What Is Pink Mold?

Many people ask what is pink mould(or mold) or what is that pink mold in the shower?  Pink mold also known as Serratia marcescens, is involed in different infections in the human body, most commonly urinary tract infections and wound infections.  It is commonly found in hospitals and other areas where infections are common(or commonly treated).

It prefers damp conditions and is found in many bathrooms and high concentrations were present in many hospital showers, it is commonly found growing in tile grout, shower corners and even in the toilet.  It feeds off of common bathroom substances such as soap and shampoo residue.

What Do I Do If I Have Pink Mold In My Shower?

If you have pink mold in your shower you should clean the shower thoroughly with a tub and tile cleaner.  Pink mold feeds on moisture and soap or shampoo residue.   Obviously within the shower you cannot remove the moisture, so you have to remove the pink mold food of the soap residue.  After the initial pink mold removal continue to clean your shower at least weekly(twice a week if it is extra humid).

How Dangerous Is Pink Mold In The Shower?

Pink mold can be fairly harmless for individuals who are healthy. People that already have a compromised immune system can be vulnerable, that is why it is important hospitals eliminate pink mold within their bathrooms.  The other group of people that are affected by pink mold in the shower are people who are highly allergic to mold spores.  Obviously, if you do have pink mold you want to get rid of it as fast as possible but do not be alarmed.

How Do You Get Rid Of Pink Mold?

If you find pink mold in your bathroom, in your shower or near your toilet understand it can be hard to eradicate once established, the quicker you take care of the problem the less of a chance it has had to grow and spread.  These tips are  very similar to our black mold removal tips.

To remove this pink slime mold from the area apply a bleach based disinfectant, completely rinse the surface and repeat the bleach application, rinse again and fully dry the area.  This will clean the mold and remove it’s soap and shampoo food source.

How To Prevent It From Returning?

The best way to prevent the mold from returning in your bathroom is to clean with a bleach based cleaner weekly, making sure to remove soap and shampoo residue.  This will remove the mold’s food source, without the food it cannot continue to grow. Also make sure you bathroom fan is strong enough and functioning properly. By removing the moist, humid air this will help minimize any mold growth including Serratia marcescens.

What If The Mold Returns?

In high use bathrooms which experience a lot of soap and shampoo usage and continued humid warm conditions sometimes no matter how careful you are the mold could return. It is recommended that if it does return clean it again with the bleach based cleaner(possibly with a higher concentrated one), also consider installed a fan that removes more air from the room at a time. Some of the low end bath fans do not remove the air quick enough. Also ensure after individuals shower they leave the fan run for at least a half hour afterward.

Aside from causing damage to your properties, mold can also place your health into havoc. According to some studies conducted, mold exposure can lead to cold-like symptoms, respiratory problems, nasal and sinus congestion, watery eyes, sore throat, coughing and skin irritations, and can even trigger asthma attacks. Definitely, a home couldn’t be considered safe unless it’s mold-free.

Mold removal experts agree that there are simply 4 steps toward achieving a mold-free home. These steps are embodied in 4 simple words: Contain, Kill, Remove, and Protect. Contain pertains to the step of protecting uncontaminated areas; kill refers to the actual process of getting rid of mold; remove means you have to throw away all those materials that have been greatly infested with mold; and the last step which is protect deals with the methods in preventing future mold contamination. Of the 4 steps mentioned, the “Kill” part is one of the most crucial steps.

There are different methods that you can use to get rid of mold and mildew in your home, if you have mold and mildew read our mold and mildew removal article. You can treat them badly by using bleach solution, one of the most effective substances in removing mold from any area in your home. Bleach solution is a combination of ¼ to ½ cup f bleach and 1 gallon of water. Scrub the mold-infested area with this solution, rinse it, and allow it to dry completely. Aside from being an effective mold removal, bleach is also a perfect disinfectant.

You can also try using tested homemade solutions: vinegar and tea tree oil. Vinegar can kill mold as much as 82%. It’s readily available and cheaper as compared to tea tree oil. Stop mold growth by using the mixture of vinegar and water when cleaning bathroom tiles, walls, and any other mold-infested and mold-prone areas. Tea tree oil is as effective as the vinegar but it’s more costly. You can zap out mold in an instant by using the mixture of 2 teaspoons of tea tree oil and 2 cups of water.

However, all means and attempts of removing mold will end up to nothing if prevention is not initiated. It’s still the best way in keeping a healthy and mold-free home. You can keep away mold from growing in your home and cause extensive damage on your family’s health by seeing to it that your house is clean, dry, and well-ventilated at all times.

Buffalo NY Mold Removal Companies:

1. Dave Matters’ Dry Basement Company – (716) 570-3236 – This company specializes in basement crack repair and other drainage issues, but also does mold removal and testing.  They service all of the Western New York area including Buffalo.
2. Damage Medic Restoration – (877) 809-0161 – Damage Medic Restoration does mold removal and cleanup but does not do any mold testing.  If you do need testing for the type of mold you may have to purchase a DIY mold test kit or call in a company that does testing.  For most mold removal jobs, testing may not be necessary and removal and cleanup solves the issue at hand.
3. Indoor-Restore Indoor Mold Services – (716) 745-4544 – 68 W Huron St, Ste 908, Buffalo – Indoor-Restore Indoor Mold Services provides mold remediation services as well as leak detection and repair, they also provide a variety of related services such as odor removal and air purification.

Water Damage and Mold Remediation Services

Water damage services will come in and assess the damage, fill out a water damage services quote and give you an estimate of how much the damage restoration will cost. Usually after determining the scope of the water damage they will begin by removing any puddled or standing water, removing furniture, carpeting and any other wet items. They will then bring in a series of fans to help with air circulation helping the place dry faster. Following this they will do a series of mold tests based on how long the water damaged property has had water in it. This will then be followed by an anti fungal treatment. If the water damage was so severe that the drywall needs to be removed they will often apply an anti fungal/mold treatment to the exposed structure.

If the water damage to your home or business (be sure to seek out a company that has experience with commerical mold services versus ones that specialize in residential mold remediation services)was caused by the fire department while putting out a fire some service providers will recommend a fire damage restoration treatment that will include removing the fire and water damaged materials followed by applying a special paint sealer that traps in the smoke smell, otherwise on days when there is a lot of moisture in the air you will still be able to detect a faint smoke smell.

There are different factors that will determine what your contractor will do, but if they are experienced and certified you will rest assured that they have your health and safety in mind.

Pink mold is also very common in hospitals, fitness facilities and other places were there are a lot of showers and such.

To rid your shower of pink mold the best thing you can do is clean the shower more frequently, since it is a shower you cannot eliminate the humidity or dampness, but you can eliminate the mold food.  In this case the mold food is the soap scum and residue the forms from shampoo and bath and body soaps.

Bleach based cleaners work best, if that does not work you can create a borax based paste from some laundry detergents.  Since some of these laundry detergents are harder to find it is recommended to try the bleach based cleaner first.  Bleach will usually clean the mold issues as pink mold usually covers only a relatively small area.  If you have a rather large coverage area skip the bleach and move directly to the borax based paste.

If the pink mold returns it is recommended to call a professional mold removal company to come out and analyze your mold issue, run a series of tests and come in and clean up the mold issue after properly identifying it.

If you do decide to clean up the mold yourself take the proper safety precautions or you may have to seek out hospitalization or treatment for mold exposure issues.  Get the appropriate safety gear, at a minimal a disposable suit, eye protection and breathing protection.  Without these basic items it is surely to cause you some mold allergies.

Continued water leaks will not only damage your carpet, but continued leaks can cause damage to your sub flooring and walls.

The first factor in setting up a water damage cleanup plan for your carpet is to determine the source of the water and stop it. Once the source of the water is stopped you will know the type of water. If the water damage is from a “clean” water source (for example leaking sink or pipes) or a “black” water source (contains sewage). Black water sources are a serious health hazard as they can carry dangerous bacteria and or viruses.

Do it yourself cleanup should only be performed on “clean” water jobs. Black water damage should be left to the professionals as there could be serious health risks if done improperly.

How To Remove Water From The Carpet

1) Extract all of the water possible from the carpet, ideally for large water issues immediately have someone begin removal of water with a standard household carpet cleaner (if present), while someone else goes to rent carpet drying fans and a water extraction unit. Most rental places will carry commercial grade units that work amazingly well.
2) After all possible water is extracted and the carpet fans have had a chance to dry the area a Biocide should be applied, Biocides generally are sold in a spray form. They help kill and inhibit growth of mold and bacteria with the carpet.
3) If possible monitor humidity levels within the affected area. This will allow you to know the affected area. This will allow you to know the affected area is dry.
4) Continue to circulate air and dry the area with carpet dryers, also consider a dehumidifier to remove moisture from the air.

If the carpet has been seriously stained the carpet may need to be replaced or the stained area cut out and replaced with matching carpet.

Cleaning Up Sewage Water Damage

Water damage resulting from sewer issues can be a serious health threat to the individuals cleaning it as well as the occupants of the house. All safety gear should be work at all times when remediating water damage via sewage affected water. This includes but isn’t limited to plastic gloves, goggles and a full face shield.

Contaminated objects that cannot be salvaged should be thrown away. Any items that are salvageable should be cleaned and dried completely. Once the the area has most of the objects/furniture removed it is advisable to call a company to professionally clean the water damaged area. This ensures are safety precautions are followed to safely clean the affected area.

If you are looking to remove mold from your carpeting, check out our related article  How To Remove Mold From The Carpet, that provided more details related to mold and your carpeting.

Carpet Damage From Mold

Mold that grows on carpeting that has not be properly taken care of after getting wet is very common. Mold loves carpeting! Carpeting cleaning mold isn’t an easy task. You simply cannot treat mold cleanup like you were cleaning your carpet from a pet stain or general soiling. You have to attempt to remove the mold as well as remove the odor. Remember there is also a “point of no return” where the carpet is too far damaged from mold that the only recourse is to remove the carpeting and having new carpet installed.

1. Secure – Secure the area, keeping family members and pets away from the area where you think you may have mold.
2. Test – Either have a professional come in and test for mold/mold spores or purchase a home mold test kit to test for the presence of mold.
3. Kill the mold – Areas where mold can be killed avoiding the hassle of removal
4. Remove the mold – Areas such as drywall where mold cannot successfully be killed the mold should be removed(suggested reading: black mold removal).
5. Prevent the mold – Fix issues that have caused the mold(moisture, humidity, mold food), this will ensure the mold does not come back.

With this article detailing black mold cleaning tips, we are assuming that you are doing the mold removal yourself. With that said remediation of mold of the DIY nature should only be done for Level 1 categories(or small isolated areas).  These areas should be no more than 10-16 square feet, think half of sheet of 4′ x 4′ or half a sheet of standard size plywood.

These molds are generally more of the visually annoying ones, often found inside bath stalls and showers, pose very little health issues and can be cleaned fairly easy.

Most people when faced with a mold issue like this simply apply a bleach based cleaner, wipe off the surface mold and call it a day! While somewhat effective, some better steps can and should be taken.

At a very minimum open a window(if you have a window fan that exhausts use this), use a basic white filter mask that can be purchased at any hardware store, rubber gloves and finally wear old clothing that can be disposed of after using.

Create a Borate based paste or Borax solution spray(suggestions below):

	Organic Kitchen By Upper… Organic Kitchen’s Organic All Purpose Cleaner…
	Organic Kitchen By Upper… Effective enough to clean the toughest dirt…
	Organic Kitchen By Upper… Effective enough to clean the toughest dirt…

Spray the solution(or apply the paste if using a powder form) and let dry, leave for roughly 10-30 minutes(somewhere around 15 is usually good).

All cleanup materials (rags, masks, old clothes, gloves), should be put into a plastic bag, sealed off with tape and placed into an outdoor trash can. This prevents spreading mold spores throughout the house.

Question #1 – How do I remove mold from silicone caulk?

The best way to remove mold from silicone caulking is to remove the caulking and replace it with a fresh bead of caulking. Yes this is harder than simply cleaning it it but it is the best way to do it and ensure it does not come back.

You should also remove any sources of dampness that is is causing the caulking to get wet (if possible).

A second option is to clean the mold off of the caulking. This is only recommended if the mold is very limited in size and growth. I would say anything that is less than five or six inches in length can be cleaned, then monitored to see if the mold comes back. If it does come back I would remove the silicone caulking and replace it with fresh caulking.

When you replace the caulking you should investigate the type of caulking you use. There are some new brands of caulking that are mold resistant or are treated with a chemical that kills mold.

As always if you are not comfortable doing the job yourself call a local contractor that has experience in removal and or working with mold. They will often know how to control the issue, remediate it and fix the ongoing issue that caused the mold.

How To Remove Mold Between Silicon Sealers?

If you have silicon sealers around your shower that have mold behind them then again you need to remove teh silicon sealant, clean up/remove the mold. Finally ensure the surface is clean and dry then reapply the silicon sealant to the surface.

With that being said I would not recommend very many off the shelf Citrus based cleaners, unless they specify directly that they control and remove mold and mold spores.

Some people make a homemade potion of citrus oils and hydrogen peroxide to remove small amounts of surface mold, mainly in their bathroom shower area. The citrus oils emit a pleasant smell and at least for the time being remove the mold that people can see. Overall, this treatment is a great way to remove very small amounts of mold.

As a long term solution I would recommend using a Clorox based cleaner and if that proves ineffective a Borax powder based laundry solution paste works best.  Borate is a highly effective fungicide that is highly recommended for removal of small quantities of mold.

Remember depending on the surface some items cannot be salvaged once contaminated with mold.  Drywall and cellulose insulation should be removed and replaced with fresh material after the source of the moisture has been found and fixed.  You cannot “wash off” mold from drywall.

If you house has larger contamination areas or you are not comfortable doing the mold removal yourself you should have a professional come in who is experienced with mold removal to run a series of tests and give a quote on cleanup costs.

If you do not find any mold in your basement look in your attic and everywhere else in the house. Look for discoloration on drywall, it could be mold or signs of water damage.  One square foot of drywall can contain more than a 1/4 million mold spores.  Usually where there is water damage if it was not fixed timely there is likely a mold problem behind it.

During the summer months basement mold is quite common as humidity levels are usually high and ventilation in the basement is usually poor. This can be remedied by having a dehumidifier that is of decent quality and emptying the collection bucket frequently.

Another great feeding surface for mold is a carpet that got moist, again usually in the basement or a house that is build on a concrete slap.

Once you find mold you can start putting together a plan on how to kill the mold depending on how large of a problem it is.

Once you find mold you should complete a test to ensure it is mold, a simple mold test kit can be bought online or at a local store and costs as little as $15.  Once you confirm it is infact mold you will want to kill the mold, this can be done with Borate or certain fungicides.  Bleach can kill mold but it does not work that well in a diluted form.  Mold spores usually penetrate into the surface it is growing on and the bleach will only clean the surface mold, which will likely allow the mold to grow back.

For small infestations of mold you can likely get rid of the mold yourself.  A small infestation is considered to be less than ten square feet and it is mostly aesthetic in nature.  I would recommend using a borate or borax solution or paste, this will kill mold in roughly 15 to 30 minutes.  Make sure you wear at minimum plastic gloves and a N95 or better rated mask. It is also recommended to wear old clothing that can be disposed of after getting rid of the mold.

For infestations that are larger that 10 square feet you should call in a professional to conduct a mold test, construct a remediation plan and if needed organize the mold cleanup tasks.