How to tell someone how yucky their bathroom was....

[jessmarimba]

I'll confess that my shower looks pretty gross. Or tub area, rather. But I don't have tile, so no caulking, so no mold in the caulking. The tub is just an old cast-iron clawfoot tub and it is in desperate need of refinishing. But to refinish it, it needs to be taken out through the bathroom window (door is too small!) and it weighs a few hundred pounds...so it's just going to keep looking gross.

But it's clean! Honest!

[malkin]

I remember my aunt freaking out when her mother, my grandmother had ants marching across the kitchen. Of course, granny couldn't see them.

When my brother moved to Honolulu, I battled the mold on my annual visits.

But, unless you are very close, I agree with everyone who says "fagedaboudit"!

[Owlie]

The bathroom in my apartment looked pretty gross. A non-zero portion of that was just because of the amount of stuff in the water. The other major contributor was the finish on the tub--it was scratched in a few places, and dirt would get into those and was next to impossible to get out through normal cleaning methods. I had to go in every so often with baking soda and dish soap and scrub them out.

The one time my sister visited me, I only had enough warning to clean the kitchen (white tile, so it showed dirt like nothing else). She has rather higher standards of cleanliness than DBF and I do, so I think she pitched a fit about it to our mom.

[shootingstar]

I have bad allergies to mold. Maybe that is why it freaked me out.

This is understandable. My dearie is that sensitive to indoor molds too. We cannot have potted plants much at all because of the natural molds in soils, etc. He cannot go into a plant conservatory/greenhouse --molds.

It partially explains why he might be more of neat freak than I am. He gets mad at me over my less diligent habits.

Well, the only saving grace of living out in the prairies, is the air is dry enough that bathroom molds don't grow much or any at all. No kidding....

As a guest, I would at least appreciate a clean bathroom sink and toilet in someone's home. That's good enough for me....unless I'm staying overnight to use their shower.

Mould. Ok, for busy sisters who have their own children to look after when I stay over, it's more like bits of hair from hair brushing. Oh well. This continues to be a perpetual annoyance..but thank god for vaccum cleaner.

I know I have a somewhat laissez-faire approach but...look I grew up sharing a bathroom with 7 other people (which included 5 siblings). So I know what types of messiness I can tolerate.

Yes, alot of mold is yuck.

[Bethany1]

By all means, let it go.

If you happen to go back and it's still there, ask if she needs some help as maybe there's a logical reason it's not done.

I hurt my back last year and doing any housework was hard, but I was too proud/embarrassed to ask for help. My kids did what they could, but I was so touched when my mom came over and cleaned my bathroom and parts of the house that needed some help. I sat and sobbed out of gratitude when she left. Some bathrooms are just mold magnets and within a few days it looks like you never cleaned it.

As long as you are sensitive about the issue, she'll probably understand.

[colorisnt]

In defense of the mold, it may just happen, like Bethany and others have said. My good friends lived in a mold-infested place and it made their house stink and their shower was always gross. They had mold on the windows and when we moved them out, I had to be careful to avoid it because I am really allergic to mold. Their landlord refused to do anything with it. They sprayed bleach in the shower and around the windows all the time and it wouldn't touch the stuff. So, maybe that is it.

[Owlie]

In defense of the mold, it may just happen, like Bethany and others have said. My good friends lived in a mold-infested place and it made their house stink and their shower was always gross. They had mold on the windows and when we moved them out, I had to be careful to avoid it because I am really allergic to mold. Their landlord refused to do anything with it. They sprayed bleach in the shower and around the windows all the time and it wouldn't touch the stuff. So, maybe that is it.

My apartment was a little like that. It was a basement, and damp because someone decided that the bathroom didn't need ventilation. There were mold spots growing on some of the walls, and we couldn't persuade it to leave.

[Brandi]

Ok so I am letting it go. And to answer a few of the questions....we didn't want to spend the money for a hotel because they had said many times that we should stay with them if ever we had a job in the area. And times are tight so money being saved is good.
They do not live in a moist area. It is very dry where they live. I think this is more she expects her adult kids to take care of it and they are not. Both kids are back home right now due to it hard to be in your early 20's and make it on min wage. It is brother and sister. I can just see the sister going "I am not the maid he should clean it" and him saying " huh, the shower is dirty"?
Oh well I am passed it now. Thanks for all the insight ladies that was fun!