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Dealing With Mold, Mildew, and Microscopic Particles in Your Home
Mold, mold spores, and mildew can be found everywhere in our environment, in the air outside and in the air inside your home. You can’t 100% eliminate them from your indoor air, but you can take steps to greatly reduce the number of them. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), if you, or a family member, suffer from asthma, mold sensitivities, upper respiratory symptoms, or even are experiencing skin rashes, exposure to mold, mold spores, and other microscopic contaminants could be the reason you feel sick and could increase your symptoms dramatically.
Mold, Mildew, and Other Particles
The general term for all this “stuff” floating around in the air inside your home is microbial contamination. The term “microbial contaminants” includes a variety of microorganisms. These contaminants can include mold, viruses, bacteria, other types of fungi like mildew, and all of their byproducts and toxins.
Mold is nature’s chief decomposer of dead organic matter. Things that were once alive, like trees, leaves, plants, and animals are decayed, broken down, and returned to the soil by molds. Mold can be found just about everywhere, both inside and outside. Not all molds are bad, think of cheese, bread, chocolate, and medicines, penicillin and cortisone are two examples. All of these products use mold in a good way. Mold becomes a problem for most homeowners only when a mold spore lands on a wet or damp organic material and begins to multiply.
Mildew is a specific type of microscopic fungus that also travels through the air in the form of spores. Unlike molds, mildew does not grow into a material, it only grows on surfaces. This makes mildew easier to eliminate than mold, however, for sensitive individuals mildew can still cause health problems.
Microscopic particles can be a combination of many contaminants. This term can include bacteria, viruses, pet dander, dust, pollen, and smoke or soot. Scientific studies have found that breathing in particulate matter can lead to premature death, nonfatal heart attacks, an irregular heartbeat, aggravated asthma symptoms, and decreased lung function.
Ways to Improve Indoor Air Quality
There are three basic approaches to improve indoor air quality: source control, improved ventilation, and the use of air cleaning machines.
Source Control
This is the best way to improve indoor air quality, eliminate the source. Some common sources include fuel-burning appliances, tobacco products, building materials (especially newer materials), paint, mold, and household cleaners.
As far as mold and mildew are concerned, it is next to impossible to eliminate the presence of fungal spores in your home. Fungal spores will enter on the breeze, be carried in on your shoes and clothing, and be carried in on items that you bring into your home. They can even enter your home on the fur of your pets. Since you can’t stop the mold, you must eliminate the mold’s moisture source. This means correcting leaks, drips, and any above normal humidity levels (the EPA recommends 30%-50% humidity levels in homes).
Improved Ventilation
Your HVAC system does not bring fresh air in from the outside, it only re-circulates the air that is already present. Opening windows and doors is the best way to bring fresher, outdoor air into your home.
If you have window or whole-house attic fans, they can supercharge the influx of outside air, while reducing the concentration levels of air pollutants in your home. If you own a window air conditioner, turn the vent setting control to the “open” or “fresh air” setting. This will also draw fresh air into your home.
You can help push indoor air to the outside by using your home’s exhaust fans. Each of your bathrooms should have an exhaust fan and there should be a vent over your stove.
Air Cleaners
There are many types and sizes of residential air cleaners. They can run the gauntlet from smaller tabletop models to whole-house systems. Air cleaners are only as effective as their filters allow them to be. Some models have HEPA filters, some have HEPA-like filters, and some have just a normal filter. They can also be limited in efficiency by the rate of airflow that can be drawn through the machine. One downside to air cleaners is that they are not designed to remove gaseous pollutants.
Reducing the Potential for Mold Growth
Mold, mold spores, and mildew, like every other living thing, require moisture to grow and develop. Mold and mildew don’t like puddles of standing water but they do like wet or damp organic materials. The key to preventing a mold or mildew problem is to control moisture. Below are some tips for keeping mold and mildew at bay:
- Fix and eliminate any plumbing or roofing leaks immediately. Make sure that if any materials that were affected by the leak are completely dried out.
- Cleanup after a water break or flood. This should be addressed as quickly as possible because it only takes 24-48 hours for mold or mildew to begin to grow.
- Use proper ventilation. Exhaust fans are there for a reason, to remove humidity. Higher than normal levels of humidity can provide enough moisture to encourage mold and mildew growth.
- Control humidity. Basements and below ground level rooms tend to have higher humidity than above ground rooms. Use a dehumidifier to maintain safe levels of humidity in these areas.
Removing Mold, Mildew, and Other Microscopic Particles
Mildew may affect your health and it will eventually stain and damage the materials it grows on. It is however, the easiest of these three problems to remove. One of the best ways to clean and remove mildew is with distilled white vinegar. Simply fill a spray bottle with white vinegar and liberally spray the affected areas. Don’t use chlorine bleach or a chlorine based cleaner as their fumes can be unhealthier than the mildew. Let the vinegar dwell for a couple of hours and then wipe the mildew away. If there are any mildew stains remaining, baking soda on a damp sponge and a little elbow grease will remove them.
The microscopic particles you will encounter mainly consist of dust. Dust is a combination of many things: dead skin cells, hair, clothing fibers, dust mites, soil, and pollen. Never dust with a feather duster or a dry cloth. Instead use a damp cloth or sponge, start at the top of an item and work your way down. Using a vacuum cleaner that contains a true HEPA filter will keep you from putting settled dust back into the air. For microscopic particles that are already in the air, a HEPA-filtered air cleaner is the best way to capture them. When purchasing an air cleaner, look for one with a CFM (cubic feet per minute) rating that will allow the air in the room to be passed through the unit at least twice per hour.
Mold removal poses the greatest challenge for most homeowners. Mold spores are easily moved into the air when they are disturbed during the removal process. Once mold spores become airborne they can be inhaled or spread throughout previously unaffected areas of the home. Never use chlorine bleach to attempt to kill or remove mold. Bleach will not penetrate moldy surfaces, and that’s the problem. Mold penetrates the porous surfaces that it is growing on. Using bleach will only affect the surface mold. In just a short period of time you will notice that your mold problem has returned.
Call In the Pros for Mold Removal
Water Mold Fire Restoration is a nationally certified mold remediation company. That means that our mold removal specialists have the training, experience, and the proper equipment necessary to safely and completely deal with your mold problem. With one phone call to 800-905-0277, we can have one of our certified technicians inspect your home and recommend a plan for the mold’s removal. This inspection and estimate is completely free of charge. We are available 24/7 and can also be reached by email at help@watermoldfire.net.
