What is mold and how to get rid of it?
It happens that the landlady notices on the wallsapartment, ceiling, furniture and in the seams between the tiles are black dots, unpleasant in appearance. What is it? And this is the most common mold that grows in your apartment with incredible speed. What is mold and how to deal with it efficiently and quickly, we will consider in this article.
Mold - what is it?
Many people faced mold, but notall of them thought about the question: "But what is this?" But for a successful and fruitful struggle with any enemy you need to know everything about him (including the nature of the appearance of the phenomenon). Mold is a fungus, the spores of which fly in the air of the room, where it grows, in huge quantities. These fungi are of three types:
- mold fungi - grow on paint, concrete and stone;
- blue fungus affects the wood;
- fungi rot also affects wood, they are the cause of growth of white, brown and bacterial decay on the surface of furniture, walls and so on.
Spores of such fungi first simply fly in the air. But when landing on a favorable site (for example, a wet wall) the mold begins to grow actively.
Is mold dangerous for health?
When we realized what a mold is, you can goto the question: "Is it dangerous?" Many people do not attach any mold to the growing spots of mold. And in fact it not only spoils an aesthetic kind of a premise, but also it is very dangerous to health. The fact is that when mold grows, it spews its disputes in large numbers into the air. These spores fall into the human respiratory tract and can cause not only allergic reactions, but also asthma, as well as a number of other serious chronic diseases. Black mold can even lead to the growth of cancer cells in the body. What can we say about constant insomnia, runny nose, nausea and dermatitis.
Why does mold appear in the apartment?
Ideal conditions for fungus growth indoors -high humidity and room temperature. Therefore, as soon as moisture accumulates in the room, the fungus makes itself felt. The most common places for its growth are a bathroom and a kitchen. Steam and pouring hot water, constant cooking, drying clothes create conditions for rapid growth of black mold. Also, the fungus appears on the northern walls, which prudent masters are covered with carpets or cabinets in order to protect themselves from the cold. By these actions they create conditions for the appearance of mold. By the way, the installation of plastic windows and perfectly sealed entrance doors also contributes to the growth of mold, as the movement of air in the apartment stops.
Chemical methods of mold destruction
So, you found a black mold in your home. "What should I do?" - the first question that comes to your mind. There are many means of combating this phenomenon, and they are all divided into folk methods and chemical warfare. In shops you can easily find a large number of funds for prevention and control of mold. But when choosing to be cautious, it is best to first get a consultation from a seller or other knowledgeable person.
- First of all, you need to eliminate the causes of the appearance of fungus in the home (high humidity, poor ventilation). Without eliminating the causes of the outbreak, the mold war will definitely be lost by you.
- Clean the surface with a spatula. If the mold has already penetrated deeply, then you will have to strip all the layers of wallpaper, paint, putty and so on right up to the concrete or brick.
- Clean the surface and apply antiseptic primer with a roller or brush.
- When the first layer of the primer dries,start the work again. Again, clean the wall, wash thoroughly, dry and apply the next coat of primer. After that, you can finish the work by gluing wallpaper or other material.
If you do not want to clean the walls and make repairs indoors, then try to warm up the places of the cluster with a quartz lamp. It has antibacterial action and is able to help in the fight against mold.
Folk ways of fighting fungus on the walls
There are many methods of combating mold. We will introduce you to the most effective of them:
- The most famous fighter with mold is the solutioncopper sulphate. One hundred grams of vitriol is dissolved in 10 liters of water and treated with a mixture of walls covered with a fungus, as well as a chemical primer purchased in the store. Mold on the walls in the apartment after the application of such a folk remedy disappears, however, on the surface may remain a blue tint.
- Excellent fights with the usual fungus bleach or bleach. But do not forget to wear rubber gloves when working with them.
- Soda and vinegar are excellent fighters with mold. You can use them both individually and together. The best scenario is: sprinkle the place of occurrence of an unpleasant phenomenon with soda, and then still sprinkle with vinegar.
- The usual clerical glue, urea, ammonia, hydrogen peroxide, boric acid and borax also struggle with fungi.
How to prevent the appearance of mold?
Many people who are "lucky"collide with the mold in the apartment, realized that to prevent its appearance is much easier than to fight the fungus. In order to prevent unpleasant and dangerous mold in your home, observe these simple rules:
- monitor the level of humidity in the premises, make sure that moisture does not accumulate there;
- Do not place furniture against the wall to avoid condensation;
- constantly air the rooms, pay special attention to the bathroom;
- The ventilation in the apartment must function properly;
- Dry wet clothes not in the room, but on the balcony or on the street;
- check the serviceability of plumbing - constantly running water from the tap can also cause the appearance of fungus;
- never hang wet clothes in the closet;
- Do not keep too many houseplants at home;
Some mistresses face mold,growing on food products. What is mold on bread? These are the same fungi growing in another (yeast) habitat. Bread, which grew mold, in no case can not eat, even cutting off its stains. Mold spores have already penetrated deeply into the bread and can cause allergic reactions. To prevent the appearance of fungus on bread, do not store it in plastic bags and a damp environment, and do not buy flour products for stock.
How to get rid of an unpleasant smell?
What is mold and what ways to combatit is effective, we have already understood. But what about the smell that remained in the apartment even after a complete victory over the fungus? You need an odor scavenger. With this task, ordinary baking soda is doing just fine. You just need to pour it into the place of the former location of the fungus and leave for a few hours. After this, remove the soda with a vacuum cleaner. Will help to cope with the smell of rot and charcoal briquette.
What if I can not get rid of mold?
If you have tried all methods of combating the fungus and eliminated the reasons for its appearance, and the apartment has not become cleaner, then specialists should be called.
Choose only proven firms with experiencework and good feedback about yourself. With the help of modern equipment and effective, and most importantly, harmless funds, the company's employees will remove mold from your home.