Mold on tile grout is unsightly, to say the least. It is typically caused by bacteria (that we all have growing in our bathrooms) combined with the hot, humid environment that our bathrooms provide, especially post-shower or bath.

Got Mold? Don’t worry, we can help.

We have a few quick, cheap and effective tips you can use to help get rid of mold in your bathroom.

What You Need

To properly care for your bathroom and remove the mold from tile grout, you will need:

  • A Good Scrub Brush

  • Baking Soda

What You Do

SCRUB the mold away, treat the grout between tiles with a paste made of water and baking soda.

That’s right – the most effective mold removal  tool we have is elbow grease. Apply the paste, wait a bit, and scrub the mold away!

For quality cleaning tools check out Maker’s Clean Premium Products. They are reliable and will never leave you hanging!

Mold Scrubbing Tips

  • Leave on for as long as you need to—for example, very dirty grout can use an hour or two.
  • Spray the tiles with water and use a scrub brush to clean the grout with a brisk back and forth motion.
  • Rinse well and buff dry.

    Once it’s gone, keep it gone.

    Once you have scrubbed the grout, you can prolong your mold-removing efforts so that you do not have to use as much elbow grease next time!

    If your bathroom is not properly maintained between cleanings, it does not take long for mold to come back. In fact, think of mold prevention like oral care—we have to maintain our teeth to keep plaque away.

    Like a dentist, I am going to suggest some preventative maintenance for you to keep mold out of your bathroom.  It only takes seconds to do and is much easier than what the dentist tells you!

    Turn the fan on & open a window

    When you have finished showering, turn on a fan or open a window until the humidity from your shower has dissipated.

    You need to have top-notch ventilation to remove the humidity and moisture from the air.  The lack of humidity creates a poor breeding ground for bacteria and is the easiest way to maintain your mold-free space.

    Mix Up Mold-Prohibiting Spray

    To doubly protect your bathroom, keep a spray bottle nearby and quickly mist the tiles and caulking after your shower with this natural anti-mold solution that takes no effort to make.

    The solution contains mold-prohibiting ingredients that when sprayed, protect your bathroom from becoming a breeding ground.

    You need white vinegar or tea tree oil, water and a spray bottle.

    Vinegar solution

    Mix equal parts of vinegar and water in a clean spray bottle.

    Tea tree oil solution

    Mix 10 drops of tea tree oil into a clean spray bottle filled with water

    • Place the spray bottle on the ‘mist’ setting.
    • It takes about four seconds to spray the tiles and then you walk away. 

    Now you are protected from mold

    These ingredients are cheap, easy to find and are highly effective. 

    I particularly love the tea tree oil solution, as I find the scent soothing and spa-like!

    If you’re looking for more tips and tricks to use essential oils around your home, check out our ebook, Complete Guide to Essential Oils, and take your scent game to the next level!

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Melissa Maker is an entrepreneur, cleaning expert, founder of Toronto’s most popular boutique cleaning service, and star of the Clean My Space channel on YouTube (but she still hates to clean!). Every week, Melissa delivers new videos dishing expert advice on cleaning products, tools, DIY substitutes, and practical, timesaving solutions to everyday problems. Melissa has appeared on the Today Show, and has been featured in InStyle, Real Simple, and Better Homes and Gardens.

57 COMMENTS

  1. Mold is an issue that plagues many households, causing headaches for property owners and occupants alike. Mold can cause respiratory problems, allergies, asthma, and even cancer. There are different types of mold that grow in different situations, some just need to be dried out while others might need to be scrubbed off with bleach. Finding the right mold inspection experts can help you identify the best course of action for your home situation.

  2. I appreciated your advice to use equal parts vinegar and water with 10 drops of tea tree oil to mist over your grout to prevent mold from growing. My sister lives in a very old condo and is wanting to clean it deeply to make her environment nicer now that she works from home. Since her grout is very dirty, it seems like she might benefit from hiring a grout cleaning service to do it for her.

  3. I have to agree that prevention of built up scum on grout lines is a must. The more you keep up with it, the less scrubbing you have to do when you clean your tiles.

  4. I think Baking Soda is a great great great remedy to eliminate tile and grout. It is readily available at stores, is cost efficient and always works.
    This should always be on every homeowner’s DIY list.

  5. I think Baking Soda is a great great great remedy to eliminate tile and grout. It is readily available at stores, is cost efficient and always works.
    This should always be on every homeowner’s DIY list.

  6. IVE TRIED THIS BAKING SODA AND VINEGAR SOLUTION, BUT IT DIDNT WORK VERY WELL. MAYBE I WILL JUST HAVE TO REPLACE THE TILES OR PAINT IT? THE FIRST THING IVE NOTICED WHEN I SEE THE PHOTO/VIDEO OF MELISSA WERE HER BOOBS!

  7. I sure appreciated your article on restoring grout. Here’s my experiences- feel free to edit or post if it helps people. To see these grout pictures, email me at Bill@ElegantCrystals.com
    Bill Kaunitz

    MOLD STAIN REMOVAL
    We just moved into a rental house that is 50 years old. The master bathroom shower was very clean, but the grout was really stained with grey and black lines and patches. None of the cleaners I tried worked at all. I just about gave up on removing the nasty stains, but it grossed me out so much that I kept doing research on the internet.

    grout black spots.jpg

    One great blog suggested the following, which worked like a miracle! Here’s the clean picture, after the work was done. I wish I had a complete “nasty” picture of it all from before the cleaning, but I neglected to take one. The difference is remarkable.
    grout- clean and finished.jpg

    Step 1: Buy a gallon of concentrated Hydrogen Peroxide, 27%, at a swimming pool or hot tub supply store. Just go to any place that sells hot tubs. Blackthorne Spas in Salinas, California, sells a two-gallon package of hydrogen peroxide for $34. That’s a LOT of peroxide. More than enough to do your whole house.

    Step 2: Clean the shower or backsplash to remove as much dirt and mold as possible. Don’t worry about anything you missed, as the stain removal process will finish the cleaning job for you. You can leave the surfaces damp, or wet- it doesn’t matter.

    Step 3: Dilute half a gallon of the peroxide to 5% strength in a plastic bucket or small WATERPROOF trash can. You don’t want to spill this stuff. To get a 5% strength, add 4 or 5 times the volume of water to the strong peroxide.
    NOTE- 27% hydrogen peroxide is a very strong chemical, which can burn skin instantly! Wear sturdy neoprene gloves for this whole process. If any peroxide gets on your hands, wash it off immediately with lots of water.

    Step 4: Using a good spray bottle, wet down the shower and grout lines with a thorough spray of peroxide. While it is wet, use long rows of paper towels to cover the walls from top to bottom. The towels will stick to the damp tiles, but you can use the sprayer to add moisture for better sticking power. Once the towels go onto the walls, keep them very wet as a dried out paper towel will fall right off. If you miss a spot, just dampen and add more towels in layers. This is kind of like making paper- mache.
    Smooth down the paper towels as best you can. The flat contact with the wall is very important. Please take the time to gently smooth each towel to remove air bubbles for good contact. Over the next day or so, the towels will hold the cleaning chemical in contact with the stains. This extended “wet time” is the key to thorough cleaning.

    Step 5: Every hour or so, for the next day, thoroughly spray the paper towels to the point where you can see a little water running down. Wear your gloves while spraying as the 5% solution can stain your skin and cause pain as well.

    Step 6: Switch to the full strength 27% solution after the first couple of hours. Spray this strong cleaner as before, just be extra careful not to get any on your skin. It will burn like crazy! Don’t let the 27% peroxide run down your gloves onto your skin. For any skin contact, immediately flush with lots of clean water. Use the 27% peroxide spray for a full day. I allowed 48 hours for the full treatment of bad black stains.

    Step 7: Allow the paper towels to thoroughly dry out to the point where they start falling off the walls. Peel them off, using your gloves if there is any dampness in the towels. You are done! Try taking some before and after pictures to remind yourself how effective this procedure is. You can use chlorine bleach instead of peroxide, it just smells way worse for a long time. Note- the strong peroxide puts out a lot of oxygen and ozone in the air. Use plenty of ventilation as the ozone can sting your eyes.

    Warning: keep the peroxide and wet towels away from painted surfaces. It can migrate under the paint and cause bubbles in the surface where the oxygen attacks hidden mold and dirt.

    grout and bubbly paint.jpg

  8. I was busy looking at her breasts throughout the entire video. Melissa is so cute! The video is very good and informative.

  9. I’ve always wanted to say thanks to internet and many thanks to all those who for heartful reasons take their time and share their knowledge to help others with everyday complications – Mellisa, you’re one of those who would save the dayCn

  10. Melissa,
    The post is great. However, in order to make your guides more credible, you may wish to doa bit of homework beforehand. Mould is not caused by bacteria; it is fungi (same as mushrooms) and it is a growing organism.
    Other than that, the post is great.

  11. I too have the same issue. What can I (we) do to clean severe cases? Also, as another PP asked, how do you do this for tiled walls, if the paste won’t stay in place?

    • All u need is bleach i prefer scented and a long cotton ball strip the kind u get from a salon store like sallys soak your cotton strip place all the way around tub grout or calking leave for half come back remove throw away no scrubbing involved u will be amazed white vinigar works great for ceiling and toilet mold. Happy cleaning.

  12. This is helpful, by learning how to get rid of black mold safely and effectively, you can protect the health of your family and the value of your home, without breaking the bank.

  13. Hi – we recently (in the past six months) removed/replaced the silicone coating along the grout line where the tub meets the tile wall, and now I think mould is behind the silicone….I think I know the answer here, but do you think we should remove the silicone, deal with the mould and re-seal, or forget about silicone sealant altogether and just keep the grout accessible to cleaning?

  14. This was exactly what I needed! Thank you! Unfortunately 80% of my house is tiled so I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me 🙁 hopefully this will make my job go a lot quicker.

  15. HOW MUCH WATER?

    Tea tree oil solution

    Mix 10 drops of tea tree oil into a clean spray bottle filled with water

    Place the spray bottle on the ‘mist’ setting.
    It takes about four seconds to spray the tiles and then you walk away.

  16. Hi there, I need help! I have tried lemon juice and baking soda… white vinegar… and it is not removing the mold in my bathtub at all (or maybe it is and just the stain is left?). I left on the paste for 8 hours today and it didn’t lighten the dark spots. Is is possible it got so bad that the grout will need to be removed and then replaced with new grout? Thank you so much for your help!!

  17. Really cool. I’m definitely going to try it. I’ve tried bleach for years and I think the only thing it’s actually done is shorten my life span. Thanks Melissa.

  18. Very nice post, impressive. its quite different from other posts. Thanks Melissa for sharing . You’ve taught me a lot with your guide. I will share this to my friend

  19. The grout cleaning was fantastic. I have spend a lot of money and tried different methods to clean the grout in my kitchen and nothing worked After using this method my floor looks like the day we installed it.
    Thanks for the great tip!

  20. yes good job
    the all mighty lemon to disenfect and extra all mighty baking soda cleans everything in a healthy excellent fashion thanks Ruth

  21. I noticed the grout molding after I cleaned the shower with tilex. Could that have stripped the sealer that was applied. Also after I get it clean should I let it dry and then reseal the tile and grout.

  22. Does baking soda react to anything else, such as bleach? Specifically, is it OK to clean the grout with baking soda, wipe it down, and then mop the floor with bleach water? Or do you need to rinse off all the baking soda very carefully first?

  23. I actually haven’t used baking soda on grout. I’m trying that out. I like the advice on prevention too. I know of 4 factors in mold prevention for your readers:

    1. Moisture
    2. Humidity
    3. Cleanliness
    4. Temperature

    source: http://removemoldguide.com

    I think you tackled at least 3 of the 4 factors in your post. Awesome!

  24. […] special thanks to the original pinners Real Simple & Clean My Space If you want to see the full article just click on the picture and it will link you right […]

  25. Hello,

    I visited your site and noticed you provide a lot of good tips for cleaning the bathroom, toilet, etc. HOwever, I stumbled upon a toilet bowl cleaner called NEVERSCRUB and thought it would be great for you to share with your readers! It removed all my hardwater and grime stains. I dont work for the company,. I am a housewife that swears by this product and figured you should share this too. I love your blogs!

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