How To Get Rid Of Mold (3 Actionable Steps)

I know, Mold can be very gross.

Throughout my 10+ year career as a health and safety professional, I have seen every kind of mold growth there is.

However, some types of mold can be beneficial.

• Some species are also used to create life-saving antibiotics such as penicillin.
• Some are used in foods such as soy sauce and cheese.

But…

Make no mistake, some molds can cause health problems, ruin your home, and can be costly to remove is it grows undetected.

The one thing you should understand is that mold is a part of our natural environment and it is impossible to be removed entirely.

It can grow on anything if it has a food source, moisture, and ideal conditions.

Mold growth can occur on the carpets in your home, walls, ceilings, clothes, foods, books, and even your furniture.

Mold can even grow in areas that you don’t see, like inside walls, under flooring, in your air conditioning ducts, in crawlspaces, and even under your kitchen sink just to name a few.

How Can You Treat And Get Rid Of Mold In Your Home?

STEP 1: Find and Fix the Moisture Source

If you can smell an unusual fowl or musty odor anywhere in your home, then you most likely have a significant amount of mold growth.

The smell may be from a 3-day-old pile of wet clothes in your laundry room, damp rugs in your bathroom, leaky pipes in the crawlspace under your house.

Or it could be coming from a water leak under your kitchen cabinet.

No matter where the smell is coming from, it’s time for you to take the right steps and get rid of the problem before it gets out of control.

And ends up costing a fortune in remediation fees.

STEP 2: Removing the mold

• Removing Mold With Vinegar (Method 1)

White distilled vinegar is a mild acetic acid which can eliminate 82% of mold species.

Using vinegar to remove mold also has the advantage of being a safer alternative to chlorine bleach and other toxic chemicals.

This makes it ideal and safe to use in your home.

Best of all it is non – toxic and has excellent antibacterial and antifungal properties.

How To Use Vinegar To Get Rid Of Mold:

Use these steps to get rid of molds growing in your home.

Note: This method is for surface mold growth only and not for materials that are damaged or infested by mold growth.

These items should be discarded and replaced.

Items you will need:

• N95 respirator or better
• Rubber gloves
• Vacuum with HEPA filter
• Safety Goggles
• Scrubbing pad or stainless-steel scrubbing pad
• White distilled vinegar
• Cloth
• Spray bottle

Steps:

1. Open windows for ventilation if needed
2. Put on safety gear (gloves, safety goggles, and respirator)
3. Pour the undiluted vinegar into a spray bottle.
4. HEPA vacuum the mold spores on the surface of the material
5. Spray the vinegar solution on the moldy surface allow it to for an hour
6. After an hour, scrub the area to break up the mold- this allows the vinegar to break down the mold and kill it.
7. Then wipe the area down with a dry cloth.
8. Finally, lightly mist the area with vinegar and allow it to dry.
9. Discard all the items used as regular trash. The smell from the vinegar will clear after a couple

• Mold Removal with Baking Soda (Method 2)

Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) has always been a safe household cleaner.

It has many benefits when attempting to remove surface growth.

Baking soda or sodium bicarbonate has a pH of around 8-8.1, which creates an alkaline environment in which mold can’t grow or thrive.

Baking soda is harmless, non-toxic, and safe to use around pets and your family unlike some harmful chemicals like bleach and other mold killing agents.

Besides, you can use baking soda as a disinfectant and it is also ideal for breaking up the slimy structure of molds.

The coarse crystals, when mixed with water, creates a past that is a good scrubbing agent for mold removal.

Not to mention is absorbs moisture and is a deodorizing agent.

In some cases, baking soda is often combined with vinegar to create a more powerful cleaning agent when dealing with mold problems.

Items you will need:

• N95 respirator or better
• Rubber gloves
• Vacuum with HEPA filter
• Safety Goggles
• Scrubbing pad
• Baking soda
• Cloth
• Spray bottle

How To Remove Mold With Baking Soda (Spray Bottle):

1. Put on safety gear (gloves, safety goggles, and respirator- if needed).
2. Slowly HEPA vacuum the moldy areas.
3. Combine 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 8 oz of water in a spray bottle.
4. Shake the bottle for 20 seconds to dissolve the baking soda.
5. Spray the area that has the mold growth with the baking soda and water solution and let is sit for a couple minutes
6. Then, begin to scrub the moldy area with the scrubbing pad or scrub brush.
7. Scrub until the mold has been removed.
8. Wipe the area with a damp cloth to remove the mold residue

Optional- lightly mist the area with vinegar and allow it to dry.

Discard all the items used as regular trash.

Using The Baking Soda Paste:

Another way to remove mold with baking soda is to create a baking soda paste.

Simply:

1. Combine 3 table spoons of baking soda with 1 ounce of water (add water as needed)
2. Mix the baking soda and water until a paste is formed
3. Apply the mixture to a sponge or damp cloth
4. Scrub the moldy areas
5. Using a damp cloth, wipe the surface to remove any mold residue
6. Allow the area to dry

This can be used as a scrubbing solution to remove surface mold on textured surfaces.

STEP 3: Put A Preventative Measure in Place

You can prevent a mold infestation in your home IF you use the correct mold protocols.

First, do an inspection in your home.

Visually identify any potential problem areas like the kitchen, bathrooms, air conditioning systems, and other moisture prone areas. If you need some pictures to compare with, use these images of mold. 

• Does your basement flood?
• Do you smell musty odors in closets or your AC vents?
• Is there peeling paint, black spots, or stains on the ceilings or walls?
• Does your home feel humid?

Do you have any of thise conditions in your home?

If you do, act fast an try to get these items resolved before it ends up costing you a fortune to repair.

How Do You Prevent Mold Problems in Your Home?

If you want to prevent mold growing in your home, you just need to take a couple simple steps.

It can be as simple as making sure you dry out anything that gets wet like a piece of carpet, finding and fixing a plumbing leak.

Or just using your bathroom and kitchen exhaust vents when cooking and taking a shower.

To prevent mold problems in your home is to find the moisture problem and fix it right away.

It may cost a little money upfront, but it will save you the burden of costly mold remediation further down the road if the mold is allowed to spread and damage building materials.