Its that time again here in the South, when the weather changes on the hour and you don’t know whether it is going to be 20 degrees one day or 75 the next. There was a break in the rain today (it has been raining for about two weeks on and off) and I decided that I would remove the green and black stuff from my house. Yes, I am doing outdoor work in December, that is a little strange for most, but here in SC it is 70 degrees outside.

There are a few tools you will want to pick up from the hardware store before starting this adventure. I like to get at least a gallon of either germicidal or outdoor use Clorox, a 5 gallon bucket, a soft wash brush on a broom stick, and a pump sprayer.
I mix the bleach in a 4 parts water/1 part bleach mixture in both the 5 gallon bucket and the pump sprayer. For most of the house I use the sprayer, moving in a back and forth motion on all the mold and mildew I can see. I let the mixture sit for about 15 minutes before washing it off with a water hose. If I run into a particularly dirty area I use the brush to assist in the removal of the mold. * If you have a pressure washer, of course use it, just add bleach to the cleaner tub on the washer. * If you miss any spots, or if you have some stubborn spots just repeat the steps of bleaching and waiting…if it is mold or mildew it will eventually come off.

*I usually do this project in 60-70 degree weather because if it is hot the water tends to evaporate from the bleach, and if its too cold it is just plain uncomfortable to work with water. If possible do this job in temperate weather.

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I had someone ask me to post something about the pink stain on their tile grout the other day. I have done a little internet research on the mysterious pink stain and found that it is a bacteria that likes wet areas (like your shower). The name of this bacteria is Serratia marcescens, it is a pink slimy bacteria that likes wet tile grout. Removing it can be done with a bleach based cleaner, according to Wiki. The person requesting this information told me that the bleach based cleaner did not work on his particular stain. If you run into this problem, I would recommend that you try Hydrogen Peroxide with a tooth brush. Yet another thing to try would be making a paste with some oxyclean oxygen cleaner and using it with a tooth brush…
***Just as an experiment I would like to try to mix some of the mildewcide made for bathroom paint into the grout while mixing it for application to the tile. I think if it works on paint maybe it would work on grout.
As always it is good to seal your grout with 2 coats of sealer when you are finished with the tile job. This helps protect your tile from stains and makes it easier to clean when you need to remove mold, mildew, bacteria, and dirt.

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I met an old guy in Downtown Charleston while working on a renovation job.  I can’t quite remember his name, but I remember a remarkable trick I learned from him.  He used Lysol toilet bowl cleaner to clean the tarnish off of a doorknob that looked as if it were made to look dark green.  The knob seemed to magically change colors before my eyes.  All that he did was  put the Lysol toilet bowl cleaner on a rag, and just simply rubbed off the tarnish.  If you want to see if this will work for you, make sure to test it in a location where you can check the reaction of the metal with the toilet cleaner.  Also, you don’t want to get any toilet cleaner on the carpet, door, wall, or pretty much anything but the metal and the rag.

Warning: If you want to experiment with this idea, please remember that toilet cleaner is very caustic to your skin (protect yourself with rubber gloves) and if you are cleaning something that is covered with a thin coat of shiny “metal” it probably will not be shiny anymore….but it will be clean.

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