Hello, I’m guessing that you’re here because you have that hard to beat stain that’s just lurking in your bathroom, right? Well, I have good news! Today I’m going to show you how you can remove those hideous stains from your bathroom. As you may have already figured out, mildew is prone to show its face in a damp environment, and the bathroom being the biggest water consuming room in a household, you’ll often find mildew there. If you’ve already noticed mildew taking place in your bathroom in can be quite difficult at times to remove, so I’d like to further warn you to be prepared to spend some time on getting these stains out.

Now, before we start cleaning, go ahead and place a dry towel at your feet so you don’t slip or track water around the bathroom that may cause you to slip. This way you can also dry your feet if they become wet and you need to move around the room. Now, you’ll often find two different types of mildew stains in your bathroom, and most often in your shower due to the amount of water that remains wet or damp for long periods of times. You’ll most likely have a pinkish-reddish stain or a dark green colored stain. If it’s a darker green then it is likely this stain has been untreated for a longer period of time, and is well overdue for a good cleaning. So for an example, let’s say you have tiled walls and a tiled bench in your shower and you notice that there is mildew growing in the crevices of the tiles, this is caused by the moisture getting trapped beneath the plumbers glue used to cement the tile.

Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you might be able to actually remove most of the mildew stain just by simply using hot water and a grout brush without any chemicals. So go ahead and try that before adding chemicals. You might not be able to remove all of the discoloration, but it’s fine to get as much as possible. So now we need to add chemicals. Go ahead and add 3/4 cup of chlorine bleach to 1 gallon of hot water. Also, always remember to take safety precautions when using chemicals. With bleach, you’re going to need gloves, protective eye wear, and be sure you’re room is well ventilated. I understand that some of us prefer to use something a little more on the greener side, and if that’s you, then you’re going to want to use oxygen bleach. If you use oxygen bleach it is still recommended you take the proper safety precautions. Also, if you make the decision to use oxygen bleach you will not need to dilute it with water.

So at this point you should have your bleach in bucket with water, or just in an empty bucket if you’re using oxygen bleach. Now, go ahead and soak your grout brush and get a go at those stains again. At this point you might need to spend a little time soaking and re-soaking your grout brush to get the stains out. If you have larger mildew stains and you need something larger to clean with, then I recommend you use a scrub brush for faster results. After about 5 minutes of effort or less, you’ll begin to notice the stains start to fade away, this is always a good sign. When cleaning different types of stains, often the darker colored mildew will take longer to get out. Now, if you find yourself struggling to reach small cracks or corners, then you can easily use this next tip to get rid of those stains. Take a cotton pad or ball, and saturate it completely with bleach, once it’s soaked go ahead and place the cotton pad or ball in the hard to reach area. This is going to soak up the mildew allowing for an easy and simple clean up.

On the other hand, let’s say you have a difficult stain on a vertical wall, then all you have to do is saturate a paper towel and stick it to the wall where the stain is located. Go ahead and allow it to dry, then wipe it down afterwards for an extremely facilitated clean up.

If you find that the mildew is just not coming out, then chances are that the mildew has penetrated the grout already. At this point you’re going to need to remove and replace the grout. In order to prevent this from happening, I highly suggest you get in the habit of completely drying the shower or tub after each use. It takes just a few minutes of time, but it’s definitely worth the time.