Friday, October 12, 2007

How To Keep Mold Out Of Your Life And Off Of Your Property

Mold gets onto just about everything that we own at some point or another; it is whether or not the mold starts to actually grow on the item and stay there that tends to be the problem. Whether it is clothes, furniture, walls, floors, clothes, or food, mold can do quite a lot of damage to the things in our home and we cannot always see it coming. Even the items that we need to be clean the most, like our baby’s bottles that they drink their milk and juice out of.

The bottles that we have today are not just the cylinders that they used to be; sometimes they come in strange shapes that are hard to get completely dry and when this happens and they are put back into the refrigerator, they can often become moldy. How can you prevent this? All you have to do after you wash them is dry them inside the best that you can and then simply put them in the freezer until you are ready to use them again. Mold does not like these temperatures and this will inhibit any growth. It is a popular thing to put kitchen staples like flour, sugar, and cornmeal into the freezer to protect them from bugs and mice, so why not use this to your advantage to prevent mold, as well?

Mold also likes to grow on clothes that have been forgotten about in the backs of closets. Try not to pack your closets so full of clothes that air cannot circulate. The clothes being packed so close together creates the warmth that the mold needs to survive and if your house is humid enough, the moisture it needs is also there. The last thing mold needs to live is food and your clothing is more than enough to supply that need. It might also be a good idea to install a vent into the closet to help air circulate a little better, too.

Something else that causes mold to grow is when you throw damp and dirty clothing into a bathroom closet and leave it there. This is particularly a bad idea if you have carpet in it. Carpet in the bathroom is a bad idea all by itself, but when you couple it with dirty, wet clothes or towels, you are asking for a mold infestation to start in the back of your closet. The solution for this is to use a plastic laundry hamper and to empty it regularly, which should be around every day and a half. Mold usually starts to grow after about 48 hours.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.