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When it comes to cleaning up mold, the most common cleaner used is bleach. Also, if you have noticed, the EPA and other site always warn not to use more than 1 cup to a gallon of water. They even go the lengths to bold and capitalize the words “no more.” Ever wonder why this is? Could it hurt to use more than 1 cup?
The answer is yes, it can hurt to use more than one cup. Mold is a clever species. It has a portion of it that is reactive. What do we mean reactive. A ratio of one cup of bleach to one gallon of water kills mold. However, if it is over one cup, the mold will sense there is a toxic chemical coming its way and close up. That mean you put it on it and it does not die. Interesting reaction for a spore, huh?
Another little fact to be aware of, when using bleach to kill mold is that it is only effective on non-porous materials such as countertops, glass, tiles, and metal. If you use bleach to clean the mold off of that wooden cabinet in the bathroom, it will not work. It cleans the outside surface, but does not have the power to penetrate into the pores of the wood where mold is still hiding. This applies not only to wood, but to dry wall. So even though we may get the black surface off, the spores are still hiding and will ultimately resurface.
Ammonia has similar challenges as bleach. Use a 50-50 mix of ammonia and water and again, only use on non-porous surfaces. So what works on porous surfaces? What works best on clothes? Most important, what prevents mold from growing? Come back next week for part two of killing mold!