Spider plants, orchids and leafy palms can all help to remove mould spores in the home. From the bathroom to the kitchen, any room that suffers with humidity, damp, mildew or mould could benefit from one of these clever houseplants.
Whether in burgundy or regular green, rubber trees (also known as rubber plants) will produce lots of oxygen—more than any other plant, in fact! In addition to producing oxygen and eliminating air toxins, the rubber tree effectively removes mold spores and bacteria from the air (by up to 60%).
English Ivy: A Christmastime favorite that's a year-round keeper because it filters 78 percent of airborne mold in 12 hours. Dwarf Date Palm: Loves xylene and other pollutants. Boston Fern: Who hasn't owned a Boston Fern? Time to get another — its specialty is formaldehyde removal.
An air purifier with a HEPA filter is the traditional option for filtering particles from the air and can remove some mold spores. The HEPA standard is based on the ability to remove 99.97 percent of particles that are 0.3 microns in size or greater.
Cleaning vinegar, which contains 6% acetic acid, is the best type for killing mold. White vinegar containing 5% acidity will also work just fine.
Use undiluted white vinegar on hard surfaces in kitchens and baths. A bleach solution also works to kill mold. Mix one cup of bleach in a gallon of water, apply to the surface and don't rinse. Mix a 50/50 solution of ammonia and water.
While technically both plants and purifiers clean the air, air purifiers are the obvious winner for literal air cleaning purposes. Considering the sheer amount of plants needed in your space to appreciably reduce VOC and indoor pollution levels, they can't be recommended.
NASA recommends one plant every 100 square feet - which is about 9.2 square metres. In a home of about 1800 square feet in size (roughly 167 square metres), NASA recommends 15-18 houseplants.
In order to use ozone to kill mold, you must start with an ozone generator. Ozone generators intentionally produce the toxic gas ozone and are sold as air cleaners for commercial and residential applications.
According to NASA, chrysanthemums are among the best air-purifying houseplants as they remove most indoor pollutants like formaldehyde, benzene and xylene. The flowering plant requires very little care, but it'll only stay alive for a few weeks indoors.
Peepal tree ( Ficus religiosa )is the tree which purifies air the most. maximum air purification.
The Peace Lily even absorbs mold spores. This houseplant is perfect for your bathroom. It can help eliminate yucky mildew! Plus this plant loves humidity so you'll have a happy plant too.
Boston ferns help reduce indoor pollutants. They are top most NASA recommended air purifying plants in NASA clean air study. These plants act as humidifiers & can help to restore moisture in the air so they are perfect for those who suffer from dry skin & other cold weather problems.
Some plants may release VOCs into the air. The soil may have bacteria, pesticides or other contaminants. While plants can be beneficial, the evidence does not show that they are an effective tool to reduce air pollution.
The National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA), which tested the abilities of three common houseplants to remove formaldehyde from the air, found in preliminary tests that spider plants were the champs, removing 95 percent of the toxic substance from a sealed Plexiglas chamber in 24 hours.
The impact of different VOCs was inconsistent across studies, as was the performance of different plant species. But they said that in 196 experiments, plants were able to clean an average of 0.062 cubic meters of air per plant per hour, which is only about 13% of the half a cubic meter we breathe at the same time.
1. Bamboo Palm. As one of the most popular indoor plants, the tropical palm is especially good at filtering formaldehyde along with benzene, xylene and chloroform in style. They can grow as high as 12 feet, allowing them to purify the air on a larger scale.
They purify the air - Succulents, like snake plant and aloe vera, are excellent at cleansing the air and removing toxins. NASA's research found that they are able of removing 87 percent of volatile organic compounds (VOC).
“Air-purifying plants can help absorb and trap toxins while releasing oxygen to generate cleaner air, making for a more healthy and fresh sleeping environment throughout the bedroom,” says Andres Montoya, an indoor and outdoor landscaping expert who works on hospitality projects.
Mold spores won't continue to grow when they are dry. But as we said, they will just become dormant (some even for centuries) and won't die until the right environmental conditions form and cause them to grow back.
Use a non-ammonia soap or detergent in warm water and scrub the entire area affected by the mold. Use a stiff brush or cleaning pad on block walls or uneven surfaces. Rinse clean with water. Dry completely.
Surprisingly, vinegar and hydrogen peroxide are both more effective at killing mold roots than bleach. Because they work best on different types of mold, try to use them together to cover all the possible varieties of mold you might be dealing with.