The problem isn't with the travertine or the sealer.

The problem is you are allowing the conditions required to breed the mold.

You should somehow find a way to move some air and evacuate the moisture from the room. If there is no exhaust fan, install one. If there is an exhaust fan, improve it by increasing its capacity to exchange the room air.

Frequent cleaning of soap scum, and splashes containing soap scum and body tissue is required.

You are unknowingly setting yourself for this situation.

I would agree with you except for the following...

It is a huge bathroom
Shower has its own window
Door is left open to air aftershowering
No soap (only non soap cleanser) is used
Shower rinsed after use
Mold only around rope decoration

I understand that it is the air quality... I just want to use a cleaner that will not hurt my stone.

I use a product called stonetech, but I want to give the growing bits of mold a good zap.

Anyone?

It doesn't matter how big the room is, and the window doesn't do much good unless there's a fan in it pulling the moisture out of the room. Bud's assessment was spot on.

There is nothing in the makeup of the shower that will cause or support mold growth. The problem is in something that is or isn't being done by the occupants.

If it were me I'd mix some chlorine bleach with water 50/50 and treat the area for a while and see what happens. The mold will disappear within thirty minutes, whether or not it returns remains to be seen. Chances are it will if something isn't done differently but I have no idea what that would be.

You won't hurt the stone.

What do the experts think about this situation. In a high rise building putting marble in a steam shower. There would be no ventelation in the shower. How would the marble react to all the steam?
Donna

Can I pick on my gender here for a moment? I know this will likely get me flamed but here goes - why are women (obvious overstatement) so adverse to using exhaust fans? And when they are used, generally (another obvious overstatement) they aren't used long enough to really vent the moisture? My DH pointed this out to me many years ago and I got quite indignant and tried to defend our fair sex but DANG!!! he's really right. Even among my IRL friends they don't like fans - say they make them cold. I'll deal with the brief chill stepping out of the shower - better than dealing with the mold.

We had mold in our bathroom before the redo but as soon as we installed I think it was the 110 size motor on the exhaust fan the mirror never fogged anymore. I do turn the fan on BEFORE the shower and leave it on for about 20 minutes after the shower is over. I do then also leave my shower door wide open - I figure it helps pull out moisture. I have no idea if this shower door theory is correct but in 8 months I have not gotten mold in there nor has the shower door or mirror steamed. I feel it is from the change in motor size.....Melissa

Dlm
can't commiserate with you on gender as it is my DH who is complaining that I want to use fan and take all heat out of the house/ bathroom/. I want to do right thing and never have mold again. After reading this forum we installed fan and that special delay switch that allows room to went for certain amount of time.

lindalana-- put it to your husband in terms he can understand. If he wants to spend $10-15,000.00 every 5-10 years, then don't use the fan. If it bothers him that much put in a heat lamp!

Thank you. I'll use a tiny bit of bleach.

I really do understand that there is nothing wrong with my stone etc. I never questioned that. I just wanted advice on a cleaner.

I don't have any steam on my mirrors. A fan is in the bathroom. I accept that some extra tlc is used if I don't have a fan in the shower. I probably should have installed one in the shower unit... I didn't so i guess I'll deal with the odd specks of mold.

I'm not opposed to fans, nor do I 'resist' turning them on and I'm female... well I was the last time I checked!

Thanks everyone

Whoo....sh. For what it's worth. We also have a big travertine bathroom. I have a fan in the shower, but it is so ineffective that it doesn't even have enough suction to hold onto a "spare square" of TP. (remember that Seinfeld episode?)
There is so much steam in the bathroom that the mirrors are completely fogged. Even so, I have not a speck of mold or even soap scum. I have to believe that somehow your stone is compromised and water has gotten in behind your liner. We had a Tile Genius do our work, a Kerdi shower with tiles right up next to each other and only the smallest line of grout, and sealed to boot. Just another opinion, and a completely uneducated one at that. :)

Most of the small bath exhaust fans are a joke. They are more of a profit-center for sales companies than anything else. If the genuine movement of a predetermined amount of air (cfm) wasn't considered in the purchase of the fan then it is probably nothing to brag about.

One other thing that could be done is to place a regular fan somewhere in the room and use it to move air about the room. Put it on a timer and let it run for a couple of hours after each time the shower is used. This will expidite the drying of the shower walls and also help to eliminate the ability for mold to grow.

When trying to get rid of mold from grout, is there a cleaner that does the job but won't hurt the travertine?