Poorly ventilated homes with high moisture content and are often cleaned poorly are highly susceptible to mold growth. Mold can cause allergy problems, worsen asthma attacks, and cause other related health problems. Mold removal, then, is essential to keep your home and your family healthy.

Molds can be detected easily. Your furniture and household items need mold removal if you spot any or all of the following telltale signs:

1. If a household item gives off rank or earthy odor;

2. If there’s water damage such as caused by water flooding or drip, and there’s discoloration surrounding the damaged area;
 
3. Then of course, if there’s apparent mold growth.

Mold removal is essential for your health and it has to be done as soon as you spot mold growth to keep your home and your family from allergy problems.

Molds can be persistent, and do not leave away easily. Mold removal steps should be thoroughly. They must address not only the presence, but also the source of molds. Below are some mold removal steps that will effectively eliminate molds from your home.

Resolve moisture problem. Molds survive on moist areas. To keep molds from growing and re-growing in your home, fix sources of moisture problems such as leaking roofs, toilet overflows, and poor ventilation of bathroom or kitchen.

Regulate your home dehumidifier. Keep your winter home humidity level at 30-50%, and in summer, at no more than 60%.

Thoroughly dry wet materials especially those soaked by floodwater or overflows. If you are unable to do so in 48 hours, it would be best to get rid of them.

When treating or disposing contaminated materials, see to it that you are wearing protective gears that include vent-less eye goggles, dust mask, rubber gloves, and disposable clothing.

Some of your household items may be salvaged, while others have to be disposed of. Below are items commonly infected by molds and suggested mold removal treatments for them.

With clothes, use a brush to remove surface mold growth, then hang the clothes to dry where there’s sufficient sun and air. If clothes are washable, wash them with soap and water before hanging them to dry.

Porous materials such as wooden furniture, tiles, and carpet, usually need to be gotten rid of especially if contamination is severe. Molds on carpets can usually be sponged off using detergent soap before wiping it clean. You can also hire professional carpet cleaners to do this.

Paper and books, usually, are hard to salvage. But where damage is small, just use a brush to remove surface growth then sprinkle infected area with talcum powder or cornstarch.

Mold removal on non-porous materials such as those made of hard wood, concrete, glass, and hard plastic is easy. Just scrub off the mold with soapy water then dry using fan or dehumidifier.

Finally, you need to disinfect the infected surfaces. You can use a bleach solution consisting of 1/4 to 1/2 cup bleach mixed with 1 galloon water. When applying bleach solution, open your windows to let out fumes. Disinfectants are the final step in mold removal, ensuring that mold spores are completely eliminated. However, you still need to resurvey your home after cleanup to ensure that there are no molds that have grown back. After mold removal, leave the affected area to dry completely.