Solved! How to Get Rid of Pink Mold in the Shower for Good

To keep pink mold from coming back, make sure to keep surfaces dry. Use a squeegee or towel after showering to remove moisture from the walls. Close the shower curtain to let it fully dry between uses, and turn on the exhaust fan while you shower. Give the shower or bathtub a weekly cleaning to remove soap scum and traces of shampoo, conditioner, and liquid soap, which feed the bacteria and speed up their growth.

What Causes Pink Mold In Your Bathroom?

Have you ever stepped foot into a bathroom and noticed something strange? Something slimy and growing in the bathroom sink or along the shower that appears to be…pink? While it seems like a good reason to call the Ghostbusters (or at least step out of the bathroom and go re-watch the movie), the reality is much less supernatural. That pink slime or residue is most likely Serratia marcescens and it’s nothing to be scared of—well, most of the time. Here’s what causes pink mold and how to get rid of it.

What Is Pink Mold?

Serratia marcescens is an airborne bacterium or mold that grows in the dampest places in your home, like shower stalls, bathtubs, bathroom tiles, toilets, sinks, toothbrush holders, and kitchen faucets. It is a natural bacteria that gets stirred up in the air, lands in wet areas, and starts building colonies of pink slime in your bathtub or somewhere worse. An Inside Edition investigation into a home in Blacksburg, Virginia, found pink slime inside the water tap on a refrigerator, and it could have infiltrated into the family’s drinking water. Yikes.

Is Pink Mold Dangerous?

Not only does this pink slime look gross, but according to the Family Handyman website, it “has been known to cause pneumonia, wound infections and urinary tract infections in hospital settings, so it’s important to get rid of it.” Spotting the pink slime around the house doesn’t mean you and your family are in danger. According to Forbes Home, touching the pink mold doesn’t pose health risks for most healthy people, but you don’t want it to enter open wounds where it can lead to infection. Either way, you’re probably going to want to clean it up because no one wants pink slime in the bathroom even if it matches the decor.

How to Get Rid of Pink Mold

Luckily, it is very easy to clean. Simply, grab some gloves and your favorite disinfectant or plain old white vinegar and warm water. Scrub the area, apply a disinfectant, scrub the area again, rinse, pat the area dry, and do your best to keep it dry and well-ventilated. If you’re concerned about the water coming from your refrigerator tap, Dr. Joseph Falkinham, a professor of Biological Sciences at Virginia Tech University, told Inside Edition that simply changing the water filter in the fridge “much more frequently” would suffice. See? Nothing to be scared of.

How to Prevent Pink Mold

To keep pink mold from coming back, make sure to keep surfaces dry. Use a squeegee or towel after showering to remove moisture from the walls. Close the shower curtain to let it fully dry between uses, and turn on the exhaust fan while you shower. Give the shower or bathtub a weekly cleaning to remove soap scum and traces of shampoo, conditioner, and liquid soap, which feed the bacteria and speed up their growth.

Solved! How to Get Rid of Pink Mold in the Shower for Good

Is pink mold dangerous? Learn what’s going on with the weird pink grout in your bathroom, how to clean it, and how to keep it from coming back.

By Manasa Reddigari and Bob Vila | Updated Dec 14, 2022 10:12 AM

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Q: As I was cleaning my bathroom the other day, I saw that there was pink mold in shower grout that I had never seen before. What is the deal with this pink grout? How do I get rid of it?

A: Unlike run-of-the-mill green molds like Cladosporium, or the infamous toxic black mold, Stachybotrys chartarum, the pink staining in your shower isn’t actually mold at all. What is “pink mold,” then? The discoloration comes from a biofilm—that is, a bacterial colony—of Serratia marcescens. The airborne bacterial species thrives in moist environments like showers, where it feeds on mineral deposits in soap scum and fatty deposits in soap and shampoo residue.

Can pink mold in the shower make me sick?

While it’s harmless to most healthy people whose skin may brush up against the pink grime in a narrow shower, it can cause various ailments (e.g., urinary tract or bladder infections) if it enters the body through the eyes or open wounds. The severity and variety of these ailments increases in individuals with compromised immune systems. Better safe than sorry: It’s best to remove the biofilm before the bacteria multiply and your exposure to it increases.

Fortunately, learning how to get rid of pink mold in the shower is easy: You should have no difficulty in finding it, because the light pink to dark red coloring (a result of the pigment the pink bacteria in your shower produces) makes it easy to spot and remove from shower, walls, floors, countertops, shower doors, and curtain liners. Using basic household cleaners and the techniques outlined here, you can get rid of pink mold in bathtub and shower surfaces—and keep it from coming back.

Suit up and use baking soda to scrub the biofilm off of hard bathroom surfaces.

The stubborn biofilm of Serratia marcescens can only be removed through agitation and elbow grease. Start by mixing up a slightly runny paste consisting of ¼ cup baking soda and 1 tablespoon of liquid dish soap in a small bowl. Suit up in gloves, protective glasses, and a respirator mask to limit your exposure to the bacteria, then dip the bristles of a soft-bristle scrub brush into the prepared paste and vigorously scrub down any visible patches of biofilm on hard surfaces in the shower (e.g. countertops, shower chairs, doors, and tile and grout lines on walls and floors). This process should loosen and lift the biofilm. When you’re finished scrubbing, rinse away any loosened biofilm by either wiping down the scrubbed areas with a wet towel or turning on and detaching the shower head to flush the slime down the drain.

Prevent pink mold in the shower from returning by disinfecting any surfaces on which you saw the mold.

It’s not enough to simply scrub away the color; you need to disinfect the surface to remove any lingering bacteria to prevent its return. Bleach is your best bet since it does double-duty to kill the last of the bacteria and dissolve stubborn stains left in its wake. Pour 6 ounces each of chlorine bleach powder and warm water into a 12-ounce spray bottle, then replace the cap and gently shake the bottle. Spray the solution directly over the surfaces you’ve scrubbed and let the solution sit for 10 minutes. Use a soft-bristled scrub brush to lightly scrub down the sprayed areas, rinse once more, and dry the shower surfaces with a clean towel or squeegee.

To remove pink mold on a shower curtain, sanitize the curtain in the washing machine.

Shower curtains are a popular hangout for pink mold since they’re seldom cleaned and usually riddled with soap and shampoo residue. Running your pink-tinged curtain through the washing machine on a gentle wash cycle with warm water effectively removes Serratia marcescens bacteria and any associated stains. Be sure to first check the care label of your curtain to ensure that it’s machine washable, then air-dry the curtain outdoors on a sunny day before hanging it back in the shower.

Prevent Serratia marcescens by cleaning carefully.

Serratia marcescens is one stubborn biofilm that often reappears on hard and soft shower surfaces, even after you’ve taken measures to remove it. Make your bathroom cleaning responsibilities easier on yourself by preventing new biofilm from forming:

• Serratia marcescens is more likely to spread in damp areas, so towel-dry or squeegee the hard surfaces of your shower after every use to remove excess water.
• Use a damp paper towel to wipe away soap or shampoo residue anywhere it collects in the shower after every use. Make a second pass over these areas with a dry paper towel.
• Remove soap scum from hard shower surfaces on a biweekly basis. Spray soap scum-riddled areas of the shower with a 50-50 solution of white vinegar and warm water combined with 1 tablespoon of dish soap, and let the solution sit for 15 minutes. Then scrub down the sprayed areas with a soft-bristle brush. Rinse away anything you’ve loosened from the tile and glass, and towel-dry or squeegee all wet surfaces.
• Wash shower curtains on a monthly basis. We recommend machine washing them on a gentle cycle in warm water.
• Identify and repair leaking shower heads or faucets that may keep your shower from drying completely after use.
• Turn on your bathroom exhaust fan before you shower and leave it on for 20 minutes afterward to help dry out the room. The pink stuff is more likely to spread when there is excess moisture in the air.
• Though it sounds counterintuitive, keep bathroom windows closed while you shower. Serratia marcescens is an airborne bacterial species and can waft into your bathroom from outdoors.