Molds can be found both indoors and outdoors. For me, having outdoors molds are more forgiving than having indoors molds. The reasons are obvious.
While the outdoors molds can sometimes exude rustic feeling, the indoors molds are far from aesthetic. Besides, molds contamination inside our property can also be harmful to our health.
Take, for instance, the infamous black mold. The toxic mold is extremely dangerous to humans. The greenish-black gelatinous mold produces mycotoxins that can lead to some respiratory problems, hemorrhage, irritation, etc.
You definitely need to consider purchasing some mold removal products as in a more serious level, black molds can actually damage internal organs too.
A. Homemade Cleaning products Vs. Store Bought Cleaning Products
Depends on the severity of contaminations in your house, mold removal products are available in several different types. Considering how much you care about the sources of the removal products, you can make your own mold treatment naturally or opt for the handy-dandy store-bought cleaning products.
Obviously, homemade cleaning products are organic and relatively safer to your health. However, it may not be as powerful as the readily purchased ones.
On the other hand, the store-bought cleaning product might contain higher concentrated substances for cleaning mold but not so friendly to our health
B. Types of Mold Removal Products
Aforementioned before, we need to compromise on certain things when it comes to choosing mold treatment products. It is important to consider the goods and bads when it comes to it.
Explaining further about both homemade and store-bought mold cleaning products, here are products detail and how to kill mold using them.
C. Homemade Mold Removal Products
The thing about using homemade mold cleaning removal products is that most of them are inexpensive and safe. Besides, it is considered convenience as you can easily find the ingredients in your pantry.
1. How to Kill Mold Using Vinegar
Who knows that you can make your own mold spray by using vinegar? Yes, the non-toxic and safe distilled vinegar has the quality to kill 99% of bacteria, 82% of mold, and 80% viruses.
You definitely cannot use apple vinegar or white vinegar but the distilled one. Hence, you might find it smells a bit unpleasant during the cleaning mold processes.
In order to lessen the odor, you can add some drops of essential oils to your vinegar mold spray, and it will instantly be way nicer yet equally effective to get rid of molds.
2. How to Kill Mold Using Tea Tree Oil
Cleaning mold using tea tree oil might make you, for just a moment, forget about how disgusting the cleaning process is like. The smell of it is heavenly! Besides, you don’t have to worry about your kids or pets disliking it.
It might be a little bit pricey than vinegar, and yes, it works so effectively to kill mold. Not only the white mold, but even the black mold also cannot stand the anti-fungal quality of tea tree oil.
This mold treatment using tea tree oil is suitable for getting rid mold on rugs or shower curtain. Just have a few drops of tea tree oil directly on the contaminated surfaces, and you can see the result immediately. Or, you can also use it to dip the fabrics for a couple of minutes after washing them with soap.
3. How to Kill Mold Using Grape Fruit Seed Extract
One thing that makes grapefruit different from the previous two is that this natural anti-fungal is unscented. Again, this one is a little pricey compared to vinegar.
You can make your mold spray using grapefruit seed extract by diluting 20 drops of it into two cups of water. Have a good shake and your DIY mold spray is ready to be used. After applying a couple of sprayings onto the contaminated surfaces, leave it to soak into the molds without rinsing it.
D. Store Bought Mold Cleaning Products
There is nothing that can be easier to answer how to get rid of mold by using the store-bought cleaning products. Even though I do not really recommend using them, but, when you think that mold contamination is getting out of control, using them is likely to be your last alternative.
1. How to Kill Mold Using Borax
Borax can be dangerous for our health if it gets swallowed. However, as long as you use it to treat the mold contamination on your walls, you will likely be just fine.
The good thing about borax is its effectiveness of killing mold without emitting dangerous fumes like what usually happens when a chemical based product meets the molds.
Borax can be used for treating moldy tiles by mixing 1 cup of the substance with 1 gallon of hot water. Place it to the spray bottle and have a couple good sprays on the infected areas.
Leaving the reaction to happen for a couple of minutes and use a scrub, start brushing away the molds. Don’t rinse after you are done brushing.
2. How to Kill Mold Using Hydrogen Peroxide
Hydrogen Peroxide’s solution will be higher in concentrate if we compared to the borax solution. It can be corrosive for some types of treated materials too. It can also be damaging for human skins too. Thus, don’t even try to kill mold using this solution without having your gloves on.
You can start cleaning the mold by pouring 3% concentration of hydrogen peroxide into a sprayer. Shake the solution and apply it to the affected surfaces. Leave 10 good minutes for the solution to soak in before eventually rinsing it.
One thing to be remembered is that it creates fumes that can be a huge threat at some level for our respiratory system.
Whether it is homemade or store-bought, getting your house free off molds is a priority. Make sure you make a correct assessment of the severity of the contamination before choosing the products. Unless you have a very wide spread of mold, it is highly suggested that you go for the homemade ones.