Q&A for How to Kill Black Mold

In most cases, you'll need to wipe down the area with diluted bleach, sand off any substrate the mold has gotten into, then seal the material with fiber-lock paint.

It's best to throw out fabrics that have black mold on them. It's very difficult to get the black mold out of absorbent materials without destroying them.

First, find and eliminate the source of moisture. Then, verify it is truly black mold, which requires moisture to live. Moisture ruins particle board causing it to swell and delaminate. If the surface is sound, it is probably not black mold. If it is black mold, to see it you have already removed the linoleum, so replace the particle board and know the the job is done - black mold is very pervasive, and particle board is inexpensive.

Mold must be killed off first, then the reduced or eliminated. Dealing with the condensation problem will help. Well ventilated areas also suffer less with mold. However, you must kill any mold residue with bleach or borax and then paint with either anti-mold paint (usually quite expensive) or add an anti-mold paint additive to your "normal" paint, this is usually cheaper and will prevent new mold from growing to some extent. However, to be absolutely mold-free, all areas where it has been growing need to be treated and possibly replaced (such as drywall).

Try a chlorine sanitizer you can pick up at a swimming pool company. The chlorine is much more concentrated than bleach. Mix with water at the rate on the bag if dry chlorine, or if liquid chlorine, at the rate described for a "shock" treatment for the pool. Then be generous with the wash: make sure the infected area is wet with the wash so it can soak down into the wall or floor material (OSB flooring could suffer swelling and warping - see article above). The chlorine will oxidize the mold and bleach it white. White means the mold is killed!

If the mold does not go too deep, you can spray thoroughly with a solution of equal parts bleach and water. Let it dry thoroughly. That should kill the mold, but sometimes the mold stains remain. In that case, you have to sand to remove them.

Killing it is easy. Keeping it out is a huge job. This Old House devoted a program to it on about 1/17/17. It involved mold kill, regrading of landscaping to keep water away from the house, spray-foam insulation of the entire floor area underside, plastic sheeting welded into one piece over the soil, and ducting air from the furnace at 35 cfm into the crawlspace to reduce infiltration of moist, cold air. Expensive, but the estimated life of the job was 25 years.

Try shampooing the floor with a solution of about 10-to-1 warm water and ammonia, vacuuming well afterwards with the shampooer to dry the area as much as possible. You also could look into where the mold is getting its moisture to survive. Unless you know it was from a spill, water is getting into your carpet.

Spray it with bleach. It will not remove the caulk, but it will kill the mold. Do this regularly to keep bathroom clean.

No. After wiping, spray again and leave it to sit for awhile. I would leave it overnight and possibly re-spray as needed.

In sealed-off situations it's very hard. You can get a corona arc emitter, but you cannot be in the house while its running, as it generates ozone; think of it as a gas form of bleach. This will kill mold anywhere that is not 100% airtight, kind of like bug bombing and leaving the house for a few days.

Try spraying your carpet with hydrogen peroxide (a 4% solution). Be generous and saturate the carpet. Scrub off the mold while wearing protective gloves, safety goggles, and a respirator. You do not want to inhale the spores! You must also make sure to completely rinse out the hydrogen peroxide from the carpet or it will leave a yellow stain. If necessary, rent a Rug Doctor (or the like) to help you.

Fire was the first and most effective purifier, but while you’re moving it from where it’s at now to the fire pit, you’ll be knocking it around and spreading it all over the palce, so that has to be cleaned up too.

You will have to remove the paper since the mold is probably in the wall behind it. If the substrate is drywall, that will have to be removed, also. If the wood is moldy, follow the information above in the article. If the substrate has no black mold, be sure it is dry, then paint it with a mold resistant paint and then the new wallpaper or paint. Use pre-pasted, that is mold resistant. If you are using dry paper (no pre-paste) use a wallpaper adhesive that is resistant to mold. I recommend a paint store as opposed to a big box store. A paint store may be more knowledgeable as to what you need. Remember, do not paint wet or moldy surfaces.