The 5 Key Steps Necessary For Effective Mold Removal

If you have found some mold inside of your house, you need to clean and remove the mold immediately. When left untreated, mold can quickly spread and take over. Additionally, some mold can be harmful to your health. As you clean up the mold, keep these five key steps in mind.

Step #1: Safety

The first thing you need to keep in mind whenever you are dealing with mold is safety. When you clean and remove mold, you release tiny mold spores into the air. You may not be able to see them, but they can still have an effect on you.

When cleaning mold, you should put on a high quality filtration face mask; these can be found at your local home improvement store. You should also wear either neoprene or vinyl gloves. Your gloves should be discarded after you are done cleaning and removing the mold. 

If you are cleaning a large area that has become contaminated with mold, you may want to put on a full protective suit. You can purchase a painter's suit at your local hardware store for this purchase. That way, your entire body is protected from the mold and the chemicals you are working with. When you are done cleaning the infected area, you can remove your suit and throw it away. This will prevent the spread of mold spores to other areas of your home.

Step #2: Assessment

Throughout the mold removal process, you need to assess the situation. When you first identify the mold, you need to assess and determine if the problem is small enough that you can address it on its own or if it is large enough that you need to bring in some professional assistance.

As you are cleaning, you need to assess if your methods are actually working to remove the mold. If they are not, you need to adjust course and try a different mold removal method.

Finally, after you have cleaned the area, you need to keep an eye on it and make sure that the mold does not return. Assessing the situation throughout the process will help you make smart mold removal decisions. 

Step #3: Contamination Control

As you clean and remove the mold, you need to keep contamination control in mind. Mold spores are often not visible to the naked eye. They are often released as you clean and remove the mold that is visible to you. If you do not contain the spores as you clean, you could end up with more mold to clean in the future.

To limit contamination, you need to make sure that you protect and cover yourself. You should throw away all gloves and masks that you wear while removing mold, as well as your protective suit if you put one on. If you wear regular clothes, ideally you should remove them near the cleaning area, put them inside a sealed bag, and wash them right away. You should also take a shower in order to remove any spores that got on you.

As you clean, you should try to limit the spread of spores. If you can, close the door or put up plastic around the infected area to prevent the spread of spores. Put all cleaning supplies and the plastic inside a sealed bag and throw them away when you are done cleaning.

If you have a vacuum with a HEPA filter, vacuum the entire area to suck up any mold spores once you are done cleaning. If you have an air purification machine, run it in the room where you removed the mold to remove the spores from the area. A HEPA filter is designed to remove even the tiniest particles, such as mold spores, from the air. 

Try to do all you can to limit the spread of mold spores to other areas of your home. 

Step #4: Remove The Source Of Mold

As you clean, make sure that you remove the source of the mold. If the mold was growing on a hard, non-porous surface, you can get away with just cleaning the mold. 

However, if the mold was growing on a porous surface, such as drywall or carpet, you need to remove the items that the mold was growing on as well. It can be very difficult to remove all the mold from porous surfaces. Often, if you just clean the mold off a porous surface, it will come back. You need to remove the items where the mold is growing to prevent a recurrence of the mold. 

Step #5: Get Rid Of The Moisture

Finally, if you really want to ensure that the mold doesn't return, you need to get rid of the conditions that allowed the mold to thrive and grow in the first place. 

Mold needs moisture in order to grow and thrive. You are going to need to identify and eliminate the source of moisture in the area of your home where the mold occurred in order to increase the chance that the mold will not return.

By following and implementing these five key mold removal steps when removing mold in your house, you should be able to limit the chance of the mold spreading and reoccurring. If you need help, consider investing in mould inspections from Clean Air Services Inc.


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