Get rid of mold naturally with these DIY tips and tricks

Mold growth is one of the most common and harmful household problems. It can often grow unexpectedly without giving you the chance to prevent it. For example, cupboards, bathrooms, and basements are some common areas where mold develops. Soon, it grows out of the concealed area, visibly covering your house, damaging its structure. However, your house isn’t the only thing in danger, as it can cause harm to your body in several ways.

So, you can’t risk sharing your home with such fungi. However, when it comes to getting rid of mold, things can get complicated. Using harmful chemicals, such as bleach, can damage the appearance of your home while creating health hazards. Perhaps the best way to banish mold is using natural disinfectants. Here are some effective DIY tips to get rid of mold naturally.

Use vinegar

Vinegar is known to be a highly effective, non-toxic disinfectant. Almost all types of molds can be cleared using vinegar. What’s best is that it also eliminates some types of bacteria and viruses from your home. For quick results, it’s best to use vinegar in its undiluted form, as it kills mold effectively.

However, undiluted vinegar has a pungent smell, which can often irritate people. If you don’t want to be bothered by the strong odor, you can dilute the vinegar with essential oils. You can use a spray bottle and apply vinegar over the mold to cover the area adequately. After a few hours, you can remove the mold using a brush. During the process of removing mold, make sure to wear protective gloves and a face mask to reduce mold exposure.

However, before you move on to applying these DIY tricks to remove mold, it’s a good idea to test what type of mold your house is suffering from. As a result, you will be able to figure out the most effective way to eliminate mold. To get your mold tested, you can either call experts or get DIY kits to test the mold yourself. So, make sure to conduct mold testing to get rid of mold effectively.

Apply hydrogen peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide is another excellent natural and non-toxic solution for removing mold. Although it may sound artificially created, as it is available in nature. This chemical is also capable of killing bacteria along with several types of molds. If the surface covered by mold is porous, you can use a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution through a spray bottle. However, if the surface is non-porous, it’s best to use a mixture of 50% hydrogen peroxide and 50% water.

After spraying the chemical, you need to wait for around 15 minutes before drying and scrubbing the area with a cloth. You may also use warm soapy water to scrub the mold off for better results. However, while applying hydrogen peroxide, you need to take safety precautions, as it can cause irritations in the skin and eyes. It may also cause pain, nausea, and a sore throat if ingested. So, make sure to wear gloves, a face mask, and goggles.

Use baking soda

Baking soda is commonly found in our homes and is an effective solution for eliminating mold. Its antibacterial properties have also been proven through experiments and studies. However, before you use baking soda for removing mold, it’s essential to check whether it’s fresh or not. For this purpose, you can drop some vinegar into a sample of your baking soda. If this mixture bubbles, then your baking soda is perfect to kill mold.

There are several ways to use baking soda to get rid of mold. One way is to mix two tablespoons of baking soda with two cups of water and create a mixture to spray on the mold. While spraying, you should scrub the area with a cloth to remove mold. Another way is to create a paste by mixing 50% baking soda and 50% water. You can then apply this paste to the affected area and let it dry before you scrub the mold away with a brush. Other ways include mixing the baking soda with vinegar and water to increase its effectiveness.

Mold removal with tea tree oil

Tea tree oil may seem like an expensive solution to get rid of mold. However, that’s not the case, as you only need a small quantity of tea tree oil to finish off mold effectively. In fact, artificial disinfectants can be more expensive as you need to purchase large quantities. In contrast, only a few teaspoons of tea tree oil can stop mold growth for a long time. It is also beneficial for reducing acne, heal wounds, and repel insects. However, to get the best results for removing mold, you need to get tea tree oil that contains 30% of Terpinen-4-ol and 15% of Cineole.

For application, you need to create a mixture using two cups of water and two teaspoons of tea tree oil. After creating the mixture, spray it on the affected area until it is wet and scrub the area after an hour or more. You can also choose to replace water with vinegar to increase the effectiveness of the mixture. Throughout this process, make sure to take safety precautions to reduce mold exposure.

Conclusion

If you’ve noticed mold growth in your house, it’s best not to ignore it and take immediate action. Without doing so, the mold will grow exponentially, causing significant structural damage. More importantly, it will also create health hazards. So, make sure to use the natural methods mentioned above to kill mold effectively for healthy living.