How to remove mould from bathroom sealant ? (merged threads)

scotrae

I heard a lady with household tips speaking on our local radio the other day and she recommended spraying white vinegar solution along the sealant after showering etc.

Stompa

Softstuff wrote: »

it was a mould resistant sealant too.

Sadly, I don't think you'll find that makes the slightest difference - you'll still get mould.

Ishtar

We've stripped our sealant down and replaced with the mould-resistant stuff, and it has been fine for the past six months or so. It is now starting to show signs of mould, which seems to be growing from underneath - this is after treating the gap with mould retardant and drying thoroughly before applying the silicone.

My advice would be not to bother with the more expensive sealant and resign yourself to replacing it every 12 months or so!

D.

rachelleblondel_2

Borax is a natural mould killer/inhibitor and cheap too.

Softstuff

FZwanab wrote: »

what do you use to clean the area when you remove the old sealant. In the US they use alcohol, but what would be the same here? would white spirit be the same?

Manually removing the sealant (by scraping and peeling) worked for me, then after that I just cleaned it with an anti fungal agent. Not sure what the branding is for that in England, you'd most likely find it near the sugar soap in Focus though.

toasterman

Nobody's cleaned our bathroom in a while.. it's not years, but it's not recent. Anyway - we have this black mould-type stuff on the sealant stuff that you get around the outside of the bath/hand basin, and I was wondering how you clean it off?

I tried some Flash that says it works on floors, worktops, etc.. but it won't seem to get this mould off.

I went on a wander around Tescos today and found two potential products, that might help me..

1. Cillit Bang.
I'm a little worried about this as it seem to contain a few bad things, and looks from the instructions like it burns things off, rather than cleaning anything.

2. Dettol Mould & Mildew Remover.
This one confuses me. It states it removes mould, and that it can be used on white grouting, bath tubs etc.
It states categorically though that is not suitable for using on "rubber".

What do you get around the outside of the bath? Isn't that some kind of rubber sealant? Feels kinda rubbery to me..

Any help much appreciated.

lil_me

Eucalyptus oil or bleach.

(Of course both very strong stuff, care needed and colour test first using at own risk)

PasturesNew

Applied with a toothbrush!

Paulie'sGirl

Hi,

The white rubbery stuff around the bath is a silicone sealant. It should come good with bleach.

If the above methods don't work, strip it off (comes away easily with a stanley knife or similar), prepare with a solvent cleaner, keep perfectly dry and then reapply silicone.

PGxx

hostertlady

i tried cillit bang, flash and a few other things, the only thing that did it was pulling the old sealant off and scraping everything away and re-sealing and now it looks like a new bathroom.