Can you give me advice on how to remove the bathtub mildew in the caulking? Is their a product that will keep it under control? Or do I need to remove it completely and start over again? We have at least 4 showers going on a day so it is constantly moist in there. Thanks for your help.
Mildew typically grows into caulk and therefore can not be easily removed. The best offense is a good defense. I’d suggest removing the old caulk and replacing it with a bathtub caulk that includes a mold/mildew inhibitor. DAP makes a product called Kwik Seal Plus that has a inhibitor called Microban which has shown success.
And since you are going to have to replace your caulk anyway, here is a tip to make sure it stays put, fill the tub with water before caulking. The weight of the water will force the tub to sag a bit. Then, after the caulk dries, drain the tub. This compresses the caulk so it won’t fall out and mildew in your bath will no longer be a problem!.
It doesn’t matter if you use hot or cold. The issue is the weight of the water and while cold water is probabaly slightly lighter than hot(there’s more air entrained in cold water, the process of heating water removes that trapped air) it won’t make any difference here. Just use cold water. No point wasting all that hot water!
Do I use hot or cold water to fill the tub before cualking, or does it matter?