No matter how hard you try to prevent carpet mold, sometimes it creeps up regardless. If and when you do come across this unhealthy scourge in your pricey floor coverings, you have a few options for dealing with the problem. Depending on the severity of the problem, you could call in your localcarpet cleaning service lexington to help you eradicate the issue or you can try dealing with the matter yourself.
Finding the Source of the Mold
The best way to know how to eradicate the mold is to find out where it's originating from first. If you can't identify the source, you won't be able to remove it completely. Just because you have mold in the carpet doesn't mean you know where it's coming from. It's one thing to clear away the mold in the surface of the fibers, but that's not necessarily the source of the problem.
If you don't kill it at the source, the mold will return over and over again. A good place to look first is under the carpet and the carpet pad. That is where mold often originates and it's the reason why your carpet is in this unhealthy state. You need to determine the source or you're not really doing the job entirely. Your home will continue to have mold.
There are some very quick, tell-tale signs that your carpet is developing mold and mildew. The way it smells is the first and most prevalent indicator of a problem. But even that might not be convincing enough to determine if your carpet is in need of assistance. When in doubt, you may want to get yourself one of those mold testing kits that can tell you once and for all that you have a growing concern.
These kits are easy to use as they audit the airflow through your carpet fibers to detect mold spores. If these are present, they will adhere themselves to the monitor in the kit and you'll know for sure if the carpet has mold or not. In the event you do get a positive result, you'll need to get to work fast on killing it.
So how do you go about doing that on your own? You likely have some of the best solutions in your home already. But first you need to figure out how bad things have become in your carpet. That will tell you just how stringent your methods should be. In some cases, nothing short of bleach and ammonia will suffice, but not all mold problems will require this much power.
Baking Soda
Most mold issues can be dealt with by applying some baking soda to the affected area and letting it work overnight. Allow the area to be undisturbed during that time, keeping anyone from walking over the carpet. Once the morning comes around, you can vacuum up the baking soda and the mold should be gone.
White Vinegar
Add a little white vinegar to some water and spray the moldy areas of the carpet for something that works a bit harder and stronger than typical baking soda. This method will require some more elbow grease on your part as well as the mixture should be given time to soak into the carpet for a couple of minutes. After that has occurred, you will need to scrub the area with a brush to remove the spores completely.
But always remember to wear protection in the form of goggles, gloves, and a mask so you don't inhale, ingest, or spread the spores when you're scrubbing them out of the carpet fibers.
Store-bought Solutions
If the homemade options aren't doing the trick, you can find a wide range of stringent alternatives at your local supermarket or department store. These will typically contain harsh chemicals such as those mentioned earlier to clean the carpeting and clear out any mold and mildew that has been allowed to grow. These are all relatively simple to use, just follow the directions on the label and your carpet will look and smell good as new.
Proper Ventilation
Moisture is the most common culprit when it comes to the development of mold.0020So, once you've eliminated the problem from your carpets, the best way to keep it from returning is to reduce the amount of moisture that is getting near or in the carpet and increase the amount of airflow. Ventilation and dehumidifiers are ideal methods for keeping things dry for a carpet that has been exposed to do much moisture.
