Question from sheila
what else can you use to get mold off basement walls other than bleach I really don’t like bleach.
thank you
sheila
Debra’s Answer
Try Twenty Mule Team Borax, which you can buy in the cleaning products section of any supermarket. That often works well on mold. But remember mold grows in dark and damp conditions. If those conditions remain, you will continue to have mold growing.
TSP is great for taking care of mold. The gov’t. banned it some years ago, supposedly, because the phosphorous in it caused weeds to grow in our waterways. It used to do a good cleaning job in laundry detergents. It’s a little difficult to find. I think boat owners use it to clean up their projects after stripping paint. A couple of years ago I found some at a marine supply site and paid about $50.00 for five good-sized boxes. I no longer remember the name of the company, however, I do remember the great deal they had for free shipping. A search should produce results because I believe it is still available. You have to use gloves while working with it — it’s very powerful.
Try Concrobium products – I just used their Mold Erase on the grout in my bathroom and results were amazing!!!
Mold needs to be removed, not cleaned, and then clean after with Borax. I created a blog after the Colorado Flood last month to help people deal with mold issues, flooding, nontoxic reconstruction. No financial interest, just experence and contact with experts. It’s at
http://www.BeToxinFree.wordpress.com
Lots of info on do’s and don’ts – bleach is a DON’T especially for some forms of toxic molds.
Jill Iwaskow
I really like Concrobium Mold Control. It kills mold as it dries and it can also be sprayed to prevent the mold from coming back. It has absolutely no smell. http://www.concrobium.com/products/concrobium-mold-control/
I am curious about the MSDS sheet for the Concrobium mold product. I went to the website but have to admit I can not understand the sheet that explains it. I currently have a mold issue in a hidden bathroom down in my basement and would like to use something instead of bleach that won’t send fumes up into my house.
Every time I have something done I have to move out for several months but considering I am going to clean it up and sell the house I need to live in it while repairs are done.
COMMENT FROM DEBRA:
comment
It says there are no hazardous substances required to be listed.
I agree with you, Debra, about Borax. In my cleaning service, the only time I use borax is as a “bandaid” mold retardant. Here’s how:
In a plastic squeeze bottle, make a strong solution of 2 tbsp. borax in 16 oz. hot water. Wash off the mold with your solution. Rinse, and reapply the same solution, letting it dry on this time.
Before treating the entire area, pre-test your solution in an inconspicuous spot, to be sure it won’t damage the surface or finish.
Debra’s comment about dealing with the cause of the mold is imperative. Otherwise it becomes an ongoing problem that may fester and get worse, depending on the reasons for the mold. Mold is like people they need a food and water source.
Your best bet is to identify the cause and deal with that. Humidity is often an issue– water being the key that will keep mold from surviving. But the cause of the humidity could be as simple as getting a good dehumidifier in the basement or there could be some leaks or some other issue.
If you can’t figure out the problem, best to get a “certified industrial hygenist” to look at it. Someone with experience who has great references, as their are people out there as with all trades who claim to have the experience, but don’t. This person should be able to identify the cause and what you need to do about it.
If the mold is a small area, it shouldn’t be much of an issue to get rid of and you can most probably do it yourself. But if it is a large area and you choose to get rid of the mold yourself, there are specific techniques that you should use in order to do so, properly. Otherwise you may inadvertantly spread the mold and make it worse.
The other factors to consider are: is there anyone in the home exhibiting symptoms that coincide with the appearance of the mold? If anyone is chemically sensitive be careful about what cleaners you use. If cleaned with the proper techniques, soap and water can be as effective as mold cleaners. The other issue to consider is what kind of mold is it? If the mold is ongoing and or extensive enough a reliable CIH should be able to identify not only the source of the mold, but what type as on some rare occassions they can be toxic.
However toxic mold is not the only kind that can bring on symtoms. In my case I have among other allergies an allergy to penicillin and reacted to the pennicilium and aspergillus molds in our home from some water damage. We ended up getting a CIH in who identified the extent and source of the problem (which in our case was considerable from a roof leak that made it’s way into some rooms and the crawl space). The next step was to do the repairs and after that we got a remediation team into clean and recondition the areas affected. This also included dehumidification. Eventually we had our home restored with non-toxic products, our crawl space was reconditioned and has a dehimidifer running as well as we addressed dehumdification issues in our home and have one attached to our hvacc unit.
This issue with your basement could be real simple to deal with. I just thought I’d add some info in the case that there are other factors involved. Most of the info I cited is avaible on the web. There are also some groups that specifically deal with mold issues. I was on a yahoo group called “Sick Buildings” that had people like myself on it who were in the midst of an issue or had solved theirs as well as some professionals who kindly donated their time to answer questions and not to promote their business.
I hope this is helpful.
@sheila
Did you try to contact professionals from your city ? In most cases products from supermarkets do not help enough.