Mold on Windows

Shortly after my son and his wife bought their first house they noticed mold on their windows too. They spent many days cleaning but never could get it to stop growing. The windows were brand new just 2 months before they bought the house so they were fine. They even had a rep from the company that made the windows come and inspect them to make sure. Then they had problem with their furnace. When the repairman came he asked them why they had the humidifier turned on? They never knew it was on. He asked them if they had problems with mold on the windows? He said they didn't need it on because there was enough moisture in the house and that too much moisture would cause mold to grow on the windows. Before he left (after fixing the furnace) he turned the humidifier off for them. They have never had problems with mold again! Even the mold that was on the windows (in the cracks) died off and they were able to clean it up.

Check the humidity in the house. You may have too much. If you do not have a humidifier running it could just be natural humidity. You could need to get a dehumidifier.

I have the same problem w/ my windows. I cleaned them w/ bleach w/ a little bit of water in it and still comes back. If the mold is real bad you can't clean it because it's in the wood and will just keep coming back. I told my landlord about it and asked him to replace them since i have an infant i didnt feel safe w/ it.. My husband and i researched it alot and it said you can get really sick from it. Especially and infant since their lungs are not fully developed. The state laws are different but my law say's that the land lord has to replace them. I would google it and see what you find out. I took the info to my landlord and he is going to replace ALL them in less than a week! I dont have to pay a cent, and now i dont have to scrub my windows everyday. In the time being i just put plastic up over the inside of the windows so we dont inhale the mold. (the kind that you use the hair dryer on.) Good luck. Let me know if your landlord will replace them for you or not.

We have mold issues. We have to get a bathroom fan and replace all the windows in our house. If you go to home depot they have mold cleaners/mold stain removers and mold inhibitors. The stain remover is a miracle product! You can't even tell there was a mold problem....but you still need to take care of the source..or in your case the landlord does.

Carrie, try vinegar. Just put half vinegar and half water in a spray bottle, and spray and let it sit for a while then wipe it off. Just keep using vinegar every time and hopefully it will not let it grow anymore. Hopefully it is not to far inside your dry wall or anything like that. You might have to replace the sealing around the windows though.
Good luck!
E.

There is no miricle for getting rid of it. You have to get rid of the source that is causing the mold, usually its water seeping in through the window sill. They can be replaced or usually there is a screw in the corners that you can tighten to suck the frame back together. This will stop the water from getting in and allow it to go out the weep holes. This brings me to the next thing, make sure the weep holes are not sealed or blocked. If they are clean them out. The water needs to leave through the weep holes but if they are blocked water will sit in the sill and cause the mold/mildew. Make sure you use the vents/open windows in the bathrooms when showering to minimize steam build up in the house. You can also seal the corners of the window with silicone or something similar. This will also ensure the corners are sealed. If your landlord won't address the problem and it doesn't go away you might want to consider moving. If you are in a lease, check with the housing authority to see if this qualifies as a reason to break your lease since its not healthy. Being exposed to mildew/mold to much or small amounts for to long can cause allergies to other things if you don't already have them. I'm sure there is another nice house out there without this problem. Check the sills at the next house before signing.

I have the same issue and I also have tried Bleach and I also used Lysol wipes, The reason that happens is because theres a leak or cold coming in from around that area, especially windows, with the windows you might have to reseal the windows which you cant do now because of the cold so then just wait until Spring to do it...I once in awhile will find black mold in a corner on the ceiling in my family room and I just wipe that with Bleach and then it just does'nt come back. Its totally normal to find in your bathroom and its because of the steam you prevent while taking a shower, You might want to think about painting your bathroom this Summer and theres a specific paint called Killz, its like a primer and so then you would go about painting your bathroom whatever color you want, After I had my bathroom painted I never had an issue with mold in my bathroom.....I hope my information helped you!!! Good Luck!

We have the same problem in our rental home - one of the reasons we are looking to move soon.
The only thing that gets rid of it for good is to replace the stripping that holds the windows in it's frame (not something that our landlord is going to do). The stuff becomes porous as it ages and it impossible to penetrate it deeply enough to get rid of the mold. Most likely it was already there when you moved in - just cleaned up or painted over... that's what happened in our house.
To keep it in check make sure you have good air circulation and let me know if you find some sort of miracle cure for it.

Hello Carrie!
We experienced this problem for quite a few years. We used to live across the street from the beach...it was warm and moist so it was impossible to keep up with the mold. In our case, we didn't figure out how bad the problem was until we moved, which happened very suddenly one night when our kids got really sick. Besides respiratory issues, they ended up with sores on them which got infected (a few days before) and with our pediatrician's help, we pin pointed the problem to the mold issue we had been experiencing. The mold was on the windows and we had tried for years to keep it under control with a 20/80 mixture of bleach (80% water "tricks" the mold spores into opening up, 20% bleach kills the mold). We could never get the windows completely clean though. It was kind of stuck on there, mostly in the window sill (only way to describe it). We fought with the landlord for quite awhile and then gave her about 2 hours notice and left with the kids. When we moved, we had to wash EVERYTHING because you can take mold spores with you. When we moved furniture we found that some things had mold on them...like the back of the dresser that was against the same wall as the window. We had to throw away a lot of things.

Eventually, we learned (after moving) that it had been discovered that mold was growing in that entire wall...all the way down to the neighbors below us. There had been some water damage from the outside long before we moved there and all we could see was the mold on the windows until they ripped the wall apart later.

Later, we lived in another place and I noticed mold on the windows. I used a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and I never saw the stuff again. I think it just wiped away every mold spore so nothing could start growing back. So, my advice is to try a Mr. Clean and see if it goes away.

Also, if you are renting, it's the landlords job to help out. I would be persistent in seeking help. There could be a problem, like there was where we lived, that they may want to know about. Hope this helps! =)