I have mold growing in the dishwasher…washing machine…and water/ice machine dispenser in the refridgerator…with 3 children each one of these appliances is used on virtually a daily basis. Any thoughts as to why?
Discussion Forum
Discussion Forum
Up Next
Video Shorts
Featured Story
The "She Build" initiative is empowering women in Seattle, WA by ensuring they have safe, healthy homes.
Featured Video
How to Install Cable Rail Around Wood-Post CornersHighlights
"I have learned so much thanks to the searchable articles on the FHB website. I can confidently say that I expect to be a life-long subscriber." - M.K.
Replies
Where in the DW and washing machine?
Odds are this isn't mold but hard water deposits or some such.
it's mold...
Where is it appearing?
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
A 10% bleach solution with a touch of dish soap does wonders. Rinse well. Do this regularly, especially with kids around. I like to put this solution in a spray bottle cause it spreads and covers better. Disassemble those infected parts and soak them for a while. Rinse well and reassemble.
Mold spores are everywhere. Everywhere. Even all over you. Effective cleaning is the best solution.
Course, you could have a particular infestation somewhere in your plumbing. What's the water source? Well? City? Pond? Some people have UV sterilizing lamps put on their pipes.
If a thorough and continued practice of cleaning doesn't solve the issue, spend lots of money having the water tested, cultured, etc.
Be careful with chlorine solutions in spray bottles - use good breathing protection.Per the EPA's site on mold remediation.Most authoritative mold remediation sites that I've been keeping an eye on have moved away from recommending bleach and towards good scrubbing with detergents.
What made the teaching of Jesus different and apparently so hard to accept then as now, was that it required a critical reassessment of the structures and values and attitudes of human society as his listeners and followers shared in it.
- Monika K. Hellwig
from Jesus: The Compassion of God (The Liturgical Press, 1983)
Without question, bleach is a very, very caustic chemical. You are absolutely correct in making warning about its handling.
Abrasive cleaning is an excellent method of cleaning. But a 10% bleach solution is one of the most efficient methods (when used correctly) of disinfecting. Especially when one deals with difficult to access areas such as up inside of detergent dispensers, corners of unreachable areas, etc.
It's important to not go beyond that 10%. It's very, very important to thoroughly rinse after. And then rinse again - five more times.
But for the OP, multiple locations suggests a common infectious source - or poor cleaning habits. Eliminate the cleaning issue first.
I used to have a front loading washer that the soap and softener dispenser would always get built up with a mold. Not until I disassembled the cover and soaked the parts in that bleach solution and sprayed all other areas did the problem go away. I also used a paint brush to get into the cracks with the solution, so that feeds into Bob's scrubbing based approach.
I don't know for sure, but I suspect bleach will kill most of what it gets to, but without scrubbing, it might not get everything.IOW, it's good for killing, but not so much for cleaning.And it's a bitch to rinse thoroughly.My own feeling is: scrub first and scrub well, hit up with a bleach solution if there are hard to reach areas/crevices, etc.
What made the teaching of Jesus different and apparently so hard to accept then as now, was that it required a critical reassessment of the structures and values and attitudes of human society as his listeners and followers shared in it.
- Monika K. Hellwig
from Jesus: The Compassion of God (The Liturgical Press, 1983)
It used to be (maybe still) the best means to clean deposits within the plastic tubes of clinical laboratory instruments. One would run their solution for a while to dissolve the various buildups (chemical, biological) that interfere with subsequent reactions. Then run the clean water for a lot longer.
It really has special cleaning powers, but as you point out, it can't be mishandled.
I'd still like to know where this mold is appearing.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Me too
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Well water, city water, rual water district?And if public are you near the end of a line without many other users?And exaclty where in each applicance is this mold?.
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Your maid isn't doing her job very well.
We had mold in our dishwasher...I don't know the cause, but I put a little bleach in and ran the short cycle. Problem has not returned in six months.
Where is the mold on the ice dispenser?
What brand washer?
Maytag had a recall for mold in their washing machines. Don't know about Dishwashers. In that your problem is with both appliances, I'd look for solution in what's likely a common water supply.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/maytag_lawsuit.html
IIRC, the Maytag problem was with mold forming on the rubber seal.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Yup--It was on the seal on their first generation of front loading washers. I have one.
Maytag agreed to a settlement. They came and fixed the unit free. It turns out that the rubber sealing diaphram did not really drain well, and so with the door closed, water puddled in the area. They completely changed the front door, the seal, and some other parts so the area drains.
Oh, yes. Earlier we had a bout with the electronics failing. We had a couple of free repairs there. It's my understanding that we were lucky. We got the first or second revision of the washer. I am told that the very first machines simply could not be repaired, and had to be replaced.
Use boraxo to clean everything up.
Less caustic than bleach.
Toss in some boric acid to help prevent future mold.