How to prevent Damp and Mold in your Home

How to remove damp and mold in your home is worth knowing. Why would I have to worry about that I hear you ask. Believe me, this is more important than most people realize.  You should look for this, because mold can cause many health problems in many forms of illness and allergies. So if you can prevent this from forming in your home, like everything prevention is much simpler than the effort of removal.

House mold is found in many rooms of your home.  Most homes have a certain amount of dampness, mildew, or mold (mould) and often owners are unaware that it is there, unless you really look. (In this article I will spell it as mold)

You may notice in the winter dampness or condensation builds up inside windows, around the window frames and even on the bottoms of your curtains. These tend to soak up the moisture. If this dampness is allowed to form without being removed it will more than likely encourage mold.

Mold will even grow in our pillows, in linen cupboards, around rocks, in the refrigerator, washing machine, or in any dark corners of sheds or enclosed areas. Damp often occurs under eaves around gutters where water overflows.

My front load washing machine keeps getting the start of mould in the soap compartment. And I cannot get right in there to clean it. So I usually clean it by spraying with bleach.

Shower tiles are another bad place for mold, especially on the bottom of the shower curtains. Bathroom cupboards under the basin, it can build up here especially if you develop a leak from one of the pipes.

Mold on Food

Yes mold also grows on food like cheese or in jars of sauces left in the fridge over time.

Here are a few things to do to prevent mold from growing in your home or property:

• Make sure clothes, shoes, towels, winter rain coats are all completely dry before putting into wardrobes and cupboards. If still damp the mold may start growing if left there.
• Check the grout in your bathroom tiles. If the grout is missing it could cause a leak under the floor and up into the walls. I learnt this too late and had to renew and retile my bathroom. Clean the tiles with bleach to prevent growth.
• Leave fan on in bathroom for a few minutes after showering. More so in winter months to disperse the steam.
• Keep bushes off garden walls this will allow the sun and air to circulate along walls at base of house foundations.
• Keep fiberglass or acrylic roofing over patios clean and dry. Moisture tends to encourage growth under there.
• Watch for leaks near guttering and downpipes.
• Open windows and allow fresh air to circulate through bedrooms, leave wardrobe doors open when doing this.
• Air pillows outside on the clothesline, foam and rubber holds the moisture in. Perspiration can add moisture.
• Check for leaks under kitchen, bathroom and laundry sinks.

• Use a de-humidifier in your linen cupboards or wardrobes. You can move it about from week to week. These do need replacing after awhile. These draw the moisture out of the air, the moisture collects in the container. It may surprise you; it’s incredible how much it extracts, from the air.
• Place an open packet of carbonate of soda in your cupboards or under sinks.
• There are also gels that you can buy to reduce the moisture.

Mold and mildew removal

Once it is there it is harder to remove. Here are a few ideas to kill mold:

• Bleach in a spray bottle is the best and cheapest. Leave on for a few minutes before removing.
• Any product with bleach in will do the job but why waste money when bleach works fine.

In conclusion

I trust that this information will help you to prevent the growth of mold before it starts in your home.