How to Stop Mold from Growing

Of all the disasters and misfortunes that can befall a homeowner, few are as worrisome and, yes, scary than the discovery of mold. Mold is a type of fungus that grows in damp environments, and when that damp environment is inside your home, it can be disastrous.

Unfortunately, mold doesn’t go away by just laying down a fresh layer of paint. And if left unchecked, mold can cause a lot of harm to your home and even your health. Just a few of the (many) affects mold poses include:

• Lowering your home’s property value.
• Health conditions such as runny nose, red eyes, a dry cough, skin rashes, sore throat and more.
• Eating through solid materials and affecting the structure of your home.

You may already know the important steps you can take to prevent mold from appearing in the first place, but sometimes your preventative measures might fall short, resulting in some early stages of mold growing in your home.

When that happens, you can always bring in trusted mold removal specialists, such as Woodard, but before you make that call, there are some easy steps you can take to ensure that mold doesn’t grow out of control before you can effectively remove it.

Keep Your Home Clean

The first step in stopping, or at least slowing, mold from growing in your home is simple. Just keep your home clean! This is common sense, but it’s still one of the best, and easiest, ways to limit mold growth. If you’re regularly cleaning your home, you’re cleaning out dust, dirt and grime that, when left unchecked, can give mold an environment that encourages its growth.

There are a slew of reasons why you should be cleaning your home frequently anyway, including some surprising health benefits, but its ability to help prevent and limit mold growth should definitely be the final excuse to push you towards regular house cleanings, or even a deep cleaning by professionals.

Dry Up Any Moisture in Affected Areas

Mold, especially the more dangerous varieties such as black mold, thrive in wet environments. It often takes hold and grows when a traumatic water incident, like a flood or broken pipe, occurs in your home. Or there might be a leak that has gone unnoticed that has turned into a breeding ground for mold.

No matter the cause of your mold infection, if you are going to stop it from growing, you have to clean up any and all moisture in the affected areas. Now, if you follow our recommendations for preventing mold, you’ve already stopped the source of any outside water, and dried the area.

However, mold only takes two days to form, so if it has taken hold despite these efforts, you’ll want to double down on your attempts to dry up any and all moisture in the affected area. Mold requires moisture to live, so anything you can do to make the environment uninhabitable for the mold, the more likely you are to stop its growth.

Which brings us to a similar, but equally important, way to stop mold growth.

Lower Humidity Levels Around the Mold

Managing your humidity levels is another tactic for mold prevention that also helps slow and stunt the growth of mold. In order to properly slow the growth of mold in your home, you’ll want humidity levels of under 60%, though you ideally want those levels between 30% and 50%.

There are plenty of ways you can lower humidity in order to stop mold growth. If you do not have one currently, you can purchase a dehumidifier to take care of that, or you can use the settings on your central air conditioning’s humidity settings. If you don’t want to spend money for a dehumidifier, and don’t have central air conditioning, simply using your standard air conditioning unit will also decrease humidity.

Additionally, if you have an exhaust fan in your kitchen, turning that on can help get your home to more appropriate humidity levels. No matter how you go about it, if you don’t manage to lower your humidity levels, you’ll have a hard time stopping mold from spreading.

Have House Plants?

House plants improve your home’s air quality, which is great for preventing mold and stopping it from growing. They can remove a lot of impurities from the air, and as a general rule, anything you can do to make your air cleaner is going to help slow or stop the growth of mold.

Plus, having a house plant is a great way to spruce up your home. Any way you can make your house more beautiful while helping slow the growth of mold is a win-win! Of course you’ll want to stay vigilant about the mold in your home. While these tactics might be able to slow or even stop the spread of mold in your home, you might have a harder time completely removing it, and the longer mold is there, the more chance it has to cause harm to your home or your health.

If you find yourself unable to completely eradicate harmful mold, you should bring in a professional service to make your home whole once again. Contact Woodard immediately at (314) 227-3932 to assist with mold removal.

About Woodard Cleaning & Restoration

Woodard Cleaning & Restoration was founded in 1946 by Earl and Nancy Woodard. Located in St. Louis, Missouri, Woodard services the greater metro area (Illinois, St. Charles County, Jefferson County, St. Louis County, and many more). Woodard is proud to serve as the preferred provider for cleaning & restoration services. Our cleaning services include carpet, hard surface, furniture, and rug cleaning for both residential and commercial properties. We also provide water, fire, board-up, storm and smoke restoration services for residential and commercial clients. For information or questions submit a form online or call us at (314) 227-3932.