Mould Removal Gel: Does It Work?

Mould removal in silicone can be difficult.

You might have noticed those ads for mould gel popping up on your social media feeds, claiming to get rid of mould from your shower silicone without the hassle of replacing it.

I try different new products all the time to make sure we are always using the best we possibly can for our clients but I resisted this one for years as I really didn't think it would work. Curiosity finally got the better of me and I figured it might be worth a shot, especially for the sake of my clients and their homes.

When we moved into our house a few years ago, the builder forgot to connect the fan in our ensuite bathroom, which led to a mould problem in the silicone around the shower, on the walls and roof. The build fixed the walls and the roof so I was gearing up to replace the silicone myself but thought I really have the best testing space for the gel and if it is successful it will save me some work.

These mould gels usually come in a bottle with a pointed tip, making it easy to apply just where you need it. I was pretty excited to see if it would work, so I applied it one evening. The instructions said to leave it on for 5-6 hours, so I planned to wash it off in the morning.

There are a few Australian brands selling it and I tried one of the more prominent brands that advertise all the time.

To be honest, I was a bit surprised when I first applied the gel. It wasn't as thick as I expected. I thought it would stay put more firmly, but it was kind of runny. Still, I applied a good amount and hoped for the best. The smell was not overpowering like bleach would be, I am not sure if it would be stronger if you did many areas at once. I only tried one small area with dark mould staining.

I have to admit, I was that excited to see what it did that I couldn’t sleep. I ended up sneaking into the bathroom in the middle of the night to check on it.

No change. Not even a little bit.

I tried to stay optimistic, thinking maybe it just needed the full 6 hours to really work.

The next morning, I was greeted with total disappointment. There wasn’t even a tiny difference. The instructions said to repeat if necessary, but honestly, there was no visible improvement at all. I didn’t see the point in wasting more time on it

So, in the end, the mould gel was a bust. It didn’t live up to the hype at all. Looks like I’ll be going back to my original plan of replacing the silicone.

If you have had success with a certain brand of mould gel let me know and I will try it out.

Are you considering buying a cleaning product but worried about investing money and not seeing the advertised results? Let me know, I will happily test it out for you!