What Are the Most Common Myths About Trying to Remove Mold from Your Home on Your Own?

While almost every homeowner has had a bad experience with mold, several myths and misconceptions about the mold still circulate. Most people think that mold is a fungus that can be easily removed without causing more harm. Before handling any mold issues in your home or business premises, it is important to note these myths, so you don’t fall victim.

1. Bleach Treats Mold

Using bleach to treat mold is among the worst thoughts you can have when attempting to remove mold. While bleach presents with strong properties that are harmful, the common myth is that wiping or spraying it on the mold to treat it is wrong. Technically, the bleach will only provide better breeding grounds for the mold.   Mold is a fungus that flourishes on moisture and propagates via ultralight spores that circulate in the air. When you wipe a surface contaminated with mold using bleach, the chlorine often evaporates within seconds. 

This leaves behind a lot of moisture, which the mold will use to reproduce. The bleach will only change the mold’s color but not kill it. The mold spores will continue spreading, and inhaling them can jeopardize everyone’s health. Since mold is a lifeform trying to survive in all situations, it discharges more spores into the air to maximize its survival chances, exacerbating the problem. Hence, spraying or wiping a surface with bleach will not clear up the issue but make it more prevalent.

1. Other Types of Molds Except Black Mold Are Harmless

While Black mold is the most notorious and dangerous, it doesn’t rule out the rest as harmless. It can lead to serious health issues such as immune response failure, mental disability, organ damage, respiratory issues, and in the worst-case scenario, death. Nevertheless, each of the three types of mold—toxic, allergenic, and pathogenic—has its own set of health risks. 

Allergenic molds like Cladosporium can trigger headaches, joint pain, respiratory problems, breathlessness, congestion, skin irritation, and other symptoms. Pathogenic molds such as Aspergillus and Penicillium have the potential to cause disease.

Although almost every mold is dangerous, some can be harvested to benefit food and medicine production. This, however, does not imply that you can handle a mold infestation on your own. Whether black mold or not, ensure to seek the services of professionals, to keep the spores from spreading to other parts of your home.

1. You Can Clear All the Mold from Your Residence

Mold is found in almost every residence, and finding molds at the level of regular fungal ecosystems will induce little trouble. This implies that you can have mold in your residence at very low concentrations and not experience mold illnesses. Molds have been a part of our lives since the beginning of time, and they will continue to be a part of our lives in the future. The top focus should be managing mold growth and preventing inhaling large amounts of mold spores, which could make you sick.

Because mold is a tiny organism, a naturally occurring fungus, it is practically impossible to extract all of it from your residence. Instead, the goal of an expert dead mold removal company is to return the mold to a secure and healthful level for you and your loved ones. Although standard mold levels have been put in place for human safety, everybody responds differently to different types of mold. For this reason, you should hire a professional mold removal company for inspection so they can determine if the levels are exceedingly high. 

1. You Don’t Need a Professional to Take Care of the Mold

Mold issues less than 10 square feet in size are classified as level one and are generally easier to resolve, particularly with expert help. Mold infestation that exceeds 10 square feet, on the other hand, necessitates the assistance of a mold removal company. Mold removal professionals have the required skills and extensive equipment to reinstate your residence’s surroundings without endangering unaffected zones.

Furthermore, you ought not to expose yourself explicitly to molds without the proper protective gear, as this can be hazardous to your health. Regardless of the extent of mold infestation in your residence, it is best to assign an expert. Your effort to eliminate mold by yourself using natural cures may be successful, but employing chemicals and bleach to treat mold may sometimes result in higher spread or harm to the current infrastructure.

1. Treated Mold Is Harmless

While most people think that dead mold causes no harm, mold allergens that cause allergy symptoms or mold illnesses persist even after treatment. These can have negative health consequences and irritate sensitive people, including those with compromised immune systems, breathing problems, or underlying respiratory issues.

Regular exposure to such mold can also cause responsiveness in previously non-sensitive individuals. As a result, simply killing mold is insufficient to combat the problem. Dead molds must be completely removed. To prevent mold from getting to other sections, directly impacted components should be removed or rebuilt.

1. If There Is No Musty Smell, It Is Not Mold

Molds can be difficult to identify because they are not always visible; therefore, smelling is a wonderful way to confirm their presence. Moldy odors are caused by microbial volatile organic compounds (mVOCs), typically densely packed and undesirable.

On the other hand, Molds do not always emit a musty odor. As a result, it is not generally good to rely solely on smell when searching for molds in your residence. Examine the area with your eyes and your nose for the best results. If possible, purchase a mold test kit for accurate conclusions.

1. Mold Cannot Affect Healthy Individuals

Although individuals with underlying respiratory systems and compromised immune systems are more vulnerable to mold exposure, perfectly healthy individuals can suffer its symptoms too. Do not be ignorant about your mold infestation simply because your health is perfect. If not managed as soon as possible, you could be the next victim of respiratory illnesses. Sometimes, these illnesses become chronic and untreatable.

Conclusion

Shield yourself from the effects of mold by following the right protocols when treating mold. Whether in your attic, basement, bathroom, or drywall, do not seek to treat the mold yourself. Here, numerous mold removal companies exist for this reason.