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Cleaning Tips Bathrooms

Carrera marble and mildew grout....Help!!

6 years ago

We have a gorgeous carrera marble master bathroom in the new house we just bought. The marble is everywhere...the floors, countertop, shower walls and tiled in a herringbone pattern on the floor. It's one of the reasons we bought the house, it's so pretty.

I hate it now! The grout is getting pinky mildew all over. Some mildew spots on the grout are turning black! I'm paranoid about using anything harsh or acidic on it, per all my research. I have basically used a Norwex cloth or Dawn dish soap and a toothbrush to clean the shower since we moved in which as you can imagine, is not disinfecting or helping with the discoloration of the grout at all. The shower grout is screaming for a good "bleach scrubbing" but I can't do that!

I read you could use a small paste of baking soda on the grout but not to get any on the tile. How would that work?! That seems impossible. I'm so scared I will etch or ruin this expensive marble.

Please help! Surely we are not the only ones with this issue! My husband and I are convinced the previous owners moved because of the high maintenance master bath.. lol now I know I would never install a carrera marble shower!! Argh!

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Comments (4)

PRO
Subscription Cleaning
6 years ago
Try a product like Marblelife Mold & Mildew Cleaner Available on amazon. Test it in a non visible place. I most definitely would not want have mold growing in the bathroom. Sounds difficult and disappointing...
lindac92
6 years ago
there are grout sealants you can apply, but first you have to get rid of the mold. Baking soda won't hurt marble....nor will it kill the mold. Vinegar will etch marble...as will any of the "scrubbing bubbles" cleaners.
I suggest after a toothbrush cleaning you address the ventilation in the shower...does the door go to the top? can you leave the door open between showers?
Perhaps a steam cleaner will kill the mold....and it won't hurt your shower.
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Dottie - I could not have done this without an educated designer - it's not just about the design choices although I would never have come up with design choices as my brain isn't hardwired in those kinds of visually imaginative ways. I can appreciate things but I don't know how to pull them together and I wouldn't have the ability to figure out where to even start in terms of the sea of vendors. I am good about researching appliances and functions but get lost in the sea of visual possibilities :-) And I can't even imagine dealing with codes and such since Los Angeles is code crazy - I wanted to move some floor electrical outlets up a bit from the floor as I found it difficult to reach them when I had some hip issues so I was thinking about for the future - I was told that if I move a plug, the whole thing has to be rewired back to the panel box. And the darn kitchen sink has to be approved by the UL LOL - who would think a kitchen sink could be dangerous.
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Patricia Kuehne
6 years ago
If you have a mold problem, you have an even greater problem. Water leak. I would have never bought a house with this much marble. Marble is a soft material and will scratch easily. Where there is mold there is water.
Matt Garrity
5 years ago
Ignore the catastrophic claim here unless u see mold everywhere or on ceiling etc, baking soda has worked for me and u will need to remove all the caulk and recaulk each year. Ventilation is key as well as cleaning the tile each week, find a safe product to use.

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