Why Do My Bathroom Walls Sweat? (4 Causes, Fixes, & More)

Sweating bathroom walls is a common occurrence worth one’s attention. The reason is that if the moisture stays on the wall for a long, it could breed molds and harbor dirt.

You’re most likely to experience this wall sweating during winter when you’ll have lots of hot showers. But there’s still a need to reduce how often it happens.

Thus, it wouldn’t be surprising to inquire about how it’s happening regularly on your walls and how to stop it. 

Bathroom walls sweat due to condensation of water moisture after bathing with hot water. The steam is let into the atmosphere during a bath or shower to mix with air. But, once the water vapor comes in contact with the wall tiles, it condenses and forms droplets on the tiles. 

Why Do My Bathroom Walls Sweat Yellow?

Bathroom walls sweat yellow if the moisture upon condensation meets other substances like stains, molds, and dirt on the wall.

Additionally, microbes on walls and hard water deposits can cause yellow sweat on bathroom walls.

#1. Hard Water

Hard water has plenty of useful mineral content (Calcium and Magnesium). But, it does more bad than good when you bathe or shower with it.

Sadly you can’t identify hard water by merely looking at it. When you shower or bath with hard water, the moisture liquifies on your walls and dries eventually.

Although the water droplets on the walls have dried, the mineral deposits won’t leave the walls.

So when the minerals come in contact with water, it causes discoloration, probably yellow or any other similar color.

#2. Mold, Fungi, and Mildew 

Molds are everywhere, searching for a suitable environment to breed, and once they locate minerals on the wall, it becomes their breeding site. Moreover, the moisture on the walls can attract fungi to form their colonies.

Eventually, when water condenses on the walls, where they are, they drip down with the water and cause discoloration. The coloration could be yellow or any other obvious color.

#3. Soap Scum

While bathing, soap scum tends to stick to the bathroom’s walls; of course, the soap’s chemicals will react on the wall. The soap chemicals can attract molds too.

After a hot water bath, the steam condenses and settles on the wall. The steam will weaken the bond between the wall and the scum; consequently, the scums dissolve in the water.

The chemicals will discolor the wall upon dissolving as the water washes down.

#4. Dirty Walls

The probability that dirt and stains will be on your wall is one. Besides, it’s even worse when you don’t practice regularly cleaning your bathroom. 

So when water moisture condenses on the wall, the water dissolves the dirt. The dirt tends to flow with the water resulting in a yellow discoloration that tends to form on the wall.

How To Clean the Yellow Sweat On My Walls?

The best way to clean the brown or yellow sweat on your bathroom wall is to clean the walls as you see them. Although, you should clean the walls, i.e., tiles, even before you notice any discoloration.

Hence, let’s look at these remedies.

Why Do My Bathroom Walls Sweat Brown?

When bathroom walls sweat brown instead of yellow, they’re extremely dirty. The dirt could be from a heavy deposit of hard water minerals or soap chemicals sticking to the wall.

Moreover, when mold greatly breeds on the walls, they could sweat brown too. Molds will accumulate and create more colonies on the wall.

Additionally, someone could smoke in the bathroom because it’s private. When this happens, the nicotine in the cigarettes that settles on the walls could cause brown discoloration.

How To Clean the Brown Sweat On My Walls?

The brown sweat is worse than the yellow. So, cleaning it requires a more active agent, unlike the yellow, that’s easier to clean.

These cleaning agents include; vinegar, borax, and other concentrated cleaning materials.

How Do I Stop My Walls From Sweating?

You can’t completely stop your bathroom walls, but you can reduce this from happening.

And the best way to stop sweating on walls is to ensure constant airflow in the bathroom, and there are many ways to achieve that.

The methods below highlight the ways to stop walls from sweating.

#1. Wiping the Tiles 

Wiping is the easiest way to combat condensation on bathroom walls. Besides, wiping can also eliminate dirt and mold from the walls.

All you need to do is to get a napkin to dry the water droplets on the walls after a shower.

However, this method is tasking as one must manually clean the walls painstakingly. As a result, people who hurry somewhere (e.g., work) after a bath and return home late can’t adopt this method. 

#2. Use an Extractor Fan

An exhaust fan assists the window (if your bathroom has one) in expelling the moist air outside the bathroom.

Using a ceiling or standing fan in a bathroom feels odd, but the extractor fan is a good alternative. However, remove dust and dirt to get the best out of your extractor fan.

#3. Use a Dehumidifier 

Wouldn’t it be better to have something that removes all the bathroom’s moisture? That’s why a dehumidifier is a reliable way to stop wall sweating.

Immediately after the shower, the dehumidifier extracts the moisture in the air and releases it outside the house. For best results, use it during or after bathing.

Last update on 2024-01-05 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

#4. Reduce the Water Temperature 

When the water temperature is high, the wall tends to sweat because of the condensation of the steam.

The lower temperature water will cause little condensation that will form sweat since there isn’t hot air.  

How Do I Stop Condensation On Bathroom Walls?

The only way to stop condensation is to take every appropriate step for the bathroom air to escape.

The following methods can achieve that; Ensuring proper ventilation, using a humidifier, having a cool shower, and an exhaust fan. 

Although all these methods combat condensation, they employ different applications.

Therefore, let’s see how we can apply them in detail;

#1. Use an Exhaust Fan 

The exhaust fan is one piece of equipment that will let the air in the bathroom out quickly.

Last update on 2024-01-05 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

However, it’s only suitable for homeOwners because virtually all HomeOwners won’t allow someone in their apartment to use it.

For best results, ensure a proficient Installer does the exhaust fan installation. Otherwise, you would experience problems such as noise while using it.

#2. Ensure Proper Ventilation 

Ensuring ventilation is one simple and reliable way to combat condensation in the bathroom. Moreover, if buying an exhaust fan is too expensive, or you’re a Lover of a hot bath. 

Since the air in the bathroom becomes hot after a hot bath and will require a cooler body for condensation.

Keeping the windows ajar will let out the hot air and give way to cooler air. The cool being denser than the hot one will cause the hotter air to leave the bathroom.

#3. Shower With a Cool Water 

This is another simple, easy way to reduce and stop condensation in the bathroom. No condensation will occur whatsoever.

Since condensation occurs in steam and liquids of high temperature, then bathing with cool water will be a good option.

#4. Applying an Anti-Condensation Coating 

This method would be suitable if you can’t use an extractor fan because of energy cost.

This coating is a water-based acrylic polymer that absorbs water that stays on it. Moreover, it also has fungicide in it to get rid of fungi and mold on the walls.

Final Thoughts

There’s a tendency for bathroom walls to sweat due to condensation, but you should act fast when you notice discoloration.

The discoloration could result from the walls’ dirt, molds, or fungi. But to ensure no discoloration on your walls, clean the walls regularly to avoid accumulating dirt and minerals.

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