At ProCare Restoration, we hear from customers about mold in the bathroom more than anywhere else. While mold that appears (or that you suspect exists) on surfaces and materials like wood, tile, and near your utilities should be dealt with by a professional mold removal Chicago company, the moldy shower curtain is a slightly lesser plague. Here’s how you can deal with it.
What kind of shower curtain do you have?
The most common “liner” material is plastic, but there’s often a decorative fabric layer that sits outside the tub or shower. Both of these can collect mold. Maybe in your college years — when you just didn’t know any better — you let that plastic curtain stay bunched up, the shower “open.” The water would collect over time and black spots would appear. That, for one, is definitely mold. Just as cups of water or plates of food grow mold when left to sit in humid environments.
Because these curtains come cheap, a lot of people will just buy a new one instead of cleaning it. Cleaning will save you money — who wants to spend twenty bucks on a new shower curtain once or twice every year? — as well as look better, feel better, and keep you safe. Furthermore, this is not a “green” practice. You can’t recycle those materials. You’re just sending your moldy plastic curtains straight into a landfill.
Make your shower curtain a part of your regular bathroom cleaning checklist
We’re talking weekly cleaning. You can spritz the plastic material (even if only on the inside) with your all-purpose cleaner (like OxiClean, Comet, white vinegar, or similar) and scrub with a sponge, before turning on the shower head and spraying off the product. Less often — every few weeks or so — you can machine-wash the fabric component if you have one. Use your regular detergent as well as a little something “extra,” like a tablespoon of bleach or quarter to half cup of vinegar or OxiClean. A washing machine very well may eat up your plastic liner, however, if you have a top-loading unit. Choose your materials wisely and even if you can’t see anything: always wear gloves!
