Important Steps in Cleaning Out Mold

There are many more people with allergies in the world today than there has ever been before. One of the most common toxins for an allergic reaction is household mold. The truth is even though your house is clear of pets, and their dander it may still not be safe for that allergy ridden family member to come over for the weekend. The microscopic fungus known simply as mold can be anywhere and is nearly invisible, especially to people who are not super mold sensitive or allergic to it.

Molds are fungi that reproduce from seed like spores and are vegetable like in their life form. These spores send out very small hair like growths that absorb moisture and penetrate anything they land on. Since molds do not need much food to live on they can even survive by using the water in the atmosphere. The fungus itself is only about 115,000 of an inch across. With sizes this small swarms of spores can float invisibly when someone sits on a couch or bed. Mold has a very short startup time, with the low levels of food that are required it only takes a few hours after the spores land for mold to start to grow.

Since mold is fond of moisture and leaks within the house are possible breeding ground for molds. Another very high risk mold area is in humidifiers, since they not only dispense moisture into the air it circulates the air so it also helps the mold spores to spread farther. Keeping humidifiers maintained is very important for keeping mold from thriving in your house, if you use a humidifier that is. Not only do you have t keep an eye on your humidifier but also the after flood care can save your house.

After a flood there are a couple of steps to take to eliminate your mold problems, especially since mold is one of the biggest damaging factors after a flood of any kind or size. The first step is to try and kill off any spores possible. This includes washing with water, chlorine, and a detergent. While doing this make sure to clean any locations where spores could hide and reinfect the cleaned areas. After this all you need to do is try to keep the surfaces clean and provide adequate ventilation. Adequate ventilation will allow the surfaces to dry out and keep air moving, which will lower the possibility that any stray pores can land and reinfect the surface.

Carpet is another monster all together when it concern flooding and mold. When a carpet has gotten mold on it the pad underneath the carpet needs to be thrown out. Generally the carpet needs to be thrown out as well but in some cases of only mild mold problems the carpet can be cleaned for future use. The only real exception to this post mold carpet cleaning is the use of special vacuums and ventilation for these vacuums that vent the exhaust directly outside since filters are nearly useless where mold spore are concerned.

No matter what the situation protecting yourself is very important. In the case of severe mold personal ventilation is needed even when visible mold is not present. A simple face mask greatly reduces the amount of mold inhaled into the lungs, at a personal level during cleaning any filtering will help. There may be no way to completely eliminate all mold, and some will always be present but with HEPA certified vacuum bags or certain precautions mold levels can be reduced to safe levels.