Clean Mold and Mildew Immediately!
Mildew and mold, a fuzzy growth caused by several types of fungi growing on moist organic materials that have been moist over 24 hours must be dealt with immediately. Otherwise they can cause damage to your home, and also cause mild to severe health problems.
If you have had any type of leak, overflow, or flooding of your home, you must quickly identify and eliminate the source of the moisture, clean up the water, and dry out woodwork, sheet rock, insulation, furniture, carpet, etc. It will be necessary to let these dry completely, perhaps two or three days before you begin to replace or rebuild or return items.
Mold may be any color: black, white, red, orange, yellow, blue or violet. Dab a drop of household bleach onto a suspected spot. If the stain loses its color or disappears, it could be mold. If there is no change, it probably isn’t mold.
Do not run your HVAC system if you know or even suspect that it is contaminated by mold because it could spread the spores throughout the house or building while it is running.
If the moldy area is less than about 10 square feet; roughly a 3 ft. by 3 ft. patch, you should be able to handle the cleaning yourself following EPA guidelines.
You should routinely check potential problem areas such as the laundry, bathroom, and basement routinely for moldy odors. You can disinfect with a bleach and water solution of 1 ¼ to 1½ c. bleach to 1 gallon of water, or you may use a commercial disinfectant. Do not use ammonia and bleach in the same area as it will produce toxic fumes.
If you find less than a 10 sq.ft. area affected by mold, you can usually clean it yourself using gloves and a mask if you are sensitive to mold. If the area is larger than10 sq.ft, you will need to contact a company who deals with mold and mildew remediation. You can look in the yellow pages, or speak with others in your area or neighborhood who have had to utilize their services in order to get referrals.
Natural Cleaning Solutions:
The following are some natural cleaning solutions you might use in a sprayer to kill mold and mildew fin small areas and amounts. They are all great substitutes for bleach which is not as environmentally safe.
The first is vinegar, which is most commonly found in every home and is certainly the least expensive. The others can be found in most health food stores and they are grapefruit seed extract and tea tree oil. All three of these work, but each has its pluses and minuses. The grapefruit seed extract is expensive but odorless. The tea tree oil is expensive, and is a broad spectrum fungicide and seems to kill all of the mold families that it contacts, however it has an extremely strong smell which will lessen after a few days.
White vinegar is reported to kill 80 percent of mold. Pour some white distilled vinegar straight into a spray bottle, spray on the moldy area, and let set without rinsing. The smell, if you can tolerate it, will dissipate in a few hours.
Tea tree oil spray actually works the best on mold and mildew of all three treatments. It is relatively expensive and quite strong smelling, but after a few days it will have dissipated. You will need to mix a couple of teaspoons of the oil with 2 cups of water in a sprayer and shake it thoroughly then spray. Allow the spray to dry without rinsing. It will last for a very long time.
Grapefruit seed extract is an effective treatment for killing mold, and a big advantage is that it has no odor. You can mix 2 cups of water with about 20 drops of the extract in a spray bottle, and shake till blended then spray on the areas in question. Do not rinse, just allow it to dry. It will also last indefinitely.
If you see mildew spots on clothes or household fabrics remove them before they grow and weaken or rot the material. You should brush off surface growth outside to keep from scattering mold spores in the house. Air the fabrics thoroughly in a sunny area. If there are any mildew spots remaining, dry-clean those that are not washable, and wash the ones that are with detergent and water. Rinse them well adding white vinegar to the rinse water and dry them in the sun.
Beside the damage caused to your home, molds can also cause mild to severe health problems with infants, children, immune-compromised patients, pregnant women, individuals with respiratory conditions, and the elderly being at higher risks for serious health effects from the mold. So you can understand why it is so important to clean/remove the mold or mildew immediately.
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