What causes this and how to prevent?
#1
Member
Thread Starter
What causes this and how to prevent?
My wife and I have been living in our new home for about 9 months. It is brand new, no one else before us. There is a basement (unfinished) and about 1100 sq foot on the main level. There are two bathrooms which share an adjoining wall.
The problem is the bathrooms. One bath has no problem. The second bath has a problem with what looks like mold growing in the toilet bowl. (several dozen spots, anywhere up to a about 3/4 inch in size.)
Both toilets get moderate regular use. Why does this toilet grow the mold and not the other? How can I fix this and prevent it in the future? Well, obviously, a good bleach cleaner will clean it up, but I'm more concerned with preventing it in the future.
(I had planned a photo, but my wife cleaned it when I wasn't looking. )
The problem is the bathrooms. One bath has no problem. The second bath has a problem with what looks like mold growing in the toilet bowl. (several dozen spots, anywhere up to a about 3/4 inch in size.)
Both toilets get moderate regular use. Why does this toilet grow the mold and not the other? How can I fix this and prevent it in the future? Well, obviously, a good bleach cleaner will clean it up, but I'm more concerned with preventing it in the future.
(I had planned a photo, but my wife cleaned it when I wasn't looking. )
#2
Me Too!
Is it black and when you scrub it it looks like fibrous tissue that kind of floats in the water or gets caught on the bristles of the toilet brush? Mine also seems to be around the waterline and at the holes that the water comes through under the rim of the bowl. I ask, because I've had the same issue with one of my toilets since a renovation 10 years ago. Brand new toilet, and this issue has been non-stop for at least 9 years. Makes me crazy and I've tried everything I can think of - Emptying toilet & tank (turning off water) filling both toilet and tank with bleach letting it sit for hours; kept it away for a few weeks; then same procedure only using vinegar - kept it away for about a month. I've used the blue blocks you put in the tank - no help at all. I've used every type of toilet cleaner on the market and nothing has worked. So if Anybody has any other Ideas, I'll be following this avidly.
#3
Do you leave it without flushing regularly? Because that will expedite the growth of mold every time. I only know this because my toilets seem to have little boy pee in them every time I go to use one.
And if the porcelain is scratched the mold will grow in there first, so NEVER use an aggressive scrubber (one of mine looks like someone took a metal scrubber to it, and it's always the first to get nasty). If you don't have scratches and don't leave urine sitting in it, the porcelain coating may just be thin/nonexistent on that particular toilet.
And if the porcelain is scratched the mold will grow in there first, so NEVER use an aggressive scrubber (one of mine looks like someone took a metal scrubber to it, and it's always the first to get nasty). If you don't have scratches and don't leave urine sitting in it, the porcelain coating may just be thin/nonexistent on that particular toilet.
#4
This was a brand new toilet and the porcelain is pristine - no scratches. I've honestly suspected that possibly the "guts" of this toilet weren't finished properly because the "growth" of whatever this stuff is (and I've been told by some it can't BE mold because Mold doesn't grow IN water), I have noticed it seems to start at the water inlet holes under the rim and at the inlet at the bottom that forces the waste to the waste pipe - I don't know what the technical name of it is I just know that that area which you can only see the front opening of has at times If I've not scrubbed the toilet say for 5 days, become completely coated by this black filmy type stuff that looks solid until I scrub it and then as I said in my first post becomes almost like bits of fibrous stuff that sort of floats in the water and gets stuck in the bristles of the toilet brush. At some point when I googled this issue I came up with a discussion about whether there was a person with diabetes using this toilet (and there is) and that, THAT was what caused this. But I still don't understand what it is that I'm actually dealing with and why Vinegar would "kill" it at least for a while, but then it comes back.
#5
What's the inside of the tank look like? It might not be mold, it could be an indication of high manganese in your water. You could contact your local extension office and inquire about testing a water sample.
#6
I also get that in one of the toilet if not cleaned within 5-7 days. But the other toilets don't get it. I blame the room temp being too cool. Since I'm pretty much the only one who uses this particular commode and it's only maybe once or twice a day if that it never concerned me. I think Xsleeper has a point. Must be the water content and not being flushed often enough. I don't think waste being left in it makes difference. I usually submit to the rhyme "if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown flush it down". Mind you, I never do this in a public facility or another's house. Only my own.
#7
Member
Look in the tank you will probably see it growing on the tank sides at the water line.
Pour a couple cups of bleach into the tank so the gunk is covered with the water/bleach.
Then leave it for a couple days.
Will it kill it forever No but should delay it's return.
Pour a couple cups of bleach into the tank so the gunk is covered with the water/bleach.
Then leave it for a couple days.
Will it kill it forever No but should delay it's return.
#8
If it's manganese, bleach may amplify the problem. Bleach is highly alkali and it can cause the manganese in the water to form a visible precipitate.
Vinegar would be an example of something you could use to neutralize water that's alkaline, if you wanted to rinse after cleaning.... But do NOT mix vinegar and bleach as it can produce chlorine gas.
Vinegar would be an example of something you could use to neutralize water that's alkaline, if you wanted to rinse after cleaning.... But do NOT mix vinegar and bleach as it can produce chlorine gas.
#9
It is not inside the tank - and I did find the information about diabetics and toilet mold - it says it's the high sugar content of the urine that causes the mold to grow. Which in this case makes sense because my husband who is diabetic uses this toilet almost exclusively when he's at home. That same article says that it's a early warning signal to people who don't know or haven't been diagnosed as diabetic that they should be tested for diabetes.
#12
MB McProc, sorry, what you are describing isn't what I have going on at all. Mine disintegrates into nothing when cleaned, no weird fibers or anything like that, just black discoloration in the scratches that comes off easily, but looks gross. The toilet that gets more frequent use doesn't have this problem (and also gets flushed more regularly, so that's why I made the suggestions I did. Sorry I wasn't more helpful, hope you get it figured out soon!