Mould in bathroom... best way to deal with it and kill it dead?

Accomodation, House and Garden
1
Despite my best efforts, my windowless bathroom, aerated only by a small vent in the ceiling and me leaving the door constantly open, has developed mould on the walls surrounding the shower. I have been to look at the cost of mould killer and mould sealer in the supermarkets here and almost choked on my cuban cigar at the prices of the stuff... around 50chf in total vs £10 in the UK.

So, my questions to you mould experts are:

What is the most cost-effective way to deal with mould on a permanent basis? Is it generally the tenants responsibility to deal with, or can I theoretically call my landlord in as it has happened despite me following the recommendations for preventing mould in windowless bathrooms??

Cheers,

Rich.

2
Are you sure there is no damp/water coming from above/somewhere else? Sounds like you took a lot of measures to avoid mould.

And yes, do inform your landlord!

For cheaper mould "repellent", have a look at Landi as well, quite often that kind of things is a lot cheaper there.

3
Just don't use the Bathroom anymore, that will keep humidity low and you can save your 50 chufs for a beer and a hamburger.

To clean the existing mould, I would recommend tiolet paper soaked in houshold bleach squished into the moldy areas and left for an hour or two before washing away with water.

4
Have you tried cold showers?

No idea if this will help with the mould, but it might have other benefits.

5
I have my husband deal with it using a 'bleach' spray. First soap and warm water, scrubbing brush, wear rubber gloves, wash and scrub...then spray the area thoroughly with the shower head to wash away most of the mould.

Then let the bathroom completely dry then spray the whole area with the magic product.

The magic product I have is from the painting section of the Migros bau and hobby/migros' do it' store...

http://www.doitgarden.ch/de/wohnen/h...p.661447900000

Mould cleaner - contains chlorine.

Key is of course to deal with air flow in the bathroom. Window always open (well, you lack one of those), but definitely take the cover off the vent and give the whole area a good clean (vacuum cleaner will probably take care of most of the loose dust)... maybe talk to the landlord about installing an improved vent (assume it actually has a fan!)...

And don't leave towels etc to dry in the bathroom...

The mould is definitely seasonal...

We had pretty bad mould, I was surprised that the magic treatment actually worked... neighbours upstairs had the same problem... they haven't mentioned it again since I gave them the rest of the product to try...

6
No water coming from anywhere except the shower, but in high Summer my apartment is very (almost unbearably on some days) humid.

I'll check Landi out, cheers.

Hmm maybe I shall ask my neighbour if I can use theirs, that should improve relations.

Cold showers are the cruellest form of torture. Fact.

I saw that stuff but don't you also need the "impregnierung" http://www.doitgarden.ch/de/wohnen/h...p.661452300000

Still, 40chf rankles. I was looking at Amazon.de where it's all half the price but I am guessing they don't ship things containing chemicals over the border, as none ship to Switzerland.

7
You better deal with it yourself before you communicate the issue to the Verwaltung.

A friend of mine thought it was not something he should care of and the Verwaltung sent a Fachmann, who used the expertise acquired during 3 years of Ausbildung to rub the mould with a sponge and some sort of bleach-like solution.

The orange Rechnung came a month later with a total amount to ba paid of around 250 CHF.

The 50 CHF product is probably not that bad after all.

8
Yeah I guess you are right that I should have a real go first... I'll report back with what approach I take.

If anyone knows the cheapest anti-mould spray please feel free to post.

9
If the mould has taken foot in the substrate you really need to soak it to kill off all the spores. I normally use Essiggeist (Acietic acid), and thin it down (5% iirc). If you don't really kill off all of the source then the imprägnierung will only have a limited effect (The traditional treatment was a 1-2% Copper Sulphate spray, 5% for outside).

Bleach will often change the colour of dispersion. Dilute Oxalic acid (=Enka, or available as a powder in a Drogerie), 5% will take the black stains (as well as rust marks) off most anything, usually without changing the colour as bleach or Peroxide can. If you get the powder be careful though.... ingestion will give you gout.

One solution is to just keep a bottle of dilute Acietic in the shower, and spray the affected areas about once a week/every 2nd week. If you get to the end of next summer and the stains haven't reappeared, then you know that you've killed the source. Then you can invest a whole 40 CHF in the Imprägnierung, knowing that the mould isn't going to come back.

10
Once you have treated the mold and got rid of the spores, I would (especially when you're cleaning and all windows and doors are open to ventilate the apartment) leave a fan on full blast in the hallway/ bathroom doorway for an hour or so, once or twice a week, to circulate the air from hallway to bathroom.

11
Even an ion generator in a closed space will make a difference. I have one with a small fan built in, running all the time in the storage space where I keep car parts - this is a fairly damp basement room without heating. If I put the mouldy underfelt from a car in there the space will smell of rotting jute for a few months, but the smell is gone after 4 months at the latest, faster if I don't visit the space regularly.

12
I know you have all been desperate to hear how I sorted this issue, and I have received hundreds of PM's begging for a finale to the story. Ok, not really.

I bought some mould spray (basically bleach and chlorine) from Amazon UK for £5 (delivered to the UK) and brought it back here and then released it upon my unsuspecting mould nemesis. What then proceeded to happen after half an hour wait and a horrendous smell can only be described as witchcraft, with the mould nigh-on vanishing before my very eyes leaving a perfectly clean wall and tiles.

This was the stuff. https://www.amazon.co.uk/HG-18605010...ds=mould+spray

Happy, and it will be a doddle to clean if it happens again.

13
Did you have shipped to CH or you picked it up there and brought back?

14
Delivered to the UK.

15
Yes, that stuff is excellent. We used to use it in our damp old house in England. We used to buy it from the builder's merchant.

16
PS: 3Wishes, you can also make your own solution using an empty spray bottle filled with white vinegar and Hydrogen peroxide... http://www.uexpress.com/first-aid-fo...ht-mold-growth

How soon did you see mould regrowth after you killed it? Can I expect to see it every so often?

17
All you need is mould remover in spray which is called Schimmel Schutz in DE. It costs CHF15 from local OBI. Slightly more expensive version for CHF18 can be bought in pharmacy.

https://goo.gl/images/7hhk4X

18
That stuff doesn't really work. I tried it for years as I got mold in one corner of my door-frame (outside) of the main entry door. It's not really the frame, it's the mural frame around the door.

the yellow bit is the actual door-frame which the yellow door closes to. The photo shows to top right corner.

I guess it would always come back, due to the weather and the wind aiming straight at my door but an easy, quick way to clean it - if necessary on regular basis - would be nice.

As I can't even get crumpets from England, I think I'll try the self-made-solution Rhichdog mentioned. But a quick google showed that it seems difficult to get pure hydrogen peroxide (Wasserstoffperoxid in German) in Switzerland?

19
I often buy the HG products in Holland as they are pretty good. Strange that you can't seem to get them here.

As for mould, we had it in our previous apartment. I used a kind of chloride cleaning stuff which worked pretty well.

20
This thread will explain why, particularly #7.

https://www.englishforum.ch/daily-li...-peroxide.html

Peroxide is nasty stuff if not used correctly. Ever noticed that you can't buy hair dye at airside chemist shops?