Mold is a type of fungus with spores that is always in the air and can result from a plumbing leak, flooding, or high humidity. No home is safe from mold, even the cleanest homes. When the conditions are right, the mold spores can attach to various household surfaces and form musty smelling colonies. These colonies of mold can be brown, green, red, orange, white, blue, or black. If you see any mold, it should be cleaned and repaired immediately. If the cleaning is not started within forty-eight hours, it can spread throughout your house very quickly.
One important thing to note with repairing mold damage is that the top priority is safety as it can cause many health problems. This is especially true for those with a weakened immune system, allergies, or asthma. In fact, they should have a professional or someone else do the mold damage repair. If you are doing it yourself, you need to wear goggles, a cotton facemask, and gloves. Make sure that the area where you are working is ventilated properly when cleaning with harsh chemicals or bleach.
Surfaces like metal, plastic, ceramic, wood, and glass are the easiest ones to repair after an infestation of mold. Most molds can be removed by scrubbing the surfaces with a solution of one cup of bleach to one gallon of hot +++++++water. Once clean rinse the area thoroughly. To keep the mold from growing back you can apply a solution that contains dishwasher or borate-based laundry detergent, but you have to leave the solution on the surface.
If there is mold on bedding, curtains, clothing, or any other fabric items you can wash them in hot water and laundry detergent to kill the mold. If you have painted items with mold you have to clean it because you cannot just paint over the mold. The mold will continue growing, causing the paint to eventually peel.
For items that absorb water, it is very hard to repair mold damage, especially if they are not washable. This list includes any type of upholstered furniture like chairs and sofas, and beds. Try to dry out the item in a separate room in your home and then vacuum it completely to see if there is any noticeable odor from mold still being there. Even if you can get rid of the mold damage it can return.
After trying these methods to repair mold damage and you are unable to get rid of the mold you will need to have a professional to get rid of the mold. If you see mold on items that are very valuable like paintings or antique rugs a professional should clean them so you do not run the risk of damaging them.