+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 25

Thread: How to Clean Mold

  1. #1
    Hostels's Avatar
    Hostels is offline Webmaster
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    San Francisco Bay & Amherst, MA
    Posts
    4,695

    Default How to Clean Mold

    Does anyone have tips for cleaning up mold problems?

    Any environmentally-safe solutions?

    Mold on ceilings & walls, in air conditioners... or worse?

    I've seen mold problems in a couple of hostels...

  2. #2
    santa klaus's Avatar
    santa klaus is offline Forum Guru, VC, DSO, MC
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Vienna, Austria
    Posts
    1,568

    Default Re: How to Clean Mold

    The most important thing is not to clean up the mold but prevent it in the first place. Thereīs little point in cleaning up mold if itīs only going to be back in 2 weeks.

    Youīll have mold if you have poor ventilation and/or poor insulation of windows and/or walls. You have to fix that first.

  3. #3
    Hostels's Avatar
    Hostels is offline Webmaster
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    San Francisco Bay & Amherst, MA
    Posts
    4,695

    Default Re: How to Clean Mold

    Good tip about ventilation & prevention. I'll add that to the Start a Hostel guide.

  4. #4
    aboriginalhostel's Avatar
    aboriginalhostel is offline Member (800+)
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Budapest
    Posts
    840

    Default Re: How to Clean Mold

    Quote Originally Posted by santa klaus View Post
    The most important thing is not to clean up the mold but prevent it in the first place. Thereīs little point in cleaning up mold if itīs only going to be back in 2 weeks.
    We have returning mold problems in the showers. It's been cleaned off regularly with special chemicals but the worse thing when it shows up on the allegedly mold-free siloplast. Then we redo the insulation in the showers again... and again...and again...
    "Home is a place where you would be always happy to stay."

    Aboriginal Hostel Budapest

  5. #5
    santa klaus's Avatar
    santa klaus is offline Forum Guru, VC, DSO, MC
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Vienna, Austria
    Posts
    1,568

    Default Re: How to Clean Mold

    If your bathrooms have a window, replace one glass with a ventilator. Make sure itīs a powerful one. Hook it up with the lightswitch and a relay, so it continues running for at least 10 minutes after the light has been switched off.

    If thereīs no window, itīs going to be more expensive. Youīll need to get ventilation with air ducts.

    In both cases, make sure the bathroom door lets air in even if itīs closed. The easiest solution is to cut off 2 cm on the bottom of the door.

    There is absolutely no way to prevent mold if the steamy air isnīt sucked out of the room immediately, especially in common bathrooms or in in private bathrooms of dorm rooms.

  6. #6
    Plakian's Avatar
    Plakian is offline Member (300+)
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    South coast of Crete, Greece
    Posts
    375

    Default Re: How to Clean Mold

    Klaus is absolutely right. But if Budapest has a fairly muggy atmosphere, especially in the winter, you will be dragging in damp air which will not help. In addition to Klaus' suggestions you could try a dehumidifier with the water outlet discharging over a drain.

  7. #7
    santa klaus's Avatar
    santa klaus is offline Forum Guru, VC, DSO, MC
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Vienna, Austria
    Posts
    1,568

    Default Re: How to Clean Mold

    Youīre not dragging in cold damp air from outside (that would be the worst thing you could do), but warm air from the adjacent rooms, replacing the damp bathroom air blown outside. In winter, when you have your heating running, that air is usually pretty dry, exactly what you need, so no problem.
    Last edited by santa klaus; 17th December 2008 at 9:24.

  8. #8
    gordo's Avatar
    gordo is offline Member (500+)
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Posts
    547

    Default Re: How to Clean Mold

    klaus is right... but sadly its not always that simple.
    we have mould problems in one of our bathrooms... though the one next door that almost identical (actually has more showers) has NO mould problem.

    guess which one has an extractor fan running bascially 24/7?
    yup, the mouldy one!!!

    you've also got to be careful which kind of paint you use in bathrooms... we found out the hard way when it started discolouring like 2 days after the bathroom was available again. bugger.

  9. #9
    santa klaus's Avatar
    santa klaus is offline Forum Guru, VC, DSO, MC
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Vienna, Austria
    Posts
    1,568

    Default Re: How to Clean Mold

    That sounds weird. Do they have identical building material? Maybe one has a cold wall (bad insulation) and the other one hasnīt? Maybe the heating in one of them isnīt working well? Maybe one is just used much more often?

  10. #10
    aboriginalhostel's Avatar
    aboriginalhostel is offline Member (800+)
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Budapest
    Posts
    840

    Default Re: How to Clean Mold

    Quote Originally Posted by santa klaus View Post
    If your bathrooms have a window, replace one glass with a ventilator. Make sure itīs a powerful one. Hook it up with the lightswitch and a relay, so it continues running for at least 10 minutes after the light has been switched off.

    If thereīs no window, itīs going to be more expensive. Youīll need to get ventilation with air ducts.

    In both cases, make sure the bathroom door lets air in even if itīs closed. The easiest solution is to cut off 2 cm on the bottom of the door.

    There is absolutely no way to prevent mold if the steamy air isnīt sucked out of the room immediately, especially in common bathrooms or in in private bathrooms of dorm rooms.
    That makes sense, cheers for that! But I guess we have to go for the air duct system then...
    "Home is a place where you would be always happy to stay."

    Aboriginal Hostel Budapest

+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 3 1 2 3 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts