Mold Spores are Everywhere
Advertisement
According to Phoebe Yin, mold spores are everywhere, floating in and out of our homes. These spores reproduce in moisture which is why limiting moisture in our homes is so imperative for mold prevention.
Besides from just seeing the red, green, and black colors of mold, it also gives off a musty smell and causes asthma like symptoms.
She says there are six main ways of preventing moisture build up:
- Run a fan or open a window for 20 minutes after showering or bathing.
- Make sure to ventilate whenever doing laundry.
- Wash your bathtub or shower as well as the toilet with borax as often as possible. Borax kills mold.
- Use a Dehumidifier.
- Once a week, wash windows with a solution of 20% white vinegar.
- Every once in a while sprinkle baking soda on basement carpets followed by a good vacuuming. (Or remove the carpet all together)
Further Recommended Reading :
Advertisement
Joslyn from the MoldBlogger Team
Source: Phoebe Yin, ND
2 comments
[…] Manage Mold for Good Health […]
Basement finishing question re: mold
Given that you are mold experts, I was wondering if you could help me with your suggestion for the best environment for preventing mold.
We have a finished basement. The outside wall is cider block painted with drylock. Around the base of the wall is a french drain with waffle material to catch any weeping from the wall. All the walls are very dry.
4 inches out from the wall is a finished sheetrock wall. The studs are on an aluminum base so as not to touch concrete. The finished wall is insulated.
We do run a dehumidifer in our basement that turns on mostly during the summer months.
So my question is…. to best prevent mold:
1. Should we keep the area between the finished wall sealed as best as possible to prevent the warmer air from the room from mixing with the cold cider block wall?
or
2. Is it best to have some air circulation against the cider block wall to allow any moisture that occurs to evaporate – as well as getting dehumidified by the dehumidifier.
I know people tend to want to create vapor barriers to keep warm air from meeting cold on two sides of a wall for example, but our finished wall is already insulated for this purse. Should we make sure we have some air circulation behind the finished wall so any moisture on the cider black or from the open french drain has a way to dry?
Thanks much for any insights or suggestions you have on whether we should get some air circulation behind the finished wall or not.
We appreciate any suggestions you may have.