Home Remedies to Clean Mold off Walls
If you have mold on your walls, then you have a health issue on your hands. The presence of mold in a home not only is unsightly, but it can lead to major respiratory problems in members of your household. Fortunately, there are a variety of home remedies that you can use to clean mold off walls. Does this Spark an idea?
Significance
The presence of mold on your walls indicates a larger problem. While mold is a problem in itself, if your walls are capable of growing mold, that means that there is a moisture problem in your house. The first step to cleaning mold off your walls is to make sure it cannot grow back. Put a dehumidifier in every room and start removing excess moisture from the air in your house.
Types
The most reliable way to kill mold and get it off your walls is with bleach and a scrub brush. However, you may also need to do some minor remodeling. For example, if the mold is growing on an outside wall, then your roof may be leaking into the interior of the wall and creating a mold-friendly environment. You will need to apply the bleach mixture in a variety of ways (first a spray bottle, then a sponge) and then repaint the entire area to cover any stains.
Time Frame
The time frame for home mold removal is about three weeks, starting from when you repair the problem that has allowed the mold to grow in the first place. First, you will need to spray a concentrated bleach solution---four parts water to one part bleach. Spray it directly on the mold with your spray bottle. Do not worry about your paint, because you will need to repaint after mold removal. Spray two days in a row to saturate the wood and kill the mold. On the third day, apply the bleach with a sponge directly to the wall. Once you have done this, the current crop of mold should be dead. However, two weeks later you should repeat the process to kill off any spores. Then, paint the room after priming the wall with Killz or another preventative primer. Unfortunately, bleach is the only home remedy that will take mold out permanently.
Function
While you may feel like you are pouring excessive amounts of bleach down your walls, what you are doing is destroying several generations of mold at once. You have to kill off every generation in full or the mold will grow back through your paint. The spray-bleaching serves to kill off the oldest generations of mold and to open up the wood and paint behind and under the mold. The sponging then gets bleach into every crack and crevice where mold spores may be hiding. The repeat treatment two weeks later should kill off anything that is not yet visible but that survived.
Misconceptions
Many people believe that all mold is toxic mold and can only be eradicated by experts. While you should have mold inspected to make sure that it is not toxic, assuming that it is not, you can safely treat mold on your walls yourself. However, work in a well-ventilated area to avoid breathing in bleach fumes and mold spores.
Warning
Attempting to use home remedies like bleach to kill mold at home can have some unintended side effects. You may not be able to use a portion of your house while you are getting rid of the mold, because of the bleach fumes and the potentially stirred-up mold spores. In addition, unless you are a licensed contractor or experienced home repair expert, you should work with a professional to make sure you are keeping the structural integrity of your home intact and that your efforts will resolve the source of the moisture and the mold.
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