A Guide To Cleaning Mold With Vinegar
Mold isnt always bad. After all, without mold, we wouldnt have penicillin and other antibiotics, mushrooms, or many varieties of cheese. But the mold you might find growing in your home isnt usually the good kind. In fact, its often the kind that triggers respiratory problems such as asthma and allergies or even causes serious illness. Mold thrives in warm, dark, damp environments, so places like the shower, dishwasher, and washing machine can see mold growth from time to time.
While a significant mold infestation is best handled by a professional restoration company, you have a powerful weapon against occasional mold growth in your kitchen cupboard: white vinegar. This humble household staple can kill more than 80% of mold species, including hazardous black mold. In fact, its more effective than bleach, which only kills surface mold and can actually make matters worse. Follow along as our cleaning experts from Merry Maids® explain how to kill mold with vinegar and keep it from coming back.
Tips For Treating Mildew With White Vinegar And Baking Soda
Luckily, treating mildew with some common household items is normally a pretty quick and easy task. If youve noticed mildew in your bathroom, you can typically get rid of it using some white vinegar and baking soda. To do this, fill a spray bottle with white vinegar, spray the areas that are covered with mildew and let the white vinegar sit for a few hours.
Once the vinegar has sat for a couple of hours, use a moist cloth to scrub the mildew off of broad areas and a toothbrush to remove it from hard-to-reach spaces like corners. When youre done, rinse the entire area with water.
If any mildew still remains, make a paste that consists of three-parts baking soda and one-part water. Apply the paste to any remaining mildew and spray the affected areas with more white vinegar. Use a bristled brush to scour the area, and then rinse off any residual paste. If mildew is still present, use more paste and vinegar to treat the affected area again until the mildew is gone.
Why Did The Mold Come Back After Cleaning With Bleach
While using bleach to kill mold does work, it can still return within weeks or even days. This is because mold will grow on almost anything as long as it remains wet for two reasons.
First, it can grow deep inside almost anything. So while you may kill it from the surface, its still alive inside. Second, mold is all around us in the air. Although its dormant, it can blow into your home through an open window or door. Then this new mold will land on the wet area and grow.
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How Do You Use Vinegar To Clean Mold
To safely and effectively clean a small area of mold, ServiceMaster advises the following:
To protect yourself from mold and its spores, wear gloves, a mask and goggles. Gloves also prevent any skin irritation from the vinegar.
Best Preventative: Mold Armor Rapid Clean Remediation
This EPA-registered mold remover doesnt just single-handedly eliminate mold and mildew, it also inhibits the growth of new spores. MoldArmor Rapid Clean Remediation is a mold preventative thats safe for use on a long list of non-porous surfaces, including laminate, sealed fiberglass, acrylic, glass, sealed grout, glazed ceramic, sealed granite, vinyl, and more. This makes it a great defense in damp or humid areas of the home, such as the bathroom or a screened porch. Its safe for both outdoor and indoor use, but be sure that you have adequate ventilation since the fumes of this mold preventative can be powerful.
The formula is a one-step sanitizer, disinfectant, and mold and mildew remover. Just spray it on the surface that needs to be treated, follow the directions for wait time depending on your application use, and then rinse or wipe it away. This makes it super easy to deal with your existing mold and mildew problems, while reducing future growth.
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How Do You Get Rid Of Mold
There are plenty of commercial products that are effective for black mold removal, but many of them contain harsh chemicals that may be as harmful as the mold itself. There are several ways to get rid of mold without resorting to toxic chemicals.
Here are 5 ways to treat black mold using green household cleaners:
What Kills Mold Instantly
In such cases, a solution of diluted bleach provides the fastest way to kill mold on walls or flooring. Prepare the solution by adding one cup of bleach into a bucket that contains about a gallon of warm water. Then proceed to scrub the mold vigorously with a stiff-bristled brush you’ve dipped in the bleach solution.
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Should You Use Bleach To Clean Mold At All
Experts advise that you should never use bleach to clean mold, whether on a porous or non-porous surface. There are many reasons for this and mainly because, using bleach to treat or clean mold can jeopardize your health.
Common household bleach is not necessarily toxic, but prolonged exposure to bleach can be very harmful to humans. When in the gaseous state, chlorine bleach produces a byproduct called dioxin, recognized as a cancer-causing compound. Hence, inhaling bleach is dangerous.
In addition to this, mixing chlorine bleach with ammonia, drain cleaners, cleansers, or any other similar chemical produces chlorine gas, which can be very harmful to health. Exposure to chlorine gas can cause a burning sensation on the skin, eyes, and nostrils. It can also negatively affect the lungs or cause breathing anomalies, mostly when used around individuals with a lung condition such as asthma.
To stress the potential harm of using bleach to kill mold, the the CDC advises against handling bleach without wearing complete personal protective gear. This includes an N95 respirator to prevent you from inhaling harmful gas, goggles, and protective gloves.
In essence, using bleach to kill mold can cause you even more harm than the mold you are trying to kill.
Cleaning Black Mold With A Homemade Disinfectant Spray
Once all of the mold has been cleaned, use a disinfectant spray to purify the area. In a plastic spray bottle, combine 1 cup of distilled water, 1 cup of 91% Isopropyl alcohol and the juice of a couple average lemons. The solution is safe enough to spray into the air and does not harm surfaces that it comes into contact with. Store the spray bottle in the refrigerator and use within a few weeks. This will give your house the sterile smell of a doctors office as well as a Lemon Pledge hint creating the illusion of dusting all day!
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Question 9 Of : What Is The Difference Between Mold And Mildew
Removing Mold With Ammonia
Similar to bleach, ammonia will kill mold on hard non-porous surfaces which include countertops, glass or tiles but it is not effective at killing mold on porous surfaces such as wood or drywall. Additionally, ammonia is a harsh, toxic chemical. While ammonia can kill surface mold, dead mold and dead mold spores are still allergenic so you would need to make sure to remove them as well.
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How To Remove Mold From Inside Walls
The inside of your walls is a great environment for mold, but a terrible one for you to find and clean. Often homeowners dont realize there is mold inside their walls until its causing a major problem. Warning signs include an earthy, musty odor in the home, allergy symptoms that clear up when you leave the property, and stains or dampness on the wall itself. If mold does get inside your walls, youll probably need a pro to handle it. At the very least, the drywall has to come down in order to properly access and treat the mold and prevent it from coming back. You can mitigate the damage by looking out for the warning signs, and reducing the humidity in your property.
How To Remove Mold Contamination Using Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydrogen peroxide is undeniably handy when it comes to how to get rid of mold. We just have to add a teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide into a cup of water. Transfer the solution to a spray bottle, and you are ready to go.
Spray the solution onto the contaminated surface and clean it in a circular motion using wiping cloth after letting it rest for a couple minutes. Or, you can also apply some sprays to a damp cloth rather than having direct spraying like so. To have an even thorough result, you can spray the surface one more time and wipe off the remaining bits of the molds.
To finish up the peroxide for mold removal process, have another solution that consists of half a teaspoon of baking soda and a cup of water. Fill a bottle sprayer with the solution and apply it to the cleaned areas. Rinse the areas with clean water, and you should no longer worry about mold contamination.
Still, if you want to go extra and have such e preventive solution to possible returning molds, you can also place dehumidifier near areas that are prone to dampness and high humidity.
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Can You Get Mold On Concrete
Wet conditions can cause mold and mildew growth on outdoor concrete like driveways, patios and steps. This growth usually occurs in damp or shaded areas that don’t receive a lot of sun or heat. Concrete, with all its nooks, crannies and pores, is actually a great incubator for mold. Wet, humid weather with warm temperatures only improves the growing conditions.
Is Vinegar More Effective Than Bleach
Vinegar truly is better than bleach at killing mold. The EPA does not recommend using bleach to kill or remove mold, except in special circumstances. In most cases, a background level of mold spores will remain after the application of bleach.
Bleach only kills surface mold, not the membrane underneath, according to ServiceMaster. That means the mold will grow back. In fact, recognizing the bleach as a threat, the mold will grow back even stronger. When bleach is used on porous surfaces like drywall or wood, mold membranes will move deeper into the surface to avoid the chemical.
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How To Clean Mould With Baking Soda
There are many different ways to use baking soda for mould cleaning. You can prepare a solution of 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 4 glasses of water and spray the affected area. Another method for mould removal with baking soda is:
- Sprinkle baking soda directly onto the mouldy surface and let it sit for an hour.
- Scrub the spot with hard bristle brush then wipe off the soda residues.
- Rinse the area with soapy water, or vinegar-water solution to remove any remaining mould.
- Let the surface to dry completely before use.
Benefits Of Hiring Professional Mold Remediators
- They discover all of the mold in your place visible and hidden mold
- They have the proper equipment to remove all of the mold and mold spores in a speedy and efficient manner.
- They can find and eliminate the source of mold even in porous materials.
- They can make sure the future growth of mold is prevented.
- They repair any damage and thoroughly clean the contaminated space.
- They are quick and efficient they can also save you time and money but making sure all of the mold is removed the first time
If you have mold in your home and dont want to take the time to try and do it yourself or simply want to make sure it is done correctly the first time, give Home Healthy Homes a call for your mold remediation needs.
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Never Use Bleach To Treat Clean Or Kill Mold Read Why
The first thing that comes to mind when you notice you have mold in the house is how to get rid of it. For most homeowners, bleach seems to be the answer to all of their mold problems. It is easily accessible and visibly removes the mold once you apply it. However, is bleach really effective in mold remediation? Should you use bleach to clean mold at all?
This article provides the answer to these questions and explains why you should never consider using bleach in cleaning mold.
- Does bleach really kill Mold?
- Should you use bleach to clean mold at all?
- What is the best way to get rid of mold?
Let us dive straight into these points.
Using Tea Tree Oil To Kill Mold
Tea tree oil is the most effective natural solution to killing mold. While it is a more expensive option, a small amount of tea tree oil goes a long way in removing mold. It is an antifungal that is capable of killing all types of mold. Make sure the tea tree oil you purchase to remove mold is derived from the Melaleuca Alternifolia.
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Cleaning Mold With Bleach
Always use protective gear when cleaning mold.
According to conventional wisdom, bleach kills mold growth. However, this is somewhat of a myth as bleach only kills the mold on the surface without affecting the membrane underneath. You need to kill and remove this underlying membrane to effectively remove the mold growth and prevent it from returning. Bleach cleaners cannot kill this membrane because its chemical structure prevents it from penetrating porous surfaces. This causes the mold membranes to move deeper into the affected surface to hide from the bleach. You should only use bleach to remove small amounts of mold that have formed on non-porous surfaces.
Another problem with using bleach is that it can actually multiply the mold growth. When bleach is introduced to mold colonies, the mold recognizes the bleach as a threat and reacts. Mold can actually use bleach as a food source once it has been exposed which will cause the mold to grow back faster and stronger. Even the EPA advises against using bleach for removing mold. Fortunately, there is another household item that can kill mold.
Bleach To Remove Mold From Clothes
A well known way to remove mold from clothes and fabric is to wash them with bleach. Adding one cup of bleach to the washing machine when you wash a load of clothing should be effective in removing mold from clothes. Check the directions on the bleach to confirm and also check your clothes for do not bleach warnings and perhaps do a spot test for color fastness.
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Does Bleach Kill Black Mold On Drywall
It must kill the surface mold spores but not the root mold. Bleach only controls mold that is on the surface of something. For example, if you cleaned mold off of bathroom tiles, bleach will kill the mold on the surface of the tiles. However, bleach will not kill mold on surfaces inside the tile, so if its not properly removed, it can grow back.
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