Use A Cleaning Cloth To Dry The Area
To keep the shower dry, use a dry cleaning cloth to remove the excess liquid. Run it over all of the surfaces in the shower, including the caulk or grout. Again, if the cloth gets too saturated, youll need to swap it.
To prevent mold from coming back, make sure to pay special attention to tiny corners and crevices. Also, make sure you do a great job of cleaning the areas where liquid tends to pool up.
How To Clean A Shower Drain With Baking Soda And Vinegar
While baking soda and vinegar will not remove hair clogs, they are effective for cutting through soap scum that coats drainage lines, causing them to run slowly. A quick flush of the drain every month will also help reduce odor from the bacteria that can grow in soap scum.
How To Get Rid Of Mildew In The Shower Drain
Lets begin.
1. Create the Mixture
First of all, you will need to make a special kind of mixture in order to clean the drain. Use a plastic cup for this step. Now, take a ½ cup of baking soda and mix it with an equal amount of water.
This will create a paste that is suitable for shower drain cleaning. Also, you dont need to stir too much, just give it a couple of shakes and the paste will be set to go.
2. Use the Mixture
Next, after you made the paste, it is time to use it now. Simply put, you will need to use an old toothbrush for this part.
Apply the paste on the toothbrush and start scrubbing the drain. The mold build-up is a nasty thing to clean with your bare hands, but it is not impossible to deal with.
Just scrub until you no longer see any dark-green build-ups inside your drain. Also, keep in mind that you dont need to stick your whole arm inside the drain, you just need to scrub the part around the hole, and a little bit inside the drain as well.
And, as you suspected, removal of the drain cap is necessary for this part as well.
3. Let it rest
When you are done with the scrubbing, it is now time to let the drain rest for a bit. The drain part of the drain that you scrubbed is now covered with baking soda paste. Therefore, you need to let it settle a bit.
That way, the paste will start dissolving the mold and you will clean your drains in no time.
Estimated time is approximately 10 minutes, so dont use your shower drain in that time.
4. Pour a gallon of hot water
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How To Get Rid Of Mold From The Shower Drain
There are different types of mold and all infestations should be taken seriously. If you find black-colored mold in your bathroom then you should stop immediately and inform a professional. Otherwise, if you are dealing with any other type of mold within a region of less than 10 square feet, then getting rid of it shouldnt be a problem.
Here are methods and steps on how to clean a shower drain:
Black Mold In The Shower Heres How To Remove It
By Jennifer First published: . This post may contain affiliate links.
- 2.9K
Showers are notorious for their gunkand funk. Sure, there are some super sparkly perfect showers in this world butthey are few and far between. Life happens and cleaning the shower ends upfairly low on most peoples list.
Enter black mold in the shower. Uggg.
Dont worry. It happens to pretty muchall of us. Even me. Yes, you read that right. I fight the shower mold fightweekly. Whoever thought that natural stone tiles in the shower was a good ideathought wrong.
Trust me when I saw that I have tried EVERYTHING in the battle against black mold in the shower. Im a pretty savvy DIY cleaning guru as well as a certified mold inspector. Youd think I would have this down to a science. Ha. Yeah nope. Every shower is different which is why there is no one size fits all approach to how to get rid of mold in the shower.
But never fear I will give you ahandful of shower mold removal options that WILL work. You just have to playaround and find the one that works in your shower.
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Mold Behind Shower Tiles
Mold growing on the outside of the tiles and grout of a shower and/or bathtub enclosure could be a tell-tale sign of larger issues. Most times, mold growing on the outside of the tiles indicates water infiltration behind the tiles, and a large mold colony is growing behind the tiles. If you clean the tiles regularly and start to see growth patterns on the tile in the same place every time, it may indicate water getting behind the tiles and creating a more significant issue to deal with. At this point, you will need to call a Mold Busters professional to come to your home and do a complete inspection to make sure you do not have a large mold issue. If you do, they will adequately remove the mold from behind your shower and make sure that mold does not start to regrow behind the tiles again.
How Do You Fix The Problem Of A Dried Up P
| Its important to properly clean a dried up P-TrapThe first step is using a flashlight to see what is down your linear drain. At the bottom of the pipe, what do you see? Do you see any water? If so, then the cause of the sewer smell is not because of a dry P-trap pipe. In this case, you need to seek the help of a professional so as to look for other problems.However, if there is no presence of water, then you most definitely have a hard P-trap pipe. Dont worry we have the perfect remedy on how to fix that! But before we dive into the procedure, we need to discuss two key issues. What is a P-trap and what role does it perform in the linear shower drain?What is a P-trap pipe? Well, its a pipe that always seems to resemble the letter U. The P-trap is attached to every shower drain in your home. It is meant to trap small amounts of water, blocking sewer gasses from escaping back to your lovely home. Sometimes, these P-traps may dry out and leak awful, sewer gas odors into your freshly smelling home. Fortunately, we have found that there is an easy way to solve this problem! |
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How To Get Rid Of That Shower Drain Sewage Smell
When you notice a strange smell coming from your shower drain, its time to take action before it gets worse. Most people encountered a smelly shower drain from time to time. If you want to learn the causes of the problem and the best do-it-yourself solutions, youre in the right place. Here is everything you need to know about how to safely get rid of that shower drain sewage smell.
How To Clean Mold In A Shower
This article was co-authored by Mike Kapur. Mike Kapur is a home inspector and the owner of Sonic Home Inspections, a home inspection company in Westchester, New York. With over 15 years of experience in pre-inspecting properties, Mike specializes in mold, radon, asbestos, lead, water, and air quality testing as well as hazardous materials, pest, infrared, and general home inspections. Prior to founding Sonic Home Inspections, Mike worked pre-inspecting apartments. Mike holds a BS in Accounting from Queens College and is a Certified Mold Assessor in the state of New York. This article has been viewed 26,823 times.
To rid your shower of mold, first use a vinegar-borax solution to kill the mold. Alternatively, you can use a vinegar-hydrogen peroxide solution or straight peroxide to kill the mold. Mold stains may remain after ridding your shower of mold. If they do, then use a baking soda paste to remove the stains. Prevent future mold growth by keeping your bathroom well-ventilated and by spraying your shower with a water-vinegar solution after you finish showering three to five times a week.
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Tips To Prevent The Smell In The Future
Follow these great tips to prevent the musty smell in the future.
- Ensure you regularly clean the shower and use bleach to disinfect and kill germs, mold, and mildew in the shower drain.
- Keep the walls and floor of the bathroom dry at all times to avoid creating a good breeding ground for mold and mildew.
- Always inspect your bathroom piping systems to check for any water leaks. Leaks encourage a damp environment which is not advisable for keeping off the mold.
- Ventilate the bathroom around the clock. Either by opening the windows or using a fan/ air conditioner.
- If your shower has grout, regrout the areas that have loose or broken tiles and spaces. This way, water will not be sitting there all the time.
Mold and mildew can easily grow from anywhere. They only need a good breeding ground which involves water or a damp area. Your best chance of preventing them is to keep the bathroom area as dry as possible.
Maintain regular cleaning to prevent any regrowth and always follow up with an expert if you suspect extended mold infestation. This way, they can check your piping all the way to your septic tank to avoid it moving to other rooms in the house.
Further Reading: Toilet & Bathroom Odor
Addressing Mold Or Biofilm
If you determine that your smelly drain is the result of mold or biofilm buildup, the first step is to address the debris thats causing the mold or biofilm to grow.
Use a snake down your drain to clear the pipe of any large debris. After youve done that, use a combination of baking soda and vinegar, followed by a flush of hot water, to remove any gunk trapped in your pipes. The chemical reaction of the baking soda and vinegar will also kill any mold or bacteria.
Once youve flushed sufficiently with hot water, you can pour bleach down the drain to eliminate remaining mold and bacteria.
Be careful, howeverif you mix bleach and vinegar, it will produce toxic chlorine gas! Be sure all the vinegar has been flushed away before using bleaching.
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Applying Fresh Paint Coat
Another strongly recommended way to treat musty smells and prevent further formation of mildew is re-painting the walls and ceiling. A properly applied bathroom paint that prevents mold can effectively inhibit mold growth to lower issues with indoor smells and keep your bathroom smell fresher and cleaner.
Experts recommend that you first treat the affected areas before you apply the paint. For the best results, you can even apply a mildew-resistant primer on your walls and ceiling to prevent issues with peeling in case of excess moisture formation.
Use The Cleaning Solution To Remove The Black Mold
Apply the solution to the moldy surface. Whether youre using vinegar, bleach, or borax to kill mold, be generous with the solution, but dont overdo it. There should be a visible, even coating.
However, if you use too much of the solution, the cleanup will be very messy. So, dont let puddles form.
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Scout The Area Infested With Mold
According to EPA guidelines, youre only allowed to clean out the area personally if the area infested is less than 10 square feet. This is because mold occurs under a metabolic process where active mold spores release tiny puffs of gas that could be very dangerous to your health once inhaled. An area larger than 10sq feet means a professional has to get involved.
Otherwise, you can move ahead with cleaning the area yourself.
How To Get Rid Of Shower Drain Odors
The first step in getting rid of odors that come from the shower drain is to identify the cause, if possible. Simply adding chemicals to the drain may work in some cases, but not for all of them. We begin with this as the first step in obtaining a clean-smelling shower. Weve used multiple expert sources to cover all of the potential causes of shower drain odors, how to identify them, and how to fix them.
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How Often To Clean A Shower Drain
Clean your shower drain monthly to remove trapped hair and soapy sludge. If there are multiple shower users with long hair, cleaning out the drain every other week is even better.
Clogs should be removed as quickly as possible using a toilet plunger, drain snake, or commercial solution . Slow-running or smelly drains can be easily cleaned with household products like baking soda, distilled white vinegar, or chlorine bleach.
One caution: Never mix cleaning productseven mixing chlorine bleach and vinegar can produce toxic gas. Follow the instructions on the label carefully!
How To Clean A Shower Drain
There’s nothing less relaxing than getting ready to take a nice bath or shower only to be greeted by a smelly shower drain odor. Even worse is realizing the water isn’t going down after you’ve already toweled off.
A clogged shower drain is a nuisance, especially if it happens frequently. Whether you have excess soap scum, long hair, or something else that’s clogging your pipes or causing a smelly shower drain, this is a problem that doesn’t go away on its own and must be handled immediately. Luckily, most shower drain odor and clog issues are easy to handle if you know how to clean a shower drain the right way. Then, take some precautionary measures to prevent a clogged shower drain in the future.
Understand that if you can’t get rid of shower drain smells on your own, the water doesn’t drainor worse, is backing upit could be an issue with the lines feeding into your sewer or septic tank. This is likely not a DIY fix, so it’s best to hire professional help. Just make sure you are hiring a plumber who is both licensed and insured.
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How Do I Get Rid Of The Smell In My Shower Drain
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Home » Bathroom » How Do I Get Rid of the Smell in My Shower Drain?
Theres nothing that can ruin a good shower than a smelly shower drain. The bacteria that feed on biological waste and debris in the shower drainpipe produce an odor when it starts to build up.
Other odors can be due to the debris and gunk itself. Mold and mildew will also thrive in the shower drain due to food sources from dirt and water, resulting in a musty smell.
The best solution is cleaning the smelly shower drain with baking soda and vinegar. However, sometimes, there could be an issue in the sewer lines that requires a professional plumber.
Luckily, most shower drain odor and clogging problems are easy to fix and the help of some standard household products. To that effect, we have provided a guide to help you eliminate the foul shower drain odor.
Problem #: Sewer Gases Are Escaping Your Pipes
If you dont have a slow drain, you most likely are smelling sewer gases, also known as hydrogen sulfide.
Dont worry, the amount youre breathing in isnt dangerous to your health. But the smell does indicate that you have problems somewhere in your drainage system. You see, your drain pipes are designed to prevent any hydrogen sulfide from wafting back into your home.
The problems you could have include:
- A dry P-trap
- No P-trap
- Sewer backup
Unfortunately, you can only solve the first problem on your own. The others youll need a professional to fix. But before you call your plumber, try the following steps to see if your problem is just a dry P-trap!
How to fix a dry P-trap:
First, shine a flashlight down your shower drain. Do you see water at the bottom of the pipe connected to the drain?
If so, you dont have a dry P-trap and will need a professional to inspect your drainage system for other problems.
But if you dont see water, you most likely have a dry P-trap. Dont worry, well show you how to fix that. But first, whats a P-trap and why is it bad if its dry?
A P-trap is a U-shaped pipe that attaches to every drain in your home. Its designed to trap a small amount of water that blocks sewer gases from wafting back into your home.
The P-trap contains a layer of water that acts as a seal. That seal blocks sewer gases from seeping into your home.
Follow these steps to fix a dry P-trap:
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Empty Your Septic Tank
A full septic tank has the same effect as a clogged drainpipe. Waste from the house drain start accumulating inside the drainpipe. If you dont fix it fast enough you will not only deal with a sewer gas smell but raw sewage will back up from your house drains which is not very pleasant.
Emptying a septic tank is however not something you can do on your own. Apart from a sewer gas smell, one of the other signs that your septic tank is full is very green lawns or water pooling in the lawns.
Finally
Although I have given you a detailed account of what could trigger a sewer gas smell to come from your shower drain, most of the time it is usually the biofilm/mold or issues with the P-trap. If either the vent stack or drainpipe are clogged, the other drains would also be affected and not just the shower drain. The same thing with full septic tank. You would therefore have a sewer gas smell in the house/bathroom.
