’re fighting mold. I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one who had the same frustrations.
Thanks for the tip. I hate using that stuff you buy at the store. And then after you’re done, what becomes of the bottle?
I always recycle the bottles or reuse it for my homemade cleaning supplies. One way or another, it does more than sit in a landfill.
I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Thanks for stopping by!