Toilet overflow comes with lots of problems in your toilet. It doesn’t only contaminate the floor, carpet, and walls of your bathroom but also causes mold problems.
Mold is a source of great frustration for many households and it appears due to improper flushing and cleaning.
You can see different types of mold in your toilets such as
- Aspergillosis
- Cladosporium
- Penicillium (Blue mold)
- Stachybotrys chartarum (Black mold)
Mold takes shelter in the toilet bowl, toilet tank, water pipes, rim, and even your toilet seat. Blue mold is very common in some dump areas of your home such as walls having sealant, ceiling, and your bathroom.
If you encounter a mold problem in your bathroom after toilet overflow, here are 3 effective ways in which you can prevent it from happening again in your toilet.
So without further ado.
Let’s get started…
Table of Contents
There Seems Likelihood Of Mold After Toilet Overflow And How To Clean Them Permanently
Before handling the mold problem in your toilet, it is very important to clean all the sewage waste, and contaminated water thoroughly. You can go with our detailed guide about how to clean your overflowed toilet full of poop without hassle.
When the basic cleaning process is done and after sanitizing your toilet, let’s deal with mold in your bathroom.
But do you know?
What Are The Reasons Behind Mold Grow In Your Toilet?
The chances of mold growing in your toilet are high when you and your family members perform these common mistakes during using the toilet:
One of the main causes of mold growth is the humid atmosphere of your bathroom. Every time you take bath or wash your hand and mouth with warm water, it creates a humid atmosphere in your toilet.
Moisture also plays an important role in the growth of mold. Small microbes present in the air and your toilet sheet are a good source of nutrients for the mold and help to grow it very fast.
Other common reasons for mold growth are:
- Improper flushing habit.
- Not cleaning the toilet bowl and other parts of it on time.
- Throwing food items into the bowl and forget flushing it.
- Some people clean their toilet but forget to dry it off.
Some Possible Risk Of Mold Growth In Your Toilet
Mold is something that spread rapidly from one place to another. If you find mold in your toilet then you have to take some necessary steps to prevent them.
According to the research of the USA Environment Protection Agency, the pores of mold are available in our environment and don’t harm until they get shelter in a moist, humid, and damp place. It has been seen that mold starts growing after 48 hours of a flood, toilet overflow, and sealing in your bathroom or home.
Mold in your toilet causes some serious structural and health issues which are listed below:
- Mold in your toilet causes structural damage and it can spread to the other parts of your home if proper action is not taken against them.
- Mold-infected paper goods, furniture, and fabrics are hard to clean, and throwing them or dumping them as soon as possible is advisable.
- Mold is also a big problem for people with weak immune systems such as children, old people having respiration diseases like asthma, pregnant women, etc.
How To Get Rid Of Mold In Your Toilet?
Mold takes shelter in different places in your toilet such as
- Toilet Bowl
- Bowl Rim
- Toilet Tank
- Toilet Seat
- Toilet Water Pipe
Here I’ve listed some very easy and effective ways to prevent mold in your toilet permanently:
1. Toilet Bowl
The toilet bowl is also affected by mold. It could be blue, or black mold and to eliminate them from the toilet bowl follow these simple steps:
Required tools to clean the moldy toilet bowl:
- Bleaching Powder
- Hand Gloves
- Vinegar
- Scrub or Sponge
Step 1: To get rid of mold from the toilet bowl, first off, empty the water present in the bowl by pouring one bucket of water into it.
Step 2: Now take a spray bottle having vinegar in it and then spray some vinegar on the mold present in the toilet bowl.
Step 3: Wait for 15 to 20 minutes after the vinegar spray because it will kill the mold in the toilet bowl, Now take a toilet brush to scrub the area affected by mold, but there are chances of it growing again after a few days of using vinegar.
Step 4: The final step will kill mold permanently and it won’t appear again in the toilet bowl. Take one cup of baking soda and pour it into the water present in the bowl and mix it well.
Now leave it for 20 to 30 minutes and then scrub the toilet brush throughout the bowl. This will prevent the growth of mold permanently in your toilet bowl.
Also Read: Upstairs Toilet Overflowed And Leaked Through Ceiling[Do’s & Don’t]
2. Toilet Water Pipe
A toilet water pipe is a difficult place to prevent mold completely. You have to follow different approaches to kill the mold in this area.
The toilet water pipe is located inside your toilet and this is a hard-to-reach area of your toilet. To prevent mold in this area follow these simple steps:
Required Tools For The Process:
- Small Water Pump and Tubes
- Duct Tape
- Gloves
- Bleach
- Electric Tape
Step 1: Attach the tubes with the water pump using some electric taps.
Step 2: Wear hand gloves and turn off the water supply from the shut-off valve and remove the lid of the water tank.
Step 3: Now hold the flapper and stick it to the side of the water tank wall using duct tape.
Step 4: Now flush the whole water and empty the water tank.
Step 5: Now pour some quantity of liquid bleach into the bowl. You can make a mixture of bleaching powder and water if you don’t have liquid bleach. Just take one cup of bleaching powder and mix it with one gallon of water, then pour it into the bowl.
Step 6: Now put the water pump into the bowl bleach solution and connect its hose to the tank where the flapper rest.
Step 7: Now power on the pump to start the process. You have to pour more bleach into the bowl when the pump starts because it empties the bowl very quickly.
Pour enough bleach solution again into the bowl so that the bleach cycle continues through the hose pipe and it passes through the bowl and the water pipe inside the toilet.
Step 8: Continue this process for one hour, then you will notice the mold stain coming out through the pores of the water pipes.
Step 9: Now take the water pump out of the toilet and take everything out of the toilet that you have installed then flush the toilet and use sandpaper to clean the residue of the killed mold.
You are all done, this is a very effective process to prevent mold from appearing again inside your toilet water pipe.
Also Read: Toilet Not Used For Month: 8 Pro Tips To Keep It Usable
3. Toilet Tank
Required Tools To Get Rid Of Mold In Toilet Tank:
- Hand Gloves
- Bleach
- Scrub
Step 1: First wear hand gloves to ensure safety.
Step 2: Now turn off the water supply from the shut-off valve and remove the lid of the water tank.
Step 3: Now drain all the water from the toilet tank.
Step 4: Now pour the bleach solution into the toilet tank and scrub the surface of the toilet tank using your hand.
Step 5: Now start the water supply into the tank and allow it to fill till the label. Now flush the water.
Step 6: Now continue this whole process 3 to 4 times and flush it.
Now you are all done.
4. Bowl Rim And Toilet Seat
The Toilet rim is the upper narrow part of the toilet bowl, it consists of a water pipe inside through which the process of flushing happens. This method is also effective to remove mold from the toilet seat and lid as well.
Required tool to clean toilet rim and seat:
- Hand gloves
- Backing Soda
- Scrub
- Toilet Cleaner (Any Brand)
- At Last, A Plate
Step 1: Wear your hand gloves first then just close the lid of your toilet bowl and place a plate at the top.
Step 2: Pour a little amount of toilet cleaner on the plate and put a small quality of backing soda and then mix it well using a scrub.
Step 3: Now keep the plate down on the tiles of your bathroom from the lip of the toilet, open the lid and take some sort of mixer through the scrub and rub it with some pressure on the rim and toilet seat.
Step 4: You can also use a toilet brush to rub it again in a better manner.
Step 5: After rubbing leave it for 20 minutes.
Step 6: Now flush the toilet.
You are all done. This process can clean blue or black mold from your toilet rim and seat. To maintain hygiene and prevent mold in your toilet in a long term, you can repeat those processes once every 3 to 4 months.
Also Read: Toilet Overflow Bacteria & How To Prevent Them In Your Toilet
Conclusion
I hope this article will help you to understand why your toilet gets mold and what are some possible risks if you don’t take the necessary steps to prevent them from your toilet.
Molds are everywhere in our atmosphere in terms of tiny pores and they take shelter in a moist, and humid place. A warm atmosphere is more comfortable to live them.
They can affect several different parts of your toilet such as the toilet bowl, rim, seat, toilet water tank, etc.
I’ve covered some very easy steps to remove them from your toilet using your household supplies such as bleaching powder, baking soda, vinegar, etc.
FAQ
Q.1 Will A Toilet Overflow Cause Mold?
Ans: Yes, You will see the sign of mold after 48 hours of a flood, toilet overflow, and any place that is affected with water sealant.
Q.2 Is Mold In The Toilet Dangerous?
Ans: Definitely yes, mold causes some allergic reactions to the body of those people having a weak immune system and also causes costly structural damage to your property.
Q.3 What Is The Difference Between Mildew And Mold?
Ans: The term Mildew consists of some specific species of mold which grow in highly humid and moist places such as shower walls, wash basins, etc. Whereas Mold consists of all kinds of fungi that grow on clothes, ceilings, walls, floors, paper, etc.
