Do you scrub or does the spray do the work? The simple spray-leave-20-minutes-wipe method for clove & eucalyptus mould spray on grout and silicone.
Do I need to scrub, or does the spray do the work?
Good news: you barely scrub. The Clove & Eucalyptus Mould Spray is designed to be sprayed on and left, not scoured. You mist it lightly over the mouldy grout or silicone, walk away for about 20 minutes while the clove oil does the killing, then wipe or rinse. The dwell time is the active ingredient here — not your elbow.
How do I actually use it, step by step?
Spray, wait, wipe — that's the whole method. Start with a dry-ish surface so the spray isn't immediately diluted by standing water. Mist the spray lightly and evenly across the mouldy grout lines and silicone seals — a light coat, not a soaking flood; you want contact, not run-off. Leave it to sit for around 20 minutes. This is the part that matters: the clove oil needs dwell time to penetrate and kill, which is why leaving it beats scrubbing it straight off. After 20 minutes, wipe the surface with a damp cloth or give it a rinse. For heavier growth, a soft brush over the grout after the dwell helps lift the residue, but you're removing dead mould, not scrubbing it to death. Then let the area dry and ventilate.
Why leave it 20 minutes instead of wiping straight away?
Because contact time is how the clove oil kills, and wiping too soon cuts that short. This is the key difference from a surface bleach, which acts on the pigment in seconds, and from our own Wall Cleaner, which is wiped off immediately on painted walls. On grout and silicone, the mould's roots sit inside a porous, textured surface, so the eugenol in clove oil needs a few minutes to work in and disrupt the fungal cell membranes (the mechanism documented by Pinto et al., 2009, Journal of Medical Microbiology). Wipe it off after 30 seconds and you've cleaned the surface but shortchanged the kill. Give it 20 minutes and you're treating the colony, not just the smear. It's the difference between the mould looking gone and the mould being gone.
Will scrubbing harder make it work better?
No — and on silicone it can do harm. Aggressive scrubbing with abrasive pads can score soft silicone and even tile grout, creating more rough, porous surface for the next colony to grip. The spray's chemistry does the killing; your job is contact time and a gentle wipe, not force. Scrubbing also won't fix the one thing people most want fixed: if old silicone is stained through, no amount of elbow grease removes colour that's soaked into the material — the mould can be dead and the seam still grey. Save your energy. A light weekly spray-and-leave keeps new mould from ever establishing, which beats a monthly scrub-fest every time. Let the product work so you don't have to.
How often should I do this?
Once a week, lightly, is the sweet spot. The first clean tackles the visible growth; the weekly light spray after that is maintenance — it kills spores before they establish a new colony, so the black line never gets its foothold back. That's the whole idea behind a "maintenance spray" rather than a "crisis fix": you spend two minutes a week instead of an hour every fortnight. The five ingredients — water, castile soap, methylated spirits to dry the surface, 100% pure eucalyptus oil and 100% pure clove oil — are gentle enough for that routine, with no chlorine and no fumes to dread.
| Step | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Spray | Light, even mist on grout & silicone | Contact, not run-off |
| 2. Wait | ~20 minutes | Dwell time is how clove oil kills |
| 3. Wipe/rinse | Damp cloth; soft brush if heavy | Removes dead mould |
| 4. Repeat | Light spray weekly | Stops new mould establishing |
We've been making cleaning products in Australia since 1895, five generations in. A method this simple only works if the chemistry is right — which is where 130 years of distilling pure oils earns its keep. A verified reviewer in Melbourne followed exactly this routine: "Very effective, easy to use. Follow the directions and to date the mould has not resurfaced."
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to scrub the mould off?
No. Spray lightly, leave about 20 minutes, then wipe. A soft brush helps on heavy growth, but the clove oil does the killing — you're just removing dead residue.
How long do I leave the spray on?
Around 20 minutes. The dwell time lets the clove oil penetrate and kill, which is why you don't wipe it straight off.
Why is this different from the Wall Cleaner method?
On painted walls, the Wall Cleaner is wiped off immediately. On porous grout and silicone, the spray is left to dwell so it can work into the surface.
How often should I use it?
Once a week as light maintenance stops new mould establishing, so it doesn't keep coming back.
Spray it, leave it, wipe it, repeat weekly — that's genuinely all there is to it. Read next: how to get rid of black mould in grout and silicone for good, why mould keeps coming back in silicone, and why the black stain won't come out. Or grab the Clove & Eucalyptus Mould Spray.
Reference: Pinto, E. et al. (2009), Journal of Medical Microbiology, 58, 1454–1462.