How to Remove Black Mold from Your House

Mold is a serious potential problem for homeowners. The longer you leave it there, the more of an issue it's going to be. Here are some ways to make sure you reduce your mold problem quickly.

Check for Trouble Regularly

The biggest obstacle to getting rid of mold quickly is noticing that it's there in the first place. You can't use mold treatment if you don't know that you have mold, after all. Here are some signs that you might have a mold problem:

• A Spike in Allergies-If people in your house are showing signs of having allergic reactions, such as sneezing, having nasal congestion, getting a runny nose or having itchy eyes, this is a definite sign you could have a problem.

• Mold Odors-You can often smell mold before you can see it. The right thing to do is to try and follow your nose to any signs of mold if you can. Or, if you don't know where it's coming from, check the usual places like the bathroom or any place with running water.

• Water Issues-If there are any leaks in your house, or if you've had an area that's been flooded before, these are important areas to check. This also includes a lot of condensation on metal pipes or windows. If there's too much water building up in the air in your house, this could create the perfect conditions for mold to grow. That's why it's critical to reduce water issues wherever you find them.

• Discoloration and Visual Signs- Another sign to check for is any visual signs of mold, such as little bits of what can look like discoloration. This includes little black dots, especially in wet areas. It can also include clusters of white, gray, brown, green, or even combinations of some of these colors.

Getting Ready

If you find a goodly amount of mold somewhere, you need to do a little preparation first. It helps to wear older clothing in case you get anything on them, for example. You're also going to want the following:

• Goggles
• Mask
• Gloves
• Fans

The fans are to make sure that the room is well ventilated so that you lower your risk of breathing in mold spores, which can be dangerous. You also need to cover up and protect your eyes, mouth, and skin as well. Some mold spores can have a negative effect on your body. If the infestation is strong enough, it really pays to be extra cautious.

Mold Stain Remover Options: Tea Tree Oil

There are some organic options for mold treatment out there. You don't have to use anything that is especially dangerous to you, your family, your pets, or the environment at large, like bleach. This is unnecessary and even unwise.

Instead, you should use organic solutions such as tea tree oil. All you have to do here is combine two teaspoons of tea tree oil with two cups of water. Put the mixture into a spray bottle. Then, you will simply spray the mixture right onto the mold. Make sure you don't rinse or touch the area after you hit it with this mixture.

After a couple of days, come back and check again, and the mold will be gone. Don't worry about the strong smell from the tea tree oil, that's just the way it is, and it's often a lot more pleasant to smell than mold.

Try Vinegar

Another excellent non-chemical solution is to use vinegar. This stuff you can use right out of the bottle. Just purchase white vinegar at any grocery store and then dump some right onto the mold. This also has a bit of a strong smell, but it works. There's evidence to suggest that vinegar eliminates a high percentage of mold. All you have to do is come back a few hours later to wipe it all away. The mold should be dead and unstuck from the surface now.

Baking Soda

If you combine pouring a spoonful of vinegar with water or a combination of water and vinegar, you can spray the area where the mold is present. This creates a bubbling effect that can pull the mold right off of the wood or other material. It creates a large surface area of damage to the mold, helping to eliminate it entirely. You aren't going to want to rinse in this situation either since the bubbling effect is what you need. This way, you can eliminate the mold without getting any nasty chemicals all over the place since baking soda and vinegar are generally harmless to people and pets.

Citrus Seed Oil

Another option is to put two cups of water into a spray bottle, and then add 2 dozen or so drops of citrus seed extract in there. Then, just spray that concoction onto the mold. It should eliminate the mold in a little while. One of the advantages to doing it this way is that there's no odor to worry about. It should be free of any smells if this is an important thing for you.

Other Products

It can also help to try out any other product that has an organic approach and that contains these safe essential oils or other organic substances. Just go from one to the other if one particular approach isn't working very well. Different combinations of organic materials can also be quite effective and may work on different types of molds or in different situations better or worse than other approaches. This is why experimentation is a key part of the whole process.

Making Sure It Doesn't Come Back

Another great way to ensure that speedy removal isn't even necessary in the future is to use a product that has a vinegar base to prevent the mold from even being able to take root in the first place.

In the end, these are some strong options for how to remove mold in your house quickly, as well as locating the problem in the first place and keeping it from coming back.