Identify the mold
Almost every home experiences mold infestation. The proper remedy is to get them before they accumulate and turn into big chunks. These molds are harmful to the health of your family and as you allow them to become bigger, they become harder and harder to clean. Black mold removal can be performed using ordinary cleaning products that you can buy in the supermarket. Molds can be easily identified as these are small black spots that grow into large colonies. The key to mold identification is testing it with bleach. Drop a few drops of household bleach to the mold, and the ones that disappear easily are mildew. You will usually spot this in damp areas. There are two kinds of black molds namely: mildew-mold and dirt mold. Mildew mold easily goes away after pouring bleach on it while dirt mold does not. Be wary that other kinds of mold are toxic so it is safer to let professionals handle if you have respiratory problems and get allergies easily. Once you have identified the type of mold, it’s time to gear up for safety.
Gear up for protection and observe safety precautions
More than anything else, when you are dealing with mold, it is important that you protect yourself from its harmful effects. A thin mask will not help. You will need to wear clothes that you can immediately wash or better yet, you can just get rid of after using them. Remember that the mold odor can be strong especially if the mold is thick and clustered. You don’t want to be smelling that, right?
Mold can stick on your clothes and may spread to your other clothes if you wash them together with other clothes in the washing machine. So instead of washing it, wear clothes that you can throw away after you soil them. You will need to wear goggles and gloves. You need to protect your eyes from these particles. It is dangerous for them to reach your eyes and not wearing protective gloves when cleaning might allow mold to stick to other parts of your body. May we suggest you do not eat if you have not showered after general black mold remediation.
The spores can easily spread in the air so it is best to use proper ventilation in the room while cleaning. These spores can also stick to the blade, so to lessen the work of having to clean the fans that you’ve used, buy those cheap fans that you can simply throw away afterward. It is better to be safe than sorry. Sometimes, it’s better to spend a little amount of money on hygiene and good health. When it comes to the mask that you are wearing, if you have a thin mask, you can wear several layers of it so you do not have to buy the N-95 which can be a bit costly. Wearing several layers of the mask should be sufficient.
Do not remove this in the process of cleaning. Turn off your furnace and air-conditioner when you are dealing with molds. We don’t want those spores spreading all over the room or even the house and causing some breathing and respiratory problems. You can also seal the door gaps to prevent any particles from spreading to the other room. Prepare your bleach, brushes, rags, gloves, disinfectants and everything you need for the cleaning process.
Mold remediation process
Now that you are geared up for the mold cleaning or black mold removal, we can commence the cleaning process. First, check for the signs of mold. Check the moldy walls and open these up by using a screwdriver. Don’t hesitate to cut through the drywall since you will be replacing this anyway, or a professional will do the replacing for you. Make sure that you get to the root cause of the molds and you should open up the walls to find them. Scrub the surfaces with a mold cleaner and do this thoroughly. After scrubbing, leave the solution for a little while to allow it to penetrate through the wood or wall. While the mold cleaner is setting in, you may now clean up the wall debris. Use a vacuum cleaner to get rid of the moldy wall.
As for the larger parts, place these in a sturdy garbage bag. After a few minutes, you may now wipe the mold cleaners. Do not wash them. You can wipe them off then you may seal the wood surfaces with a wood primer. This will restore the wood or the surface to a better condition. Once this is done, you may now install negative air machines to get rid of any leftover smell of the mold cleaner and the mold itself.
