5 Tricks For Cleaning And Avoiding Mildew And Mold in McLean, VA
When you are looking at cleaning and updating your home exterior and interior, one thing you will have to really be on the lookout for is mildew and mold — mold being a more advanced form of mildew, of course.
So long as you follow some basic rules when you are taking care of the mildew, you can take care of it handily and with not too much effort.
With that being the case, let us look at and consider five tricks for cleaning and avoid mildew and mold in McLean, VA.
1. Hard Surfaces Need Detergent And Scrubbing
The kind of cleaning that you will need to do varies depending on what kind of surface the mold or mildew is on.
For example, you could consider using detergent on a harder surface if it has either mold or mildew on it.
The other important factor in cleaning a good hard surface is to scrub it thoroughly — these molds and mildews are tough to get rid of and you will need to fully rid yourself of them so it is worth the hard scrubbing.
Avoiding its return is another thing entirely — you are going to want to make sure that you have good ventilation and that you don’t have water leaking onto surfaces for prolonged periods of time — so it begs checking pipes and the like on a semi-regular basis.
2. Consider Disposing Porous Materials
When you find mold on materials that are more porous, there is a good possibility that you will have to entirely dispose of the materials, or at least the parts that are affected by the mold.
When you are looking at sections of ceiling tile or carpeting, for example, that have mold on them — you may be looking at an uphill battle that will be nearly impossible to win.
Of course, if the thing in question has great sentimental value to you, it may be worth taking it to a professional cleaner.
Even though you might not be able to properly get the mold off, a professional cleaner who has better equipment at his or her disposal may not find it to be too challenging at all.
3. Reduce Your Risk By Reducing Exposure To Mold
When you are dealing with mold, it’s not at all like other things that may be in or on your home in terms of things that need to be cleaned.
To begin with, you are going to want to protect your respiratory system when you are cleaning as breathing in spores of mold could get you quite sick.
You can do this by wearing an N95 mask or other similar respiratory protection.
You further should be completely covered up to the best of your ability — long sleeves and proper gloves.
4. The Perils Of HVAC Mold
If you find any sort of trace of mold in your HVAC system, the first thing that you should do is to ensure that the system is not turned on until it is fully cleaned and determined to be fully clear of mold and mildew.
This is because in the presence of mold, having an HVAC system on can spread the mold around the system until it entirely infiltrates it.
By turning it on, you make its eventual cleanup considerably more difficult.
5. Clean Before Painting And Caulking
When you are going to be painting and caulking, you need to be sure that you have completely removed mold from the surfaces that are going to be painted
Some will have you thinking that just painting over anything will work to lock in that thing but this is not the case and mold will continue to spread if left unchecked and make a mess of your paint work.