5 Ways to Prevent Mold Growth in Your Bathroom

Because of all the moisture it receives from showers and baths, your bathroom is one of the highest-risk areas for mold in your home. Not only is mold unsightly, but it’s also unhealthy and can worsen allergies and respiratory conditions. Fortunately, you can prevent mold growth in your bathroom fairly easily with these tips and tricks.

1. Equip Your Bathroom With a Bath Fan

The key to fighting mold growth in your bathroom in reducing any excess moisture. If your bathroom is not already equipped with a bath fan, it’s highly recommended that you get one installed. A bath fan reduces the moisture in the area around it by literally sucking moisture out of the air.

2. Use a Squeegee After Each Shower and Bath

It may seem tedious, but this an important step in removing excess moisture from your bathroom (approximately 75% of it, in fact). Leave yourself extra time after bathing or showering to squeegee all the sides of the shower and tub.

3. Make Sure Your Bathroom Fan Is the Right Size

In some instances, you may already have a fan, but it is not actually the right size to be effective. You can find out your current fan’s size by looking at its CFM (cubic feet per minute) count, usually printed directly onto the fan itself.

If your ceiling is 8 feet tall, your fan’s CFM should equal:

• [the square footage of your room] x 1.1

If your ceiling is 9 feet tall, your fan’s CFM should equal:

• [the square footage of your room] x 1.5

4. Use the Fan During and After Baths and Showers

Warm baths and showers release a lot of steam into the air, and that moisture can lead to mold. Running your fan during a bath or shower can reduce the amount of moisture on the walls and ceiling that could potentially contribute to mold growth. It’s equally important to run your fan after your baths and showers as well for at least 30 minutes.

5. Seal Your Grout

If you’re like most people, you have tile somewhere in your bathroom. The porous grout between the tiles is particularly susceptible to mold. That’s why another crucial step in mold prevention is making sure that you re-seal your grout on a yearly basis to ensure that it remains waterproof.

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