Finding a patch of fuzzy black or green growth in a room in your home can be frightening. Mold is a living organism that loves damp, dark places, and it starts growing faster than most people realize. While your first instinct might be to grab a scrub brush and some bleach, you have to be extremely careful about how you handle the mess. When you disturb a mold colony, it releases thousands of tiny spores into the air that can get into your lungs and make you feel sick. This is why staying safe during the cleanup is critical.
Gearing Up Before You Touch Anything
If the moldy area is small, such as a tiny spot on a bathroom tile, you might be able to handle it. However, you still need to protect yourself. Never try to clean mold without a high-quality N95 mask. Standard paper masks will not stop those microscopic spores from entering your body. It’s also vital to wear long rubber gloves and goggles that don’t have vent holes so that nothing splashes into your eyes or touches your skin. If you get mold on your bare hands and then accidentally touch your face, you could end up with a nasty rash or an infection.
The Expert Way to Restore Your Home
When the mold covers a large area or has soaked deep into your drywall, it’s time to step back and call a restoration specialist. While these experts work, they set up a containment zone to keep the rest of your house safe. They use heavy-duty plastic sheets and special machines called air scrubbers that pull the air through filters to catch every single stray spore. These pros also have high-tech moisture meters that can “see” through your walls to find hidden pockets of water that are still feeding the mold. If you just paint over a damp spot without fixing the moisture deep inside the wood studs, the mold will grow back behind the fresh paint in a matter of days.
Toss Out Moldy Belongings
The final part of staying safe is knowing what you can keep and what you must throw away immediately. Anything porous, such as a thick carpet, a couch cushion, or a piece of drywall, functions as a sponge for mold and is almost impossible to get truly clean. A restoration specialist will usually tell you that they have to cut out the affected drywall at least two feet past where you see the visible mold to be safe. While it’s hard to throw away your favorite rug or a piece of furniture, keeping those items in your house can be hazardous to your health and that of your family.
Once the bad materials are gone, the pros use professional-grade cleaners that actually kill the mold roots rather than just changing the color of the surface. However, once the fans are turned off and the plastic comes down, your home is finally a healthy place to live and breathe again. If you live in Troy, OH, reach out today to Complete Detail Cleaning & Restoration for mold remediation services.
