My mom used Comet, too, and I still remember the smell - it was cloying on the hands and they would smell for hours after using it.
I have finally found an alternative to bleach for mildew - Naturally Clean. You have to stay on top of it and spray it on often, but if you do a Tilex spray down and use NC to maintain, you shouldn't have to use Tilex again. And if you miss some time it will remove the mildew with soaking and scrubbing (although not as well as Tilex I confess, but still remarkably well).
http://www.chemfreesolutions.com/mildew.htm