This week we’re talking about a subject I get asked about all the time: what to do about mold and mildew. So curl up on the couch, and get ready for things to get moldy!
What are Mold and Mildew, and What’s the Difference?
Mold and mildew are fungi, microscopic organisms that can thrive in any moist environment. In nature, molds are actually quite important. They break down dead organic matter and help regenerate soil. (One quick shout-out to mold: We do have to appreciate that it gave us antibiotics and funky cheese.)
Indoor mold, on the other hand, is not great. Mold is usually green, black, or white, and can look thick and fuzzy. Mold grows in colonies and starts to form on a damp surface after 24 to 48 hours. It creates mold spores, which are airborne and can land on surfaces close to the original source. This is annoying, because they can spread like a moldy wildfire.
Mildew is just mold in its early stage. Mildew is usually black, brown, yellow, or white, occasionally orange or pink, and can look dusty or flat.
Why You Don’t Want Mold in Your House
There are health risks associated with mold, which is why people take it seriously. Mold spores are considered allergens that can cause a runny nose, sneezing, red eyes, rashes, and in more severe cases can lead to asthma attacks. For people with compromised immune systems, it can be even harder to bear. Mold can be an irritant, but it can also be potentially toxic. That’s why if you do have a serious mold issue, be it from a flood or lack of ventilation, you need to get it treated by a professional ASAP. Mildew can produce less severe instances of these symptoms, but a little bit in a bathroom is more of an eyesore than a health threat, so please don’t worry about ordinary household mildew.
Mold can also ruin any surface it settles upon. I had a mold infestation in my old condo. At first, I kept coughing and had itchy skin and I didn’t know why. Then I picked up on an earthy smell coming from my closet. Eventually, I took a look behind my clothes and saw a giant mold infestation on my closet wall and carpet (the closet shared the wall with the bathroom). You can guess how this one ended. I had to tear out an entire wall and replace my shower. I had to throw away clothing and shoes that were covered in mold, which meant a lot of cold hard cash right out the window. It was not a good scene.
Mildew, on the other hand, won’t cost you a ton of money to combat. It is common in damp environments and just needs to be managed. Once it forms, it can be cleaned and treated to prevent regrowth.
How to Clean Mold
Again, if you have a mold issue in your home, call in a professional company to handle it. They have special protective gear to prevent it from spreading further; they can use specialty products; they can test for mold spores in the air; and they’ll know exactly how to eliminate the entire problem, not just what meets the eye.
If you’re looking for quality microfiber cloths that will last, then you have to check out Maker’s Clean Premium Cloth Bundle!
How to Clean Mildew
If you have mildew in the house (and we all do), there are some terrific options for cleaning it. One quick note here—bleach does help remove mold and mildew, but we don’t use bleach here at the CMS HQ because there are so many alternatives that work just as well, and here they are.
Option #1: Vinegar (A Clean My Space Favorite!)
Be certain the surface you are cleaning can tolerate vinegar—this is a no-no on natural stone and other sensitive surfaces. Simply pour undiluted white vinegar (or cleaning vinegar if you have it) into a spray bottle and spritz generously onto the surface; leave it for 30 minutes. Scrub vigorously with a scrub brush, then rinse, dry and re-spray with vinegar and let it air dry. That will help treat the surface and prevent re-growth.
Option #2: Oxygen Bleach or Hydrogen Peroxide
Create a 50/50 mix of either oxygen bleach or hydrogen peroxide with water in a spray bottle. Apply generously to the area, leave for 10 minutes, and scrub well. Then rinse and re-spray the area and allow to air dry.
Option #3: Specialty Products
I found a product called Concrobium after the aforementioned condo drama. I like it because it’s non-toxic and easy to use, and it works really well.
PRO TIP: Remember to clean your cleaning tools after this so that you don’t have any mold or mildew left behind!
How to Prevent Mold
It’s no surprise that prevention is key and that the easiest way to deal with mold is to stop it from forming in the first place. Mold thrives on moisture, so if you can control the moisture in your home, you won’t have to worry about mold. So, here are a few handy tips to help you prevent this nasty stuff.
Use the exhaust fan in your bathroom. That’s what it’s there for! The exhaust fan will help eliminate excess moisture from your bathroom, especially after showers. Run one during and after your shower for a minimum of 1 hour. If you don’t have one, leave the door open, and ideally a window as well.
Clean your shower curtain on a somewhat regular basis. This helps reduce the soap residue that mildew feeds on.
Use storage baskets with holes that allow air to pass through, so that moisture can’t build up in these areas.
Hang damp towels to dry entirely. Hang them folded in a manner to allow air to pass through them to avoid that sour dank-towel smell. The same goes for sponges—don’t just leave a sopping-wet sponge in a puddle in the sink. When you’re done with them, wring them out well and put them somewhere where they can dry out completely, like a sponge holder.
Use a squeegee after you shower or towel-dry the tiles and tub. It’s the best way to eliminate water build-up on tiles, grout, and other areas where it can puddle and attract mold and mildew.
Keep your shower and bath as clear of bottles as possible. That toiletry jungle collects tons of moisture and gives mildew a banquet. Try to reduce your shampoo options (how many do you really need, anyway?) and keep the bottle crowding at bay.
Use a daily shower spray containing 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil to 1 cup of water. Mist the walls and curtain or shower door after each shower. (You can also use 1 part vinegar and 1 part water.)
Remember, mold will not grow if moisture isn’t present—so that’s the key to beating it inside your home!
If you’re looking for more tips and tricks to keep in mind when cleaning around the house check out our E-Book Bundle! It gives you access to our e-books My 3-Wave Cleaning System, 50 DIY Cleaning Recipes, and The Complete Guide to Essential Oils!
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I was renting a home. We just bought one and are currently in the process of moving. I stores some of my possesions in the basement and over the years it started flooding more and more. The whole house fan has not worked for years and the landlord has been aware of all this for years. He has never dine anything to fix any of it. So everything in the basement is moldy and anything in the bedrooms above the basement is moldy and there is black mold all over 3 windows. I am afraid to touch anything in the basement to dispose of it. I have Copd. But i dony want them coming after me for disposal. I am not sure what to do. We are almost moved out thank god. Any help would be appreciated.
Hi Nicki, for this level of mold it sounds like you should contact a professional.
Can mold or mildew form on clothes in tote that’s on the patio?
Mold and mildew can definitely form on wet clothes.
Can mold or mildew form on clothes in tote that’s on the patio?
I recently had a mold inspection done. My problem area is in my bedroom closet, master bedroom, spare bedroom and bathroom. I have to remove all my hanging clothes, the shoes, etc from the closet and was told that everything needs to be laundered. So, how should I go about taking all of this out……should I lay it all out on a painters’ cloth/sheet, etc as not to spread mold spores elsewhere? And once I have washed everything, what should I do with it until the remediation and repairs are completed in order to not recontaminate the clothes/shoes? Any suggestion on how to tackle this huge job.
Hi Peggy! I have the same question! Did you ever find out a good method for combating this madness?
Interesting stuff about mold remediation! Thanks for the information. Thanks again for posting it.
When you mentioned that recent floods can cause mold to grow in a house and become a toxic substance, I remembered how my sister stated that there were some green spots that showed up in her house after the recent rainstorms. These never showed up before and it made me wonder just how bad her house was flooded from the rain. I wouldn’t want to take any chances with it, so I’ll help her find a mold removal company that can help her clean her house thoroughly and get rid of any health risks.
Thanks for the tip about using baskets with holes in order to not trap moisture and make a room damp. I will be getting a mold prevention treatment soon because I found some growths in my basement when I was clearing it up. I hope that after the treatment, I can finally transform my basement into a laundry room without much issue.
Great video melissa , so my window air conditioner was just recently blowing out this bad odor, turns out this was mold after I checked. What do I do if my childrens toys was in same room while AC was on, will I have to toss out their toys and stuffed animals? Or is there a way to clean them? I really dont wanna do that to them.
Heated towel racks (bathroom radiator) are also a way in Europe that bathrooms stay dry, mold & mildew free. In Canada & the USA AMBA has a variety of shapes and sizes and they replace towel bars and robe hooks in the bathroom. They dry the air as a radiator would. They are decorative multiple towel bars that heat up and hardwire as you would a light sconce, some are plug-in. Melissa Maker may have seen these before overseas also as drying racks in laundry rooms. An item so typical in British, French and Italian bathrooms.
It made sense when you said that water can puddle on tiles and grout to attract mold. I noticed my bathroom’s tile and grout looked really dirty. Now that I know it’s probably mold, I’ll definitely look into hiring a tile cleaning company soon.
I’m glad you explained that mildew is just mold in its early stage. My basement flooded recently. We got all the water out, but now I’m worried about mold growing in it. I’ll have to make extra sure that I got all the moisture out of the walls and carpet.
I had our entire house in climate controlled storage for 2 years …Everything came out looking as it went in…we had all our furniture and mattresses wrapped…most items in plastic bins…the only item I have found an issue with in the entire unit is my kitchen aid mixer…it looks like it has mildew on it. I sprayed it with bleach and water but when it dried the spots stayed. Seems odd that this item in particular came out spotted but thinking I should just throw it out along with anything else in that plastic container?
I cant seem to control the mold growth on our clothing. I have washed with vinegar n thats not stoppping it. Can u please suggest what i can do next. I have thrown out so much already…it makes me sick!!!!
Any.suggestions would be great. Thank you very much!!!
Borax. Add borax to your wash and your clothes will come out bright and mildew free. I’ve been fighting this overgrown mess for almost 2 years.
Keep your clothing in an air tight container.
Yes Brad I sprayed straight vinegar on the carpet around the TV stand that I brought from black mold situation and now I am in new environment can the water and vinegar activate dry mold spore because I seem to be itching and it’s going berserk again
My cousin has been coughing and itchy skin and her bathroom smells really weird. It would be really bad if she had any mold and it would be really helpful for her to get an inspection service. I’ll be sure to tell her that if they do find mold, she should call a professional to take care of it.
I wanted to thank you for helping me learn more about mold. I didn’t know that you should try to run your exhaust fan in your bathroom one hour before and after your shower. It sounds important to try to plan you day like that so that you can prepare for this, especially if mold has grown in your bathroom in the past.
Great blog! Mold and mildew are both very problematic inside and outside! Mold and mildew outside the home can cause accidents when on walkways and patios. There is a lot of great information here and great ways to get rid of and prevent mold and mildew from coming back! Keep up the great work!
This blog was… how ddo you say it? Relevant!! Finally I have found something
which helped me. Thank you!
Thanks for helping me understand that molds can affect our immune system which is why it must be treated by a professional as soon as possible. With that in mind, I will call a pro tomorrow to check our air conditioning unit. This is because it might have one already since I keep on sneezing and having a runny nose for a week now, and it might be the hidden reason why I am like this.
i use orange peels to keep my ciggaretts from getting stale,i noticed mold on peelings after a month,its white and getting greenish,is that toxic mold? and dangerous even if i smoke the ciggs?
Your cigarettes are more of a danger to your health than the mold lol…
Thanks Melissa for such an informative video. I am so glad I found you! I am gonna watch all of your videos from now on!
I have a mildew problem in my shower. The black yucky stuff is in between the sealant and the tiles. I tried your methods but it didn’t help. My husband says the only way to clean it is to remove the entire sealant and re-do it. Please tell me there are other ways.
Also, ok a similar topic, do you recommend sealing all tiles in both kitchen and bathrooms? If I have done that, would this not have happened? I am thinking down the road how to avoid this from happening again. I can’t be peeling off sealant every couple years…
Hi Yolanda. Thank you for watching and for the kind words. Give the vinegar method we outline above a try. If it’s a lot of mildew, opt for full-strength vinegar. Good luck in the good fight against yuck!
Baking soda and vinegar paste leave for 30 minutes and do once every day till its gone
Thank you so much Melissa for giving complete details about mold and mildew. I was looking for such post last 3-4 month but none of the blogger gives complete information. But I think your post solves all of my doubts. Thank you so much again for complete and informative post.
Hello Clean – my room mate used my Shark NV70 bagless upright vacuum to clean out her car. She thought there was no moisture, but in fact there was some. The vacuum did not get used again for a couple weeks & it looks like it is full of mildew or mold. Is there a way to completely clean it so we don’t worry over the mold ? She did use the hose. HELP !!
If my mattress has mould, does that mean I have to throw my pillows out too? I’m renting a place that came with an old mattress but my pillows are newly bought. The pillows have been lying on that mattress for about a week now. Could the mould from the mattress spread onto my pillows? Thanks!
I was exposed to toxic black mold on a cruise, I have a mold instpection service coming tomorrow…..should i get regular mold test or the IRMA? its on clothing and luggage that has been in plastic bags for a week…how likely is it they can positively identify on clothing? i have one shot at this for my law suit. and luckily it didn’t kill me!!
I would recommmend speaking to a mild expert about this.
If I found mold on the floor in my closet (on shoes). Do I have to wash everything in my closet now or just where the mold was?
We would recommend washing everything to be safe.
Thank you so much for sharing..i was looking for the same..keep sharing
I’ve been sick 2 months. I think it’s my bed & bathroom. Mold grows on the bathroom walls
…..I have to leave my cabinets open. Tearing out carpet too.
Hi Rachel, that isn’t good to hear!
Have you had your air quality tested for mold?
You can hire a mold inspector to come and test the air quality in your home.
Or if you’re on a budget (like many of us are) you can use a product called MyMoldDetective.
I wouldn’t suggest the petri dish samples. They can be misleading and inaccurate.
I’m a licensed mold inspector here in Flordia, so feel free to reach out with any questions.
Yes I have some questions actually what if there is nothing damp around? I stay in an efficiency and its always really cool in here. I keep the temperature at 72 or 74 and 64 or 68 at night. I’ve had mold grow on some of the furniture and on a duffle bag of clothes I have by the dresser but not on the clothes. I also have a chair with some clothes thrown over it and one of them have mold.
I will say as much as I am ashamed too… I did not clean my efficiency for 2 months due to an injury that left me on bed rest as I was barley able to answer the door to have some food delivered. I usually am an over the top clean freak. So yes disgusting I know.
So I know that may play part in it but I did clean with a basic cleaner since I am finally more mobile. nothing special and im worried its still spreading.
Yes Brad I sprayed straight vinegar on the carpet around the TV stand that I brought from black mold situation and now I am in new environment can the water and vinegar activate dry mold spore because I seem to be itching and it’s going berserk again
Where in Florida! I have been in Florida for almost 3 years and all my wash cloths dish towels shower curtains get mold spots and I have never experienced this before. When we moved in (rental) the vents in the ceiling looked like a fire happened I showed the Managment company and they said just bleach them but I’m starting to think this isn’t normal as I have talked to others who moved here
It’s really great to know that there are so many health risks associated with mold and how it can spread allergens. I’ve always had really bad allergies and especially with the mold that I have been getting in my basement lately, it’s definitely not helping. I’ll really have to look into getting that taken care of soon so that it doesn’t give me any future problems.
I cleaned my beige leather chair with essence of cloves and baby oil which killed the spores. The dead spores have left dark marks where they had been and are still visible on the leather. Does anyone know how to remove these stains? I’m desperate to find a solution because this chair belonged to my deceased Sister and she loved it.
I just read how to clean spots on leather and vinyl in a car. Buy a magic eraser and wet it and rub on spot. Also vaseline rubbed on a cloth to keep leather and vinyl from cracking.
Be very careful with Magic Erasers… they’re basically micro-sandpaper.
Excellent and decent post. I found this much informative. I’m impressed by the details that you have on this web site. Thank you for this post
I have little orange/Brown dots on lots of clothes that were buried in the back of my tiny walk in closet. Is this mold or mildew and how do I get it out? I’m using vinegar. Also lots of bleach. Some of the stains remain even if the fabric has turned white from the bleach. Also is the mold/mildew still there if the stain persists even after applying a 50% bleach solution? I don’t know if the spots will spread if I put them back in the closet/drawer. Thanks so much!
Actually, bleach doesn’t kill all types of mold.
Vinegar works well on clothes….
Or use stronger stuff such as VitalOxide.
Determining the root cause of the mold is what you need to figure out.
If you have any other problems, feel free to reach out.
hello! i spilt water into my cupboard a few months back, i didnt let it air or anything, i just threw in a roll of toilet paper and locked the cupboard and totally forgot about it, there were bags in the cupboard so im not sure if there is a possibility that there will be mold growing cause the toilet paper and bags might have absorbed the water already, may i know what do you think about this? i checked my cupboard it looks fine without any visible mold or anything, my cupboard is rather new so i don’t want to ruin it
Melissa add this to your arsenal. Benefect Deacon 30. It works immediately 30 is for 30 seconds. It was designed for an immunocompromised boy, it’s harmless to you. Concrobium kills while drying by crushing! This doesn’t need to wait that long and contains a surfactant. It is clear, no white streaks. I should have stock! It’s main ingredient is thyme oil. It has a lemon herbal fragrance that is super light and doe not linger. I can’t tolerate perfume. Good article!
Help. Can’t get rid of black spots on chalking around tub.
Thank you, you’re great.
We get mildew marks behind our bathroom door where towels hang against the wall. It’s a small bathroom and that’s our only spot to hang wet towels. Do you have any ideas what we could do to prevent this from happening? I’m about to repaint and want to keep the walls nice. Thanks!
Mold spores in the air and the water/high humidity. Also lack of ventilation and or light. I once sanded mold off a bathroom door. You need to utilize a vacuum and partition off the space. When you paint use a mold killing primer. You cannot just paint over mold. It eats the cellulose in the paint. Good luck!
What i want to know, why can’t you just paint over mold with a mold killer primer? I’m doing it right now, my home is a serious case, mold everywhere.
what about dishes in the cupboards. Should they be removed or covered when there is mold in the area?
Washed!
Expired antibiotics: Don’t throw way.. open an old caplet in a glass add a little water that has been boiled then cooled to room temp. Give it 5-10 mins to activate and paint on to areas that have mold..
The stronger antibiotics work best and you will see mold disappearing and can then wipe it off.
Molds kill not only bacteria but other types of competing molds.
Antibiotics are just the poisons that different molds make to do just thatand do not contain mold spores, so you won’t get mildew or what ever mold made the antibiotics growing afterwards.
Antifungals maybe. Disinfectants, hand sanitizer, alcohol, like antibiotics are designed to kill bacteria. You can research genus and species. You can make a fungal infection worse in the body by killing off bacteria.
I bought a used dresser and it turns out there’s some green mold on the back of the wood drawers. Can I just clean it and move on or is it more of a concern being on wood? Thanks.
Wood is hydrophilic. Trees are designed to drink in water/moisture. So there’s more going on than surface. I’ve had furniture stripped and refinished when it was in a room with a mold issue. Mold spores are invisible. They spread like crazy.
What can you put in drawers and cup boards to stop moisture? ???
This is a complete answer, but doing any part of this will help you “win the battle” I started trying to give you a simple answer. There are so many parts of the situation, it just not lend itself to a simple answer. Humidity and understanding tempurature, the inside of your house verse the outside weather… what causes condinsation and many other things go into a complete answer, Depends on where you live, where the moisture is coming from? living near an ocean or lake, ditches, the amount of rain you get and how much sun, hot hot and how cold it gets all plays a role, and we complicate it by making our houses different then what is outside.
I will tell you up front, I am not the normal person that will answer you, however, I am a home owner, a mother, grandmother, wife that likes to cook and sew also… So here is my and my families working background, then you can decide if you want to read further. We deal with this issue professionally all the time for health, construction commercial and residential.
I am an medical infectious disease epidemiologist and my husband is an HVAC Master Technician, and I still had to teach him. My Youngest Son is a concrete, soil and construction wher he is building a NASA Station, they need him to build the building and make it air tight, but the parking lots and roads in Mississippi have their problems with rain and floods up close to the Mississippi river and gulf coast delta area.
So here goes:
The only think you can do in drawers or cup boards that is really effective is to use material in construction that “breaths.” Vinyl Shelf paper (anything made with plastics or vinyl) does NOT breath and condensation WILL build up on the side with the moisture.
(They have actually stopped using tyvac in some areas of the country to build and put a moisture barrier on the outside of your house because the condinsation will build up on the cooler side of somtthing that is heated.)
Understanding how to control HUMIDITY in your house is the ONLY way to prevent it and I don’t think anything does it completely really that is any kind of affordable, but we are trying and doing a lot of the work ourselves (not hard, just time consuming and knowledge intensive.)
Making sure everything is dry before putting it away will help with drawers and cabinets. A few examples, damp cloths from the dryer or line, and damp or wet dishes and silverware from the dishdrainer or dishwasher in cabinets or drawers introduces more moisture then what is normally in your house. Then by having doors or pusing drawers closed, creates nice dark damp places where mold, mildew and insects like to breed.
Installing vent fans in areas that are damp,
– I like to “can fruits and vegatables” so I have a 6″ ducted ceiling fan inside my kitchen as well as the hood fan for the stove top.
– I also have vent fans in both my bathrooms and in the Utility Area where the washer and dryer is.
– ALL my vents in the bathrooms, kitchen and utility area where it will fit, are the bigger 6 inch duct type.
*****Make sure you have someone duct it OUT of your attic into the open air.*****
We have so many problems with controling humidity on the Atlantic Seaboard at the boarder of North Carolina and Virginia. We are located in a spot where we are humidity outside is nearing 95% for 6 months of the year in the spring sumer and fall; and the AC cannot handle it all. But we get temps in the 10-20s for at least several weeks that causes the humidity to go to about 10-15% so our noses bleed and our skin drys out. Nor easters in the winter occur several times a winter.
We have had to take drastic measures. We are installing a 130 pint per day dehumidifier inside the central ventilation system for the summer and have installed a humidifier for the winter.
Portable dehumidifiers only handle 35-70 pints of water per day. Depending on where you live and your climate, will determine more or less what you need. (They work in smaller houses, RVs and in closed spaces.) My house has been built on to making it very long (about 65 ft by 25 ft of meandering as the original house was built in 1870s or earlier.)
I wish I could say that the HVAC technicians and companies understood this better, but they don’t.
Aim for NO LESS then 40% and NO more then 55-60% humidity.
AprilAir INC. sells central HVAC humidifiers and dehumidifiers. Humification is not expensive, and fire places can dry out your air in the winter besides your furnance so HVAC technicians from colder climates DO install the them. They are wonderful. However, good luck at finding anyone to understand and make recommendations for dehumidification.
HVAC companies are natorious in our area for gouging the customer by stating you have to gut and reinstall your whole ventilation system, and they count on you not having the knowledge to say different… (which sometimes is necessary but not usually. Modifications to your current system if you have a good basic system.)
You will have to use, companies specialize in disaster clean up from floods and hurricanes they are called Mold Remediation and they are not cheap. Since this is my husbands and my fields of profession we have tons of articals but the knowledge base has not been distributed very well. The HVAC techs will tell you Air Conditioners will handle humidity, to a certain degree that is so but the air has to go slow over the AC coils so the freon will have enough contact with the moisture in the air to condense the extra moisture out. And AC techs are not specialists at getting the fans inside the AC units to do that.
They will also tell you it will increase your energy costs (that is conventional wisdom) but it is not so either. Moisture holds heat, and so the less moisture in the air the easier it is to cool, the more moisture in the air the more heat it will hold in the winter.
Both of us also volunteer with American Red Cross (hurricanes, tornados, floods, tsunomis, nor easters disaters) and with National Oceanic and Aeronotics Administration (NOAA) for percipatation of rain, snow and hail. and have over 40+ years in our fields and volunteer work. so we are in our 60s… So we study it for work, we study it cause we have always lived in areas of extreme weather.
I was just gonna say calcium chloride! Sold as Damprid for example. I can’t understand why an epidemiologist would think a HVAC guy would have her knowledge base.
Also heat holds moisture. http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/moisture-holding-capacity-air-d_281.html (second to last paragraph seems backwards)
The excess amount of water standing would grow mold if it will be not remove before time and that would be unhealthy for us. You have really provided us a great tips how to deal with mold. Thanks for sharing such a informative post.
Water of itself does NOT grow mold. It has to be contaminated with Mold spores to grow anything. If that was so, you could not store water in containers or food that is canned. The reason dehydrated food has not got any growth is there is no moisture to support the biologic life.
Thanks for sharing, Jean!
How do you clean tea towels and face cloths so that the mildew smell doesn’t show up the second they get wet, even right out of the washer and dryer? We solved the recurrence of problems in the bathrooms by installing towel warmers but not in the kitchen although I’m tempted to install one in there too.
Use the recommended amount of bleach in your washing machine and that will kill and mold and get rid of the smell. In the infection control 10% regular household bleach is used to kill many things. If you have it on a wall, or in a dresser, keep it moist for about 10 minutes. It will kill most everything. It is bacteriacidal and fungicidal. And it kills most every virus I know of too off the top of my head.
Sodium hypocloride is simple:
Sodium hypochlorite is a strong oxidizing agent in liquid form and is greenish or yellowish in color. It is commonly referred to as bleach because it is the active ingredient in bleach. Its chemical formula is NaClO, composed of one sodium (Na) atom, one chlorine (Cl) atom and one oxygen (O) atom.
So, if NaCl is regular table salt, then it just has one oxygen atom attached to it to make bleach.
However, as an oxidizing agent, it will take the color out of most anything even at a 10% concentration so be careful with the cloths that are not white. But it will not eat through the cloths at 10%. I have done it many times. We have mold on our house and I use it on their a few times a year or so.
Borax and vinegar. You can kill fungus in a manner that doesn’t off gas chloroform or dioxane. Vinegar also is used to retain color ( easter eggs) is antifungal and antibacterial and acts like a fabric softener.
Laying out the towels to let them dry after use will also keep the mold out and the smell out.
Melissa you are the best. I have my work cut out for me and suspected this was my problem, but never thought the smell would take over the house. I think between bleach and a good dehumidifier in the cellar we may lick this problem. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
Thank you so much Melissa for giving complete details about mold and mildew. I was looking for such post last 3-4 month but none of the blogger gives complete information. But I think your post solves all of my doubts. Thank you so much again for complete and informative post.
Now that winter is upon us (at least in southern Alberta) and the cities are over-dosing on road salt
precious info as always. Thanks Melissa for yet another excellent and doable solutions for a big problem x
I wonder why I am still not convinced of microfibre towels!! They don’t seem to absorb as well as cotton ones. Is the problem in me or the type of microfibre towels I use and I can promise you that I have dozens of many different types!!! They just do not dry surfaces properly!!
Are you using any type of fabric softener? If so, they will not dry. I found too, that if you use a detergent other than the one the microfiber company sells, they do not work worth a hoot.
We simply use plain white vinegar with a few drops of lavender essential oil as a fabric softener. This helps to combat mold & mildew and leaves fabrics soft while helping to preserve color.
Nice video Melissa. Anyway, I noticed that there is mirror cleaning video that you made last year. Remember the type of towel you said to use-flat weave microfiber? Well I have one understanding of microfibre towels. What I understand about them is how they’re different from ordinary towels. However, I also have one misunderstanding of these unique towels-how to differentiate the types of towels made from microfibre. What I mean is, how is a flat-weave towel different from a Terry towel, and how are these towels different from any other towel in the microfibre world? I’m interested in learning how to judge a microfibre towel type by how it looks. Beyond that I would just like to know the best cloths to choose when cleaning certain surfaces. If you could make a video on different types of microfibre towels (all or some types, all if it’s not too much), that would be most appreciated. 🙂