Ventilation fans are the best way to prevent mold build up inside a home. Think about it: what happens when a home has a flood? Typically, a water damage expert will be called in and the first thing they do is bring in ventilation fans to dry out the moisture and wetness inside the home.
Fans promote airflow and help reduce excess moisture. They reduce a room's overall humidity, making it much harder for spores to grow. They keep mold at bay, wicking excess moisture away from your walls and furniture.
Reduce the moisture in the air with dehumidifiers, fans and open windows or air conditioners, especially in hot weather. Do NOT use fans if mold may already exist; a fan will spread the mold spores. Try to keep the humidity in your home below 40 percent.
Ceiling Fans Can Prevent Mold Growth And More
Ensuring proper ventilation and airflow is an important step in preventing mold growth. Simple ceiling fans can help you prevent mold plus save on energy bills by reducing the load on your heating and cooling system.
Another major step to prevent mold growth in your home is to make sure you are properly ventilating your home. Ventilation helps prevent humid air from getting trapped indoors and wreaking havoc with mold growth. Good airflow can help cut back on moisture and will dry wet areas of your home more quickly.
Ventilate your house for a minimum of 30 minutes daily. Cross ventilation is necessary, so interior doors must be opened along with windows on opposing sides. Keep your kitchen door closed and the room ventilated while cooking or operating your dishwasher. Keep your bathroom door closed during showers and baths.
To Prevent Mold Growth in Your Home
Keep humidity levels in your home as low as you can—no higher than 50%–all day long. An air conditioner or dehumidifier will help you keep the level low. You can buy a meter to check your home's humidity at a home improvement store.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to get rid of all mold spores in the air so you need to replace the air filter in your ac unit regularly. In addition, use an air purifier that contains a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter. These air filters are known to remove up to 99.7% of all mold spores from your air.
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.
Generally speaking, extreme temperatures—both hot and cold—can deactivate mold spores. Cold weather won't kill the spores but may slow down their growth rate. Heat treatments require specific temperature ranges for effective results; most molds will die at temperatures above 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 Celsius).
When indoor air temperatures are hotter than about 95 °F: Fan use may cause your body to gain heat instead of lose it. On very hot, humid days, sweat evaporates off the skin slower than normal, and fans make it even more difficult for the body to lose heat by sweating.
To test for mold spores in the air you're breathing, you'll need to purchase a viable mold detection kit such as Seeml Labs' Mold Inspector in a Box; most quality mold tests cost between $10 and $40. The entire testing process will take a few days.
Make sure that you are leaving your fan on for 30 minutes to an hour after you've showered. This will help to ensure that any moisture in the air is being taken care of and not left behind. If you don't have a fan, install one! A fan is one of the best preventative ways to get rid of mold and mildew.
Moisture Control is the Key to Mold Control
When water leaks or spills occur indoors - act quickly. If wet or damp materials or areas are dried 24-48 hours after a leak or spill happens, in most cases mold will not grow. Clean and repair roof gutters regularly.
Keep the thermostat at 78 degrees or above. A higher thermostat setting and slightly warmer air temperature results in drier indoor air. In the cooling mode, temperatures lower than 78 degrees generate more humid air and cool indoor surfaces, increasing condensation that breeds mold.
Mold stays “dormant” in the air or on surfaces even when there's no excess moisture to help it grow. If the humidity in a room increases, mold will start growing in patches on walls, clothes, and more. So, to answer your question, dehumidifiers do NOT kill mold, but they do prevent it by reducing humidity.
Vinegar is natural and safe mild acid that can kill 82% of mold species. Plus it doesn't give off dangerous fumes like bleach. If you want to use vinegar to prevent mold growth on surfaces, spray vinegar on the surface and leave it. Repeat every few days to keep the surface mold-free.
This will tell you if you can clean the mold yourself, or if it's reached a point where you need to bring in the pros. If the outbreak is less than 10 square feet, the EPA says it's safe to handle the cleanup yourself (FEMA sets the limit at 25 square feet, so there's some wiggle room).
The Health Risks of Sleeping in a Room with Mould
If you're sleeping in a room with mould, you could be breathing in mycotoxins (toxic chemicals present in the spores of certain mould types) throughout the night.
Yes, if you have damp and mould in your home you're more likely to have respiratory problems, respiratory infections, allergies or asthma. Damp and mould can also affect the immune system.
It's Dangerous to Sleep In A Mouldy Room
Indoor mould is dangerous because it spreads rapidly, but it's even more dangerous if it's in your bedroom. When you sleep, you spend at least seven hours in your bedroom, and that doesn't include the additional times you spend there when you're awake.
Install an Air Purifier: Using an air purifier to remove mold spores in the air is one of the best ways to initially get the problem under control because they work by capturing and removing harmful pollutants in your home.
The best air purifiers for mold are those that utilize True HEPA filters. HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air, and these filters are highly effective at capturing microscopic particles such as mold spores found in the air.