Mold isn’t always bad. After all, without mold, we wouldn’t have penicillin and other antibiotics, mushrooms, or many varieties of cheese. But the mold you might find growing in your home isn’t usually the good kind. In fact, it’s often the kind that triggers respiratory problems such as asthma and allergies or even causes serious illness. Mold thrives in warm, dark, damp environments, so places like the shower, dishwasher, and washing machine can see mold growth from time to time.
While a significant mold infestation is best handled by a professional restoration company, you have a powerful weapon against occasional mold growth in your kitchen cupboard: white vinegar. This humble household staple can kill more than 80% of mold species, including hazardous black mold. In fact, it’s more effective than bleach, which only kills surface mold and can actually make matters worse. Follow along as our cleaning experts from Merry Maids® explain how to kill mold with vinegar and keep it from coming back.
Using White Distilled Vinegar to Kill Mold
White vinegar is most commonly found with 5% acidity and works best undiluted, so don’t worry about mixing it with water first. However, because it is a mild acid, avoid using vinegar on aluminum, cast iron, waxed wood, or natural stone, as it may damage or cause etching in the finish.
Before you begin, gather the supplies you’ll need:
Direct contact with mold can be dangerous, especially if any spores become airborne during the cleaning process. Additionally, vinegar’s acidic nature can be irritating to the skin. For safety’s sake, wear non-porous gloves, goggles or safety glasses, and a mask that covers your mouth and nose.
Step 2: Apply the Vinegar
Pour enough undiluted white vinegar into the empty spray bottle to cover the area of mold growth. Spray the mold directly, fully saturating it with the vinegar, and allow the vinegar to sit for at least an hour. Don’t be tempted to scrub or rinse; the mold needs time to completely absorb the vinegar.
Step 3: Create a Baking Soda Scrub
After an hour or more, you can use a baking soda solution to scrub away any remaining mold and stains. Add a teaspoon of baking soda and two cups of water to an empty spray bottle (if you don’t have an extra spray bottle, pour out any leftover vinegar and use that one). Shake vigorously until thoroughly combined.
Step 4: Scrub Away Remaining Mold
Spray the baking soda solution directly onto the mold and any mold stains and scrub with the scrub brush or scouring pad. Baking soda acts as an abrasive agent, helping to dislodge persistent mold and remove stains. After scrubbing, rinse the area with clean warm water. Make sure you are still wearing your protective gear for this step to prevent unnecessary exposure.
Step 5: Finish with a Final Spray
After scrubbing and rinsing the area clean, give the area one last spray of vinegar. Alternatively, if you’re using one spray bottle and still have some baking soda solution left, feel free to spritz that instead. Allow the area to air dry. This last shot will help eradicate any lingering mold and prevent it from growing back. Don’t worry about the strong vinegar odor—it will fade on its own after a couple hours.
Preventing Mold Growth with Vinegar
You don’t have to wait until you spot mold growth to use vinegar against it. For warm, damp areas prone to mold, like the bathroom or laundry room, add vinegar to your cleaning routine to stop an infestation before it starts. Store a spray bottle of vinegar in the bathroom and mist it over the shower stall after taking a shower, or add vinegar to your mopping solution to prevent mold growth on the floor.
Pour enough undiluted white vinegar into the empty spray bottle to cover the area of mold growth. Spray the mold directly, fully saturating it with the vinegar, and allow the vinegar to sit for at least an hour. Don't be tempted to scrub or rinse; the mold needs time to completely absorb the vinegar.
Pour the undiluted vinegar into a spray bottle. Spray it directly onto the moldy surface. Let the vinegar sit for at least an hour. Using a brush with soft bristles, scrub the moldy surface until the mold comes off.
Vinegar will kill mold on leather. If you are removing mold from a leather product, it's common advice to dilute the vinegar with a 1:1 ratio of water. Use a cloth to help from damaging the surface. If you're unsure if the leather will be damaged, try the vinegar mixture in an inconspicuous area first.
The answer is yes, you can safely leave the vinegar on mold overnight. Vinegar is an acidic substance and will kill mold spores. However, it's important to make sure that the area is well-ventilated so that the vinegar doesn't cause any respiratory irritation.
Hydrogen peroxide kills mold effectively on materials such as clothing, floors, bathroom fixtures, walls and items such as kitchen appliances. Pour 3% concentration hydrogen peroxide into a spray bottle. Spray the moldy surface completely to saturate the area with hydrogen peroxide.
The truth is, vinegar does not kill 100% of mold in most cases. It only works on a very small number of surfaces, and only if the moldy area is very small. Even then, mold often comes back after vinegar.
How Do You Use Vinegar to Clean Mold? To safely and effectively clean a small area of mold, ServiceMaster advises the following: Add full-strength white distilled vinegar to a spray bottle and spray it on the mold. Let it sit for at least an hour before wiping away mold.
Bleach and vinegar can both kill mold, but vinegar is much more effective for removing mold from porous materials. This is because bleach only kills mold spores on the surface of affected materials. If you use bleach to remove mold growth, there is a good chance that the mold will return.
If you don't have hydrogen peroxide, cleaning vinegar is a great substitute that can be used safely on most porous and non-porous surfaces. Distilled white vinegar can work too, since the acidity in vinegar can slowly break down the structure of mold and kill it, but it will work much slower than cleaning vinegar.
White and distilled are types of vinegar. They differ fundamentally in their acetic acid content. White, also known as spirit vinegar, has 5% to 20% acetic acid. This is generally higher as compared to distilled vinegar's 5%-8%.
The only real side effect from leaving vinegar to its own devices is that its acidity will gradually decrease over time, making it less potent. This is why a "best by" date can be found on the bottle, but it's still perfectly fine long past that — it isn't an "expiration date," by any means. Vinegar does not expire.
Spray the vinegar generously onto the moldy surface and let it sit for around an hour. After an hour, wipe the area clean using water and allow the surface to dry. Repeat this process after a few days to ensure a mold-free surface.
Give it at least an hour before you return to scrub the mold away. Scrub the mold away with warm water and a scrub brush. Using a brush, scrub at the area of mold which has been sitting in the vinegar. Continue to clean your brush off in warm water as you work through the moldy area.
Yes, bleach is a potent biocide that can be used to kill mold. The active ingredient in bleach, sodium hypochlorite, reacts with water to form hypochlorous acid, which kills mold by denaturing proteins, inactivating enzymes, disrupting nucleic acids, and destroying other cellular components.
All contaminated surfaces will be vacuumed with a HEPA vacuum to trap the mold spores while releasing clean air, unlike traditional vacuum cleaners. Next, a professional will spray and wipe down the once contaminated surface with microfiber cleaning cloths.
Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is a kind of lung inflammation that occurs when people develop immune system sensitization to inhaled organic dust. Immune system sensitization is similar to an allergy. It can seem like pneumonia, but it does not get better with antibiotics for infection. Symptoms of HP can vary.
Pour enough undiluted white vinegar into the empty spray bottle to cover the area of mold growth. Spray the mold directly, fully saturating it with the vinegar, and allow the vinegar to sit for at least an hour. Don't be tempted to scrub or rinse; the mold needs time to completely absorb the vinegar.
Vinegar is a mild acid which can kill 82% of mold species. (Baking soda is often used along with vinegar for killing different species of mold). To kill mold: Use white distilled vinegar and pour it into a spray bottle without watering it down. Spray the vinegar onto the moldy surface and leave it to sit for an hour.
Will vinegar kill mold on concrete? Some people use vinegar when cleaning mold, but be careful because vinegar is acidic and could eat away the sealer or top cement layer of your concrete.
Introduction: My name is Nicola Considine CPA, I am a determined, witty, powerful, brainy, open, smiling, proud person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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