You’ve probably heard horror stories about black mold, an suspected silent killer that hides in water damage and ceiling tiles. If you find black mold in your home, you may be completely overwhelmed and not quite know what to do. Luckily, cleaning black mold is not as serious as you may think, and probably easier than you assumed.
Spores of mold find their way inside by holding on clothes, pet fur, and air currents into your home, but they won’t grow unless they have plenty of water.
This is why you usually find mold in moist areas like a basement, part of a ceiling with a leak, or under your sink. To prevent mold from growing, you need to not only remove the mold substance, but the area of material of which you found it.
Can you remove black mold na yourself?
If you find black mold in your house, it is probably safe to assume that you can remove it yourself. Unless, the area of mold exceeds 10 feet. If that’s the case, you’ll want to bring in a professional.
The patch is probably small enough to be conquered with a combination of bleach or vinegar, water, scrubbing, and ventilation. Even though you can do it on your own, you should always wear protective gear and make sure the area is extremely well ventilated.
Can Bleach and Vinegar Kill Black Mold on Concrete?
It not only matters where the mold is located in your house, but what kind of material the black mold is located on. Some materials are harder to clean than others.
When we are talking about Black mold on concrete in your basement or stairs – Is it possible to clean?
Yes, you can use a bleach and vinegar mixture to remove black mold from concrete. To start you can scrub the location with dish detergent and a sponge, but this may not be effective on a porous surface like concrete. It will work better to use a chlorine bleach and vinegar mix.
Generally, bleach and vinegar are great ways to kill any kind of mold. Given white vinegar’s mild acidity, it kills 82% of mold species, including black mold. It works on porous and nonporous surfaces, making it safe to use on most locations.
How to create perfect mixture of bleach or vinegar to kill your mold?
To create the mixture you will be using to kill the black mold on your concrete surface,
- Take a chlorine bleach or white vinegar.
- Dilute it with water – ¾ cup bleach to 1 gallon of water
- You can either sponge the solution onto the moldy area, or pour it on and use a brush to scrub it into the porous surface of concrete.
Though both bleach and white vinegar are effective in killing most mold, including black mold, you should never combine bleach and vinegar together. This could create a potentially lethal mixture and you may be killing more than just the mold.
These products work great alone, there is no need to ever mix them together and put yourself in danger. Also be sure to always wear protective gear like goggles and gloves while removing black mold. Whatever cleaning product you decide to use is very harsh on the skin and could cause you a lot of pain and discomfort.
Which is better to kill mold vinegar or bleach?
We covered that both bleach and vinegar are great for killing mold on concrete. Now let’s talk about which is better.
Vinegar, generally, is much better than bleach at killing mold. The EPA does not recommend using bleach to kill or remove mold, except in some specific circumstances.
Bleach only kills the actual mold, not the membrane found underneath that helps the mold grow and spread. Additionally, when you use bleach on a porous surface, mold membranes will move deeper into the surface to avoid the bleach.
Vinegar kills 82% of mold species and it even helps to prevent future mold outbreaks. Unlike bleach, vinegar penetrates porous materials and kills the mold at the roots. If you use vinegar, your mold is likely gone for good, but if you use bleach, you should expect to see that mold again.
Is Black Mold On Concrete Dangerous?
Mold gets a reputation as being very dangerous, potentially deadly. Though of course you don’t want mold on concrete in or outside of your home, it is probably not going to severely harm you.
Some people may be more sensitive to mold than others, but it is not deadly. Some may develop respiratory symptoms after inhaling mold. Others who have gotten sick from mold claim aches and pains, headaches or nosebleed.
Though there is not any proof that inhaling mold can cause these symptoms, but, there are some that claim that is what happened to them.
Those more sensitive to mold may have an allergy. Their symptoms can include a runny or blocked nose, watery eyes, a dry cough, a sore throat, or weezing.
Long answer short, you don’t want to have mold hanging around, but it is not especially dangerous.
How do professionals remove mold from concrete?
It is only advised that you tackle a small area of mold. If you have an area that is more than 10 feet and covered in mold, you should leave it to the professionals. It is also a good idea to call professionals when you are removing mold from a business building or a school building, because it is extremely important that it is completely removed in these situations.
Though your vinegar or bleach will work to kill your small area of mold, professionals have a bit more of an elaborate way of doing it.
First, they contain the areas infested with mold and discard any items that have been contaminated (including walls and carpets at times). Many professionals use an antimicrobial chemical that removes mold and stains and then use a sealer to make the treated areas more resistant to water damage and mold.
So the good news is, whether you are looking to remove a small area of mold in your house or tackle a huge area, it is possible!
Cleaning mold off your concrete will be easy after reading this, and if it is too out of your comfort zone, feel free to call a professional in your area.
Related questions
Oftentimes concrete surfaces are outdoors, like on a staircase or in a garden. Since these areas are exposed to the elements and are often covered in dirt, it can be tough to identify what is mold and what is not.
However, mold on concrete is generally easy to identify. It could look like big, black spots, or a sprawling white spot that looks like a rash.
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