Simple Ways to Prevent Mold from Building Up at Home

 

One thing that spoils the beauty of your home in a snap of a finger is the sight of molds.

No matter how much you spend for interior design or how intricately you’ve decorated your home all by yourself, molds make it look all messed up. So we’ve prepared some simple tips that you can follow to prevent these organisms from pestering your home.

Where do molds grow?

First, let’s look at where molds thrive in your house. It’s not a secret that they love moisture. It keeps them alive and helps them multiply. So here are the things and corners of your house where they love to stay.

  • wet and damp clothes

  • food

  • carpet

  • paper

  • pluming pipes

  • ceiling tiles

  • wooden products

What molds do to you and to your home

Stick to your walls and ceilings

As mentioned before, it’s an ugly sight to see molds in any part of the house. But if you don’t prevent moisture in your house, these molds will build up and stick to your walls and ceilings. When that happens, it will be difficult to remove them.

Produce allergens

It has been scientifically proven that there are certain types of molds that release allergens, leading to sneezing, watery eyes, and eye irritation.

Respiratory diseases

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) discovered and confirmed in 2004 that there’s a link to indoor exposure to mold and upper respiratory tract symptoms. What’s even worse is that it can lead to respiratory illnesses among children, asthma on some individuals, and acute idiopathic pulmonary hemorrhage on infants.

What to do to prevent molds?

Inspect the flooded areas of your house

If there are areas in your house that are usually affected by flood, have the habit to check on them after the rainy season to see if there’s moisture build up. Immediately dry these areas to avoid the growth of molds.

Do a plumbing inspection

Do yourself a favor and hire 24 hour emergency plumbers to inspect your plumbing system at least once in two years. Plumbing components are usually durable and can last from 5-10 years but molds can grow inside your house even with a small amount of moisture in one corner. Make sure there are no leaks anywhere.

Check for leaks on the ceiling

Make it also a habit to inspect your ceilings whether it’s the rainy season or not to see if there are leaks. Unnoticed leaks lead to a damp environment where molds grow.

Ventilate your home properly

Install exhaust fans in your kitchen, bathroom, and laundry area to avoid moisture from creeping in.

Clean your carpet regularly

Carpet is a target for molds because we often leave it as it is even when water and all sorts of liquid get spilled on it. To prevent your carpet from attracting molds, better clean it using a vacuum thrice to seven times a week.

Don’t keep your wet clothes in the laundry bin

Never leave wet clothes in the laundry bin for days. Tell your kids not to do this and always inspect the bin for wet clothes. Again, moisture and all damp areas are magnets to molds.

Change your shower curtain regularly

Lastly, make it a habit to change your shower curtain at least once a week. It’s unavoidable that our shower curtains are always wet and damp. So the best thing to do is to change them regularly to avoid mold build up.