I've got black mildew stains on the grout and a couple other places in
my bathroom over the bathtub. Tilex isn't removing them.

Is there something better I can use?

Is X-14 really better than Tilex, or is it the same stuff?

Thanks in advance!


--
Steven L.
Email:
Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.

Steven L. wrote:
I've got black mildew stains on the grout and a couple other places in
my bathroom over the bathtub. Tilex isn't removing them.

Is there something better I can use?

Is X-14 really better than Tilex, or is it the same stuff?

Thanks in advance!


Bleach kills it.

Steven L. wrote:
I've got black mildew stains on the grout and a couple other places in
my bathroom over the bathtub. Tilex isn't removing them.

Is there something better I can use?

Is X-14 really better than Tilex, or is it the same stuff?

Thanks in advance!


Tilex mildew formula is bleach and lye. It should have a long shelf
life, but the high pH makes it harsh to work with and limits its efficiency.

X-14 is bleach and washing soda. It should be more effective and less
harsh than bleach and lye, but it would go bad sooner on the shelf.

There's something cheaper, milder to work with, and more effective:
equal parts bleach and baking soda in water. You mix a little when you
need it because its shelf life is in hours.

If you have a bad stain, a paste of baking soda and bleach should remove it.

Another approach uses borax in water. You can't dissolve much borax in
water, but a little goes a long way. Adding a little vinegar or ammonia
to the borax solution can help it clean better. If you clean with borax
and don't rinse, you may find that it's a long time before mildew will
grow there again.

In article ,
E Z Peaces wrote:

There's something cheaper, milder to work with, and more effective:
equal parts bleach and baking soda in water. You mix a little when you
need it because its shelf life is in hours.

A good thing to know. What's the water percentage?

On Aug 19, 10:12*am, "Steven L." wrote:
I've got black mildew stains on the grout and a couple other places in
my bathroom over the bathtub. *Tilex isn't removing them.

Is there something better I can use?

Is X-14 really better than Tilex, or is it the same stuff?

Thanks in advance!

--
Steven L.
Email:
Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.

Is it possible a sealer is keeping the tilex away from the mold,
household bleach[ sodium hypochlorate] does its alot cheaper and
works. You pay 10x as much for tilex and its no better, if bleach wont
do it I can only guess its been sealed with some type of sealer. The
active ingrediant of bleach is what many other products use, but you
overpay for them.

Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
E Z Peaces wrote:

There's something cheaper, milder to work with, and more effective:
equal parts bleach and baking soda in water. You mix a little when you
need it because its shelf life is in hours.

A good thing to know. What's the water percentage?

It depends on the use. If I have ziplock freezer bags that are
perfectly good except that they have contained food, I use a tablespoon
of bleach and a tablespoon of baking soda in a gallon of water in a tub
in the sink. It's easy on the hands, does a better job than dishwashing
detergent, and rinses off easily.

To clean and disinfect a cutting board, I don't use water. I put the
board in the sink and put on a teaspoon of baking soda. I spread it a
little so it will catch a teaspoon of bleach when I put it on. I use an
old toothbrush to spread the mixture on the board. After a minute or
two I rinse.

E Z Peaces wrote:
Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
E Z Peaces wrote:

There's something cheaper, milder to work with, and more effective:
equal parts bleach and baking soda in water. You mix a little when
you need it because its shelf life is in hours.

A good thing to know. What's the water percentage?

It depends on the use. If I have ziplock freezer bags that are
perfectly good except that they have contained food, I use a tablespoon
of bleach and a tablespoon of baking soda in a gallon of water in a tub
in the sink. It's easy on the hands, does a better job than dishwashing
detergent, and rinses off easily.

To clean and disinfect a cutting board, I don't use water. I put the
board in the sink and put on a teaspoon of baking soda. I spread it a
little so it will catch a teaspoon of bleach when I put it on. I use an
old toothbrush to spread the mixture on the board. After a minute or
two I rinse.

To clean cutting board, I use 3M scrubber as I wash dishes, quickly with
hot water and Dawn. Rinse quickly with cool water, drain dry or wipe.
Not wet long enough to be bothered by the water. I am especially
careful to scrub hard if I have cut meat on the board.

wrote in message
...
E Z Peaces wrote:
Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
E Z Peaces wrote:

There's something cheaper, milder to work with, and more effective:
equal parts bleach and baking soda in water. You mix a little when you
need it because its shelf life is in hours.

A good thing to know. What's the water percentage?

It depends on the use. If I have ziplock freezer bags that are perfectly
good except that they have contained food, I use a tablespoon of bleach
and a tablespoon of baking soda in a gallon of water in a tub in the
sink. It's easy on the hands, does a better job than dishwashing
detergent, and rinses off easily.

To clean and disinfect a cutting board, I don't use water. I put the
board in the sink and put on a teaspoon of baking soda. I spread it a
little so it will catch a teaspoon of bleach when I put it on. I use an
old toothbrush to spread the mixture on the board. After a minute or two
I rinse.

To clean cutting board, I use 3M scrubber as I wash dishes, quickly with
hot water and Dawn. Rinse quickly with cool water, drain dry or wipe. Not
wet long enough to be bothered by the water. I am especially careful to
scrub hard if I have cut meat on the board.

I think the most important thing (after washing very well with hot water
and detergent and rinsing it well) is allowing the board to totally DRY out
afterwards. Not just wiped dry, but allowed to air dry completely before
using it again.

--

Evelyn

"Even as a mother protects with her life her only child, So with a boundless
heart let one cherish all living beings." --Sutta Nipata 1.8

Evelyn wrote:
wrote in message
...
E Z Peaces wrote:
Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
E Z Peaces wrote:

There's something cheaper, milder to work with, and more effective:
equal parts bleach and baking soda in water. You mix a little when
you need it because its shelf life is in hours.

A good thing to know. What's the water percentage?

It depends on the use. If I have ziplock freezer bags that are
perfectly good except that they have contained food, I use a
tablespoon of bleach and a tablespoon of baking soda in a gallon of
water in a tub in the sink. It's easy on the hands, does a better
job than dishwashing detergent, and rinses off easily.

To clean and disinfect a cutting board, I don't use water. I put the
board in the sink and put on a teaspoon of baking soda. I spread it a
little so it will catch a teaspoon of bleach when I put it on. I use
an old toothbrush to spread the mixture on the board. After a minute
or two I rinse.

To clean cutting board, I use 3M scrubber as I wash dishes, quickly
with hot water and Dawn. Rinse quickly with cool water, drain dry or
wipe. Not wet long enough to be bothered by the water. I am
especially careful to scrub hard if I have cut meat on the board.

I think the most important thing (after washing very well with hot
water and detergent and rinsing it well) is allowing the board to
totally DRY out afterwards. Not just wiped dry, but allowed to air dry
completely before using it again.


Good advice, but not the most important thing. My concerns with a wood
cutting board are the fine cuts into the wood that can harbor e-coli or
salmonella, esp. when cutting meat. That is why I use the 3M pad with
hot soapy water - friction to remove meat residue and the abrasion to
smooth surface of wood. I don't go at it hard enough to abrade the
wood, but figure it is equal to whatever fine cuts I have just made with
a sharp knife. E-coli and salmonella are about the nastiest stuff found
in food products, and not likely to disappear in mass-processed
food...one small contaminated batch from a small supplier can
contaminate a huge amount of food when it goes to the big companies that
package it.

wrote in message
...
Evelyn wrote:
wrote in message
...
E Z Peaces wrote:
Smitty Two wrote:
In article ,
E Z Peaces wrote:

There's something cheaper, milder to work with, and more effective:
equal parts bleach and baking soda in water. You mix a little when
you need it because its shelf life is in hours.

A good thing to know. What's the water percentage?

It depends on the use. If I have ziplock freezer bags that are
perfectly good except that they have contained food, I use a tablespoon
of bleach and a tablespoon of baking soda in a gallon of water in a tub
in the sink. It's easy on the hands, does a better job than
dishwashing detergent, and rinses off easily.

To clean and disinfect a cutting board, I don't use water. I put the
board in the sink and put on a teaspoon of baking soda. I spread it a
little so it will catch a teaspoon of bleach when I put it on. I use
an old toothbrush to spread the mixture on the board. After a minute
or two I rinse.

To clean cutting board, I use 3M scrubber as I wash dishes, quickly with
hot water and Dawn. Rinse quickly with cool water, drain dry or wipe.
Not wet long enough to be bothered by the water. I am especially
careful to scrub hard if I have cut meat on the board.

I think the most important thing (after washing very well with hot water
and detergent and rinsing it well) is allowing the board to totally DRY
out afterwards. Not just wiped dry, but allowed to air dry completely
before using it again.


Good advice, but not the most important thing. My concerns with a wood
cutting board are the fine cuts into the wood that can harbor e-coli or
salmonella, esp. when cutting meat. That is why I use the 3M pad with hot
soapy water - friction to remove meat residue and the abrasion to smooth
surface of wood. I don't go at it hard enough to abrade the wood, but
figure it is equal to whatever fine cuts I have just made with a sharp
knife. E-coli and salmonella are about the nastiest stuff found in food
products, and not likely to disappear in mass-processed food...one small
contaminated batch from a small supplier can contaminate a huge amount of
food when it goes to the big companies that package it.



That is why I go for what you said, scrubbing well, PLUS the thorough
drying. Most of those germs die on a dry surface. Another thing; I
read that wood has a certain natural antibiotic property. There was a test
somewhere in which they tested the bacteria on a wooden cutting board versus
a plastic one. The wood was safer!!!! That was when I went back to my
old favorite wooden board.

I do have several, so if one cutting board is still wet after using it to
cut raw meat, I switch to another.

--

Evelyn

"Even as a mother protects with her life her only child, So with a boundless
heart let one cherish all living beings." --Sutta Nipata 1.8

On Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:50:15 -0400, against all advice, something
compelled " , to
say:

Good advice, but not the most important thing. My concerns with a wood
cutting board are the fine cuts into the wood that can harbor e-coli or
salmonella, esp. when cutting meat.



I solve that by not cutting meat on a wood board.




--

Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will
have to ram it down their throats.
- Howard Aiken

Steve Daniels wrote in
:

On Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:50:15 -0400, against all advice, something
compelled " , to
say:

Good advice, but not the most important thing. My concerns with
a wood cutting board are the fine cuts into the wood that can
harbor e-coli or salmonella, esp. when cutting meat.



I solve that by not cutting meat on a wood board.


but the wood draws away moisture from the bacteria and kills them quicker
than the plastic boards. Plastic boards still have fine cuts that harbor
bacteria. I've read that plastic boards retain bacteria longer than wood
boards,after cleaning.

but what has this to do with bathroom mildew?
do you do your food processing there?

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Jim Yanik wrote:
Steve Daniels wrote in
:

On Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:50:15 -0400, against all advice, something
compelled " , to
say:

Good advice, but not the most important thing. My concerns with
a wood cutting board are the fine cuts into the wood that can
harbor e-coli or salmonella, esp. when cutting meat.


I solve that by not cutting meat on a wood board.


but the wood draws away moisture from the bacteria and kills them quicker
than the plastic boards. Plastic boards still have fine cuts that harbor
bacteria. I've read that plastic boards retain bacteria longer than wood
boards,after cleaning.

but what has this to do with bathroom mildew?
do you do your food processing there?


No....we're just dedicated germ-fighters )

Jim Yanik wrote:
Steve Daniels wrote in
:

On Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:50:15 -0400, against all advice, something
compelled " , to
say:

Good advice, but not the most important thing. My concerns with
a wood cutting board are the fine cuts into the wood that can
harbor e-coli or salmonella, esp. when cutting meat.


I solve that by not cutting meat on a wood board.


but the wood draws away moisture from the bacteria and kills them quicker
than the plastic boards. Plastic boards still have fine cuts that harbor
bacteria. I've read that plastic boards retain bacteria longer than wood
boards,after cleaning.

Doesn't the FDA mandate plastic? If you're fixing a meal, how are you
going to let a wooden board dry between cuttings? Drying won't kill
spores, and the wood could absorb fat that harbored bacteria.

I switched to plastic long ago. With either kind, the recommended way
to sanitize is to put a tablespoon of bleach in a quart of water and let
it sit on the board several minutes. If you don't dilute it, the pH
will be too high for it to work efficiently. But when you dilute it,
you need a lot of water in contact for several minutes.

Baking soda brings the pH down to about 8 without diluting. The mixture
bleaches very quickly. To test, I mixed a teaspoon of bleach and a
teaspoon of baking soda in a glass. I dropped a little on a white
enamel surface with a brown stain I couldn't wash off. As soon as I
applied a drop with one hand, I wiped it off with the other. Contact
time was about two seconds, and the stain was completely gone where the
bleach had been.

If I still had a wooden board, I'd use bleach and baking soda to
disinfect it because I could rinse it off immediately.

On Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:16:47 -0700, Steve Daniels
wrote:

On Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:50:15 -0400, against all advice, something
compelled " , to
say:

Good advice, but not the most important thing. My concerns with a wood
cutting board are the fine cuts into the wood that can harbor e-coli or
salmonella, esp. when cutting meat.



I solve that by not cutting meat on a wood board.


Wood harbor less bacteria than the plastic boards. I use a board for
meat and another for vegetables. I got food poisoning twice from
eating in restaurants, but yet to get it at home.

Phisherman wrote:
On Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:16:47 -0700, Steve Daniels
wrote:

On Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:50:15 -0400, against all advice, something
compelled " , to
say:

Good advice, but not the most important thing. My concerns with a wood
cutting board are the fine cuts into the wood that can harbor e-coli or
salmonella, esp. when cutting meat.


I solve that by not cutting meat on a wood board.


Wood harbor less bacteria than the plastic boards. I use a board for
meat and another for vegetables. I got food poisoning twice from
eating in restaurants, but yet to get it at home.

By gouging the wood, the scientists found living bacteria long after
using a cutting board.

Cleaning was done with a sponge and dishwashing detergent. I can see
what happened. Water sealed the bacteria temporarily into the cuts in
the wood by making it swell.

I might ask if they tried any wooden boards that had been used for a
thousand meals. I think they would have cuts that wouldn't seal by
swelling.

They said it was in some cases possible to disinfect a wood board, but
not plastic, in a microwave. That sounds biased. You would have to
have a wooden board that would fit in your microwave and be willing to
risk it. Meanwhile, why couldn't it be done with plastic?

They said plastic could be cleaned effectively in a dishwasher, so the
real problem is that cleaning with a sponge and dishwashing detergent is
lame. Diswashing detergent won't remove stains from my white cutting
board, but bleach and baking soda works in seconds. It should be
equally effective on bacteria.

A statistical study found that people with plastic or glass cutting
boards were equally likely to get salmonella poisoning. Wait a minute,
glass wouldn't have cuts! People with glass or plastic boards were
twice as likely as average to get salmonella poisoning, while people
with wooden boards were half as likely.

The study also found that it made no difference if the person cleaned
the board after cutting raw meat. So a person who cuts raw chicken on
glass and washes it before cutting anything else is four times more
likely to get salmonella poisoning than one who cuts raw chicken on a
wooden board and then cuts other things without cleaning it!

A person who eats undercooked chicken is 23 times more likely to get
salmonella poisoning than one who doesn't. So I think the statistics do
not mean glass is unsafe. Rather, people with glass or plastic boards
are more likely to undercook their chicken.