It is important to know how to get rid of mold in an apartment, because a fungus is a frequent visitor in many apartments, especially in bathrooms, and can quickly find it and also get rid of it in the early stages of appearance, while maintaining repair and spending a minimum of money and effort -extremely important.
After reading the article, you will know what is harmful to mold, why it appears in the house, and what to do to get rid of it yourself in different places of the room and how to avoid its appearance and development in the future.
Contents:
- Where does mold come from and how to find it?
- Aggressive means of combating mold
- How to prevent the occurrence of mold?
Where does mold come from and how to find it?
First of all, you need to analyze and understand, is it really harmful mold for humans? The answer is unequivocal: yes.
And the greater the aura of fungus spread, the worse will be the health of all living in the house.
Mold worsens the functioning of the immune system, the body's defense weakens and this leads to a number of health problems: those who live permanently in moldy rooms are more likely to get sick, runny nose, headaches, colds, and chronic diseases progress.
Spoils the fungus and the appearance of the things on which it settles - violates the microclimate in the bathroom, making the room uncomfortable, an unpleasant smell and a black coating on the furniture and pipes.
An analysis of the causes of the appearance of mold is the first step to getting rid of the source of the problems, rather than fighting over and over again with the symptoms.
It's impossible to get rid of mold spores,it is present everywhere.
However, you can not create a favorable environment, where the mold settles, then there will be nowhere to settle the arguments and their reproduction in the apartment can be avoided.
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Mold most of all likes dampness and humidity, so it is not surprising that it can often be found in the bathroom, where ventilation is often a problem.
Also, the risk of mold is high in apartments on the ground floor, in "damp" wooden houses, as well as in apartments where air humidifiers are often used or a large number of tropical plants grow for rooms that require a lot of moisture.
The mold is most often found on the walls and ceiling of a bathroom and toilet, as well as on furniture inside: on a washing machine, pipes, a bathroom, etc.
Sometimes mold appears in the refrigerator, if it works incorrectly, likes to settle on wallpaper, books and any other places where there is dampness.
Most often, of course, on walls or ceiling.
Unfortunately, the choice of the right finishing materials will not protect you from the appearance of mold, tk.it is able to settle on almost any surface and any surface.
The sooner you notice the appearance of the fungus in your apartment and analyze the cause, the easier and cheaper it will be to withdraw it.
There are several signs that you can determine that the mold has decided to settle with you.
The first to you will tell about this "smell": the appearance of a raw, stale smell in the room indicates that there was a fungus.
If the analysis helped you to detect an unfamiliar specific smell in the room, then first of all examine the space of walls and ceiling - if you see spots on the wall or on furniture spots of whitish or gray color - you can not doubt that it is mold.
In more neglected cases, the spots will be black - it will be more difficult to fight with such.
Aggressive mold control
If the smell has not deceived you and you did find mold spores on the walls, ceiling or furniture, it is important not only to eliminate it, but also to get rid of the reasons for which it appeared in the room.
The fight against mold should be directed not only against the fungus, but also the causes of its occurrence.
But, before analyzing and starting to fight the cause, you need, of course, to get rid of the already appeared fungus.
There are many ways to do this: there are both folk and professional tools that have proven their effectiveness.
If the spread of mold on the surface of the walls is quite large, it is better not to fight the fungus with folk remedies, but use professional antiseptic agents that can be purchased at any construction store.
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These drugs are inexpensive, so people use methods to save, it makes no sense.
However, remember that all professional remedies are poisonous, and you should take precautions when working with them: at the very least, protect your hands and the respiratory tract from getting a substance or a spore on them( for more information on how to protect you, read the instructions).
Very popular and effective use of antiseptic primer for walls - it will not only help get rid of the fungus, but also prevent its appearance in the future.
In the use of a primer, there is nothing difficult, becauseit is sold undiluted, otherwise the instruction manual can be read on the package.
Apply primer only to the cleaned surface of walls, ceiling or furniture.
If the spread of the fungus has reached plaster or finish, then it must be removed from the walls, cleaning it to the original layer - concrete or brick.
Apply the product with a paint brush on a dry surface. After the product dries, a fresh coating layer can be applied from above.
Homemade hygiene products can also be used to combat mold, if it has not yet spread much and has not deeply ingrained in the coating.
Plus, that the use of such tools is less harmful to humans, becausethey are less toxic.
Bleach is a popular way to combat fungus. It includes sodium hypochlorite, which is able to remove mold from walls, ceiling and other surfaces.
And he kills not only the fungus itself, but also spores. Minus of bleach is that it can be applied only to resistant facing materials, for example, tiles, tiles, glass.
The same wallpaper and other materials will deteriorate and lose color, so before applying, do an analysis.
Always work with bleach in gloves.treatment is dangerous for the skin of hands and in a well ventilated room, because it emits toxic fumes.
For the treatment of walls, ceiling or floor, it is necessary to mix the bleach with water in a proportion of 1:10.
Struggle with vinegar can also be effective, although it is unlikely to affect particularly aggressive types of mold.
But work with vinegar is not as dangerous as with bleach, becauseit does not emit dangerous fumes, although it has a specific smell.
To remove the fungus, it is necessary to treat with vinegar the surface where the mold has settled, with the help of a sprayer or simply a rag soaked in it.
To remove the quality, you need to leave the vinegar for an hour, and then wash it off with water.
In the future, the problem is treated with vinegar every week to prevent the occurrence of fungus.
However, if the mold is black, it is better to destroy it with a more aggressive means - vinegar will not help here.
Hydrogen peroxide is an even more sparing tool.
More often it is used to prevent the appearance, but not to fight the fungus itself.
However, if the mold is not black and not too spread over the surface, then it can be removed with this tool.
Hydrogen peroxide has no smell and does not emit harmful substances, so its use in simple cases is better than toxic solutions.
When working with peroxide, remember that it has a whitening effect, and so do not put it where the surface may lose color.
If the mold appeared on a soft porous surface, then it can be removed with ammonia. It needs to be mixed with water in a proportion of 2: 2 and spray the mixture on the desired area.
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Then leave the mixture for a couple of hours and rinse with water. At work it is necessary to remember, that the smell of this agent very sharp and unpleasant - it can cause a headache and other unpleasant sensations.
It is also forbidden to mix it with bleaches - a similar mixture emits a toxic gas and can be dangerous.
Analysis, how much mold has spread, will help you choose the right way to deal with it.
How to prevent the occurrence of mold?
Conventional baking soda is one of the most ancient and budgetary ways to combat fungus. This is the safest cleaner: it does not smell and does not emit any harmful substances.
However, if the mold is black, then such treatment will not help. To apply soda, you need to dilute it in a glass of water, and then sprinkle the desired surface.
Another way - flushing walls, ceiling and other planes with a sponge soaked in water with soda. After application, it is better not to rinse the product completely, t.it resists the repeated reproduction of mold.
However, fighting with fungus is only half the work. It is equally important to know what to do to prevent the mold from appearing in the apartment again. Analysis of the premises will help you find and eliminate the reasons for its appearance.
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Most often, mold appears in rooms where there is no high-quality ventilation, so if you want to prevent its occurrence in the future, then the problem with ventilation should be solved.
First you need to check the ventilation system itself - if it's clogged, you need to call a master who can fix it.
It is also recommended not to forget about natural ventilation: at least once a day open the windows to ventilate the rooms and leave the bathroom door open for a while, so that the air can circulate.
Too much air flow is also not needed: it is necessary to optimally air a room often, but not for a long time.
High air humidity - another favorable factor for the development of fungus in the apartment.
If it is above 40 percent, it is very likely that the mold will appear again and again, no matter how effective your means of dealing with it.
To lower the humidity, for example, in the bathroom, you must follow simple rules: do not soak in it for too long, do not hang wet things to dry, do not forget to ventilate the room after use.
To lower the moisture level, installation of split systems equipped with drying function, special salt for moisture absorption or special devices will help you.
The heating system can also have a beneficial effect on mold development. This happens usually in the warm season, when the heating is switched off, and the batteries become cold.
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Mold does not like heat, so it appears only on cold pipes or pipes of cold water supply.
To solve this problem, you can use additional devices: for example, install a heater in the bathroom with a built-in fan, change the heated towel rail or add several sections to existing batteries.
