[Greenbuilding] Reducing mold

Lynelle Hamilton lynelle at lahamilton.com
Sun Nov 7 22:14:07 CST 2010


I concur with the bleach.  Concrobium seems to work well for me.

Lynelle

On 07/11/2010 19:49, Bob Klahn wrote:
> Sacie,
>
> There are some newer proprietary mildicides used in commercial 
> remediation after flooding or other major water/mold damage.
>  I haven't tried any of them and they are probably hard to get, 
> especially on single residential scale.
>
> On most surfaces (substrates), chlorine bleach solution is unnecessary 
> overkill; toxic for the environment and, in many of the "easy" 
> applications, toxic to the user.  It will not penetrate into any 
> porous substrate to "kill" more than the surface bloom.
>
> A  rag or sponge, dampened - not wet - with a solution of warm water 
> and any mild surfactant (dish washing detergent works well).  Only 
> enough surfactant to break the surface tension of the water - no suds 
> needed.
>
> Wipe from the top down, clearing away the surface bloom, then wring in 
> the bucket or basin, leaving the mold in the water.
> Dry as rapidly as possible - by blowing (room temperature or sightly 
> warmer) air across the surface (heat will drive the moisture deeper 
> into the material and slow real drying.  Instead, hot air or radiant 
> heat can create an illusory surface drying.
>
> No panaceas that I know of.  Most of the things toxic to mold are also 
> toxic to us - and other living critters.
>
> Bob Klahn
>
> On 11/7/2010 7:22 PM, Sacie Lambertson wrote:
>> /From Mike O'B;    Are you thinking about ways to reduce the mold?
>> /
>> Indeed, I would love something easy to reduce the black stuff that 
>> appears in our shower.  Certainly it is enough of a problem here in 
>> relatively humid NE Kansas that there are loads of products sold in 
>> the stores to get rid of it.  A good spray of a vinegar solution 
>> helps, as does clorox.  However, the water from our bathroom goes 
>> straight outside into a small running- downhill-gray-water trench, so 
>> using clorox isn't so great.
>>
>> I'm in fact looking for a solution that doesn't exist.  A good 
>> scrubing lasts a long time.  The walk-in shower is 3'x5', not a stall 
>> at all.  The room in which it lives is large for a bathroom; in the 
>> winter the ambient temp is rather cool so I would love to enclose the 
>> shower area like the Sunfrost site suggests but I'm afraid I would 
>> only be asking for more mold problems.
>>
>> Wonder how the Turkish bath folks keep mold out?
>>
>> Sacie
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
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