A wide variety of molds can grow and thrive in your home. Their colors can be black, gray, brown, orange, greenish, yellow, white, orange, or even a combination of colors. However, you can not recognize the kind by its color but by the spores’ structure and characteristics.
What Are White Molds?
White molds are tiny fungi that usually appear white, green, or gray at the beginning of their development. While other molds change colors over time, some remain white throughout their lifecycle as a result of the material type they’re feeding on. After colonies form, white molds appear as spots on a surface.
Initially, they can look flaky, powdery, filmy, or stringy. In some cases, they also resemble mildew, which is a kind of mold or fungus. But white molds are more hazardous since they grow on surface areas and deep within organic products.
Where Do White Molds Grow in Your Home?
You can practically see white molds anywhere in your house with these three requirements: food source, moisture, and temperature between 2 and 40 degrees Celsius. The most common places in the house that meet these conditions include:
- Basement
- Attics
- Carpets
- Crawl spaces
- Wood
- Plants and Plant soil
- Walls/drywalls
- Concrete
- Furniture
- Cabinets
- Bathroom
- Garage
- Metal
- Tiles
- Floorboards
How to Remove White Molds in Your House
1. Use protective gloves, eyewear, and a respirator for protection.
2. Evaluate the area. Test the substance if it’s white mold by spraying water in a spray bottle. If it doesn’t dissolve, chances are it is a white mold. If it dissolves, it’s probably another substance, like efflorescence.
3. Turn off the HVAC system if you see signs of contamination. Examine white molds near the intake for your ventilation, heating, or air conditioning system. Inspect if there’s a musty odor or noticeable white mold development inside the air ducts.
If you can’t find these signs, but some members of your family experience unexplained illness or allergic reactions, it’s still best to clean up the air ducts. Avoid running your HVAC system until the air ducts are cleaned up.
4. Decide what to clean and what to discard. Some absorbent products with noticeable white molds, such as ceiling tiles and carpets, need to be thrown away. You may want to replace them because they’re nearly impossible to clean. If your items are expensive, have sentimental value, or you’re not exactly sure how to clean them, try consulting professionals.
On the other hand, the EPA states that hard surfaces can generally be cleaned up with soapy water. If white mold is in your grill or smoker, follow the cleaning instructions that are included in the item. Consider these useful tips to remove molds if they are in your garage.
5. Clean white molds with effective solutions. If possible, ventilate the area if you use bleach or other chemical agents by opening the windows and doors. Use safety goggles and gloves if you’re using a more potent disinfectant.
Apply your preferred solution to the moldy area using a sponge and spray bottle. Allow the cleaning agent to sit for 5 to 10 minutes before scrubbing it with a scrub brush or an old toothbrush. Wipe it down with an old cloth or paper towel to remove the residual mold.
The following are effective solutions you can use:
- Mild detergent solution (mixture of detergent and water)
- Borax and water solution
- Baking soda and water solution
- 3% hydrogen peroxide
- Undiluted, distilled white vinegar
Professional Mold Removal
The appearance of white mold is changing, and they can also grow in high moisture areas, like black molds. Unless you are trained and experienced, it may be hard to recognize white molds quickly. Besides, determining it is only a part of the problem.
Other issues include discovering the root cause of white molds and effectively cleaning up the contamination. Because of this, it’s always best to leave it to specialists, like PuroClean. Learn more about them here.