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This X-14 stuff is no joke. It works like crazy, but when I say no joke I really and truly mean it—IT STINKS. So you must (must must must) use it with protective gloves and open your windows. Another similar product in terms of no jokery is Zep Mold and Mildew Stain Remover.

If you want to give it another go with the Tilex, since you already have it, or if you've got some straight up bleach hanging around, here are two application tricks for you to try:

1. Spray the area with bleach or apply blurbs of a bleach-based cream cleanser like Soft Scrub, then cover the area tightly with plastic wrap to keep the bleach in place. Let that sit for a few hours so it does the work for you—you should see a HUGE difference with very little work. Then scrub as needed.

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2. Roll up paper towels into a cylinder-like shape, soak with bleach and place along the edges of the tub where the mold is. After they've sat and done their thing, go in and scrub scrub scrub.

With all that said, you should think about eventually getting around to replacing the caulk. And here's why: That mold is going to just keep making an appearance, and you're going to spend a lot of time and money trying to beat it back.

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If you live in a city that's served by TaskRabbit, you could go that route; estimates begin at $42, which isn't a total bank-breaker. If you choose to DIY it, a tube of caulk will cost as little as $5, and a not-fancy-but-gets-the-job-done-type putty knife to remove the old caulk will run you $5 up to $20. You'll also want painter's tape, which I mention because if you don't have that, and/or a putty knife, on hand and have to buy them you may decide to outsource the job when you do a total cost comparison.

The Squalor Archive: Armpit Stain Eradication | Blood Stain Removal | Booze Stench Elimination | Brightening White Towels & Sheets | Cleaning Car Consoles | Caring for Athletic Clothing | Cat Pee | Dirty Ball Caps | Dog Mess on Carpet | Filthy Couches | Football Glove Care | Gasoline on Clothing | Grain Moth Infestations | Grease/Rubber Stain Treatments | Gross Computers | Guests & Bedbugs | Halloween Cleanup | Karategi Cleaning | Ketchup Stains | Ladies Underpants | Laundering Bathmats | Lube Stains | Makeup Debris in Bathrooms | Makeup Stains On Upholstery | Marijuana Stench | Mayo Stains | Melted Microfiber on Enameled Cast Iron | Menstrual Cup Care | Mildewed Towels | Moldy Trousers | Mustard Stains | Nail Polish Stains | Odor Removal for Non-Launderable Items | Oven Cleaning | Pee-Smelling Bathrooms | Rank Roller Derby Pads | Rust Stains on Clothing | Scorched Pots | Scummy Glass Shower Doors | Semen Stains | Sheet Changing Cycles | Sheet Changing Etiquette & Tricks | Skidmarks | Stained Tennis Whites | Stinking Sinks | Stinky Feet | Stinky Slippers | Sunscreen Stains | Thanksgiving Stain Primer | That Orange Stuff In The Shower | The Great Bra Washing Extravaganza | Toilet Mold | Towel Laundering Cycles | Treating Testicular Odor | Washing & De-Pilling Sweaters | Wax Removal Techniques | When Butter Attacks | Yellowed Fingernails | Yellowed Sheets | Yellowed Swimsuits

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Jolie Kerr is the author of the upcoming book My Boyfriend Barfed In My Handbag … And Other Things You Can't Ask Martha (Plume, February 25, 2014); more cleaning-obsessed natterings can be found on Twitter, Kinja, and Tumblr. Squalor appears on Jezebel and Deadspin on alternating weeks.

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