Pink mold can bring life inconveniences which cause potential harm to your family members who it comes into contact with. If you discover pink mold on the ceiling, now it’s time to take action and get rid of it to enhance good health as well as a conducive living environment.
Pink mold growing in most of our bathrooms comes as a result of warm environments, low air circulation, high humidity, and poor lighting. It is caused by a bacterium (Serratia marcescens) present in the air around our households. And if not attended to, it floats around the ceiling including tiles until it finds a growing environment, especially on warm and moist areas. Normal scrubbing of the moldy parts removes only the bacteria but doesn’t get rid of all inhibiting bacteria and that is why the pink color comes back after a few days. Therefore, you need to do a thorough cleaning in all means possible to get rid of it completely.
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Health risks of pink mold
If you come across a pink mold anywhere around your bathroom including kitchen and living areas, just get rid of it ASAP. Although this kind of bacteria isn’t as harmful as black mold, you can suffer a number of health problems if you happen to come into contact with it while in the shower or elsewhere in your house. The danger is worse for young children, elderly family members, pets or anyone having a compromised immune system.
Some of the risks associated with pink mold are:
- Breathing difficulties
- Gastrointestinal ailments
- Endocarditis
- Meningitis
- Sores or open wounds infections
- Pneumonia
- Osteomyelitis or bone infection
- Urinary tract infections (UTIs) and bladder infections
- Septicemia or blood poisoning
How to get rid of pink mold from the bathroom ceiling
If the mold covers a small area of about ten square feet or less of your bathroom, you can carry out the cleaning by following the right procedures. But if it covers a large section of your bathroom ceiling, be sure to hire professional cleaning services.
What is needed?
- Gloves
- Goggles
- Breathing mask
Steps involved are:
1. Spray all the affected areas with the correct cleaner
Consider using a disinfectant with a bleaching agent as a base, detergent mixed with a small amount of water, or any appropriate commercial cleansing agent. After applying the cleaner, wait for around 10 to 15 minutes for it to soak.
2. Scrubbing away all the bacteria
While gloves on and a brush, thoroughly scrub away all the pinkish parts including the surrounding regions. Proper scrubbing should be done because leaving any bacteria traces will lead to the regrowth after a short while.
3. Rinsing
Thereafter you can rinse all the remnants away with the normal household disinfectant to completely keep away the bacteria. Moreover, consider treating your bathroom (like with borate-based detergent) and follow the necessary steps in fixing the main cause of the pink mold.
How to prevent Pink mold buildup
Be sure to implement the following tips in order to entirely keep away pink mold from your compound.
- Always keep the bathroom areas like ceilings, shower curtains, floors and walls free of moisture by offering enough ventilation. In addition, after taking a shower, ensure that you wipe off all the wet bathroom parts.
- Make sure that you clean bathroom walls and doors at least twice a week by following this guide. Soaps, shampoos and other sediments buildup on the walls as well as other parts of your shower provide a room for bacteria growth and spread.
- Fix any faulty taps, pipes, and showers because leakages will lead to damping thus increasing the chances of bacteria growth. Be sure to hire a reputable and skilled plumber to deal with the leaking issues.
- Keep all shower curtains and carpets around your bathroom dry as well as disinfected always. Consider washing them at least twice a month to kill any remnant microorganisms.
- All infected or broken porous materials like bathroom ceiling tiles and sponges should be replaced once noticed as it’s almost impossible to get rid of bacteria from such kind of materials.
Conclusion
Severe cases of pink mold on ceiling tiles may require assistance from a specialist mold removal company. Always carry out a test every month for any bacteria in your bathroom including other places because pink mold isn’t the only threat! By following the cleaning guidelines above, you will enhance a home free from any mold attack and safe environment for your family.
