What is this bloody pink/orange stuff in my shower?

[PippaParsnip]

We have two bathrooms - one is an en suite and this is where we have the problem.

Anyway, we have a large shower you step into and pull across the door. And it keeps getting this pinky orangey 'stuff' along the seal of the door, corner of the shower and a little on the tiles. Why?

We have a proper water softener plumbed in

The house is only 5 years old

We have no mould anywhere and the bathroom is very well ventilated and not allowed to get steamy. We don't have limescale

I spray Method shower cleaner on it regularly and clean three times a week in there anyway - and like I said, this doesn't happen in the other bathroom

Sooooo.... what is it?!

It's an airborne bacterial fungus.

That is mould.

I don't know why it's orange but we have the same in our conservatory.
I wipe it away from the plastic trims before it goes black. It also starts on the grout behind taps, and would go black if I didn't remove it while it is orange.

Ugh really? Even in a totally mould free house? The en-suite is only a year or so old anyway.

I suppose I think of mould as black or green or wet looking. Seems I was wrong about that!

Well that's what we think but the other poster said airborne bacterial fungus (isn't fungus a mould anyway?) so who knows for sure.

I would treat it as mould and hope for the best.:)

It's a water born bacteria that is that colour at room temperature. Try vinegar or bleach.

Possibly Serratia marcessans- try bicarbonate and water paste and a brush to get rid, then disinfect with bleach

Ok. I think I'll clean it - again - using white vinegar and bicarbonate and bleach. I'm then going to dry off the shower and tiles after each use and see if that stops it coming back

It won't stop coming back I'm afraid, it just comes from the water. I gather it can cause some illness, but not sure. Weekly cleaning is adequate to keep on top of it.

Looks like you might be right, @custardbear

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serratia_marcescens

Yes I think it's that and I'm a bit perplexed. Nothing in the main bathroom at all and nothing in the downstairs cloakroom

Soooo I think it's because the shower is basically a large walk in cubicle with a door you slide across. We both shower each morning and then, I spray the whole thing with Method shower cleaner which you just leave on. I always properly clean it between 2-3 times a week

But crucially, the shower is always wet isn't it? I don't think to dry it off! So although the window is always open and there is no damp or anything, this shower cubicle is always rather damp and I think that's providing the environment for this stuff to keep popping up in various corners

So I'm going to dry the shower each day!

I just dip an old toothbrush in bleach and run it along the grouting, wait 20 mins then rinse off. It usually gets rid of it and it takes a few weeks to reappear.

@Labobo that's a great idea! I'll do that as well.

We got one of these a few weeks ago to help with the battle against mold:

www.screwfix.com/p/karcher-wv1-cordless-window-vacuum/7962t

Novelty with kids hasn't worn off so even they are drying the shower and windows

Yes it's mold, used to get it around the shower door etc in the last property I lived in.
Have you got any mold remover, I've heard some say the Dettol one is good.

After reading this thread yesterday, I scrubbed ours with an old toothbrush and some astonish bathroom cleaning spray. Took it right off. Might use the mould and mildew spray next time as it has bleach in it.
Thanks very much OP for bringing it to my attention!

I used to get this a lot in my old house. It was always orange in colour. I used to think it was the dye out of my shower gels or shampoo. Didn't realise it was mould.

If you are using bleach a 10% solution is better at clearing mould than neat bleach. No idea why.

I’m sure I read somewhere it is caused by something like silicon in shower gels and shampoos which explains why it isn’t in your other bathrooms.

I use Astonish mould cleaning spray on the stuff and it works brilliantly.

I have learnt something! We had this in our old shower cubicle but so far it hasn’t appeared in the new one. I also thought it was due from shower gels etc. Great tips for getting rid of it if it appears again.

I had that for years in my old place. Never made me ill. I just sprayed with dilute bleach and then while I was in the shower put the highest pressure spray on it to budge it. That kept it at bay with minimal effort.

I find when we use Conditioner the red mould comes back! When we don't use conditioner I dont notice it.
I also just regularly spray with bleach.

It’s mould but it takes longer than 2 days to get to the pink/orange stage. (I’m a cleaner so I see this at various stages) it usually takes a few weeks. so whatever you’re doing every 2/3 days isn’t actually cleaning. If you’re just spraying method and leaving it on that’s not removing anything. You need to use something like astonish mould and mildew remover, leave it on for 10/15 minutes the give it a scrub and rinse it all clear. When cleaning the whole shower you need to spray, leave, then wash off with a cloth/sponge and rinse. Always rinse the shower walls and screens down after every shower so you’re taking off any soap and scum before it dries and you’re not scrubbing a weeks worth off every time you properly clean.

And make sure the bathroom is properly ventilated.

I clean my showers with various products to prevent different problems. Once a week I liberally spray a bleach spray (the Tesco kitchen one) all around and just leave it. Stops any mould on the seals etc.