Mold in the bathroom?

The bathroom at the apartment doesn't have a very good ventilation system. And by that I mean, turning the fan on does absolutely NOTHING to prevent steam build up. So it gets very moist very quickly if you take any form of a warm shower. Because of this, I'm assuming we now have mold growing on the upper portion of the wall in some places.

I don't know what kind of mold it is - looks like little grey splatters. I used a cleaner that had some bleach on it as best I could and that seemed to help a lot, but there are more little spots popping up in different places now.

I highly doubt it is more than just wall deep as the spots are very little, and where I scrubbed the crap out of them earlier more mold hasn't come back yet. The walls also don't have that "wet" look to them. But, it's mold, and that grosses me out to no end. Your home is NOT supposed to be moldy. Period.

There isn't any other mold spots in the apartment, so I'm fairly certain it is just being caused by the dampness in the bathroom when we shower. There was a spot of the same mold in the closet where Mike threw a still-moist comforter in the corner, but that was bleached and scrubbed and you can't tell it was ever there.

So, before I pitch a fit and freak out that there is mold and make the landlord unhappy, should I try to make it go away via the bleach/scrubbing method? Or would a mold-specific cleaner be better?

Also, any tips on keeping the bathroom mildew free in the future? In the summer we shower with the door open, but it has been too COLD to do that lately.

I wonder if a dehumidifier would help?

My sister in law lives in Japan where there is 100% humidity all the time and they have to have dehumidifers all over their house or everything starts to mold.

I have gotten mold spots in my son's bedroom on the ceiling above where his humidifier used to run. I set it on the floor now, but I easily removed it with a bleach and water solution and it has not returned since. I would try to clean it, then try a dehumidifer. It could be a fairly inexpensive fix for your problem if it helps.

I had the same problem and the guy came in, pulled the fan out and just cleaned out all the disgusting gunk. It works perfectly now! So maybe you can clean it? Seemed pretty easy, just unplug, clean, plug back in and replace cover.

Is the fan spinning and just not pulling in the air or is it not spinning well?

If you put a piece of toilet paper up to the vent you should be able to tell if it's pulling in air or not. Mine was pulling in air from one side, but blowing from the other as it wasn't enough room to pass air out.

bleach is the best cleaner, no need to waste your money on some gimmicky product just for mold :rofl1:

regardless of you bath fan, I'd venture a guess the air in the rest of your apartment is dry this time of year. The problem with most bathrooms is ventilation of course. I'd just make sure a regular old fan was turned on to blow into the bathroom after showering for a while to speed up the air exchange and get the moist air out and the dry air in.

If the rest of your apt gets moist, open a window now and again and let the cold dry air in. Never hurts to exchange the air in any house now and again.