Pink Mold – Serratia Marcescens
Mold comes in all different colors one common mold found in showers is pink mold (or pink mould).
What Is Pink Mold?
Pink mold which is Serratia marcescens, is involed in different infections in the human body, most common urinary tract infections and wound infections.
Where Does Pink Mold Grow?
It prefers damp conditions and is found in many hospital showers, it is commonly found growing in tile grout, shower corners and even in the toilet if unflushed for some time. It feeds off of common bathroom substances such as soap and shampoo residue.
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.
To remove this 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.
Tags: pink fungus, pink mold, pink mold in bathroom, pink mold shower, pink mould, what is pink mold
Comments
Comment from Charles
Time: August 6, 2010, 12:43 am
Hi Mandy,
Unfortunately in this case the best way to handle this in our opinion is to remove the caulking, likely it was a cheaper grade caulking used. Lowes or Home Depot sells mold resistant bathroom caulking that is much better at keeping mold from growing.

Comment from Mandy
Time: August 2, 2010, 2:02 am
Hi,
I have this problem in nearly every surface in my house that comes into contact with water. My problem is that I can scrub it off of smooth surfaces easily enough, and I can kill it with bleach. However, on surfaces that are not perfectly smooth (like tiny imperfections in the caulk) it just turns black after being treated with bleach, and I can’t get it to scrub off. I’m pretty sure it isn’t just a kind of black mold, since it doesn’t spread, and it only turns black after I treat it with bleach or other bathroom cleaner.
Any suggestions?