Is There Mold or Mildew in Your Laundry Room?
When it comes to indoor mold, the laundry room is one of the places we find it most often. Laundry rooms are often cramped, damp, and stuffy, offering the perfect conditions for mold growth. If your laundry room has a musty odor, it might be mildew, but it could be something much worse. Here’s how to tell the difference between mold and mildew, and how to get rid of mold in your laundry room.
Why Is There Mold in My Laundry Room?
Both mold and mildew love the warm, humid atmosphere found in most laundry rooms. With the dryer running and heating up the room, and steam wafting out of the washer, it’s easy for condensation to build up. And wherever mold and mildew spores find a warm, damp place to land, they can take hold and start a new colony.
Mold could be growing in a damp patch of your walls or ceiling, inside your washing machine door, underneath your rug, or even in your laundry basket. Never leave a wet load of laundry sitting overnight! Mold and mildew can start growing in as little as 24 hours, and they often find the perfect conditions in a laundry room.
What’s the Difference Between Mold and Mildew?
Telling the difference between mold and mildew can get a bit tricky sometimes. Both mold and mildew are types of fungi, and they both give off a funky smell. However, mildew is much easier to get rid of—you can usually clean up mildew yourself, while getting rid of mold is best done through professional intervention.
Here’s how to tell mold and mildew apart:
- Mildew only affects surfaces and spreads outward
- Mold eats into surfaces and spreads upward
- Mold is usually, green, red, or black
- Mildew is usually white, gray, or brown
- Mold is either fuzzy or slimy
- Mildew is powdery
How to Get Rid of Mold and Mildew in Your Laundry Room
If you find a small patch of mold or mildew in your laundry room, clean it right away. Spraying it with a bleach or vinegar solution will usually kill any spores. Be sure to wear protective gear, like rubber gloves and an N-95 mask if you’re ever scrubbing mold. And if there’s a large amount of mold, like a patch of drywall behind the washing machine, it’s better to seek professional mold remediation rather than put your health at risk.
How to Keep Mold and Mildew Out of Your Laundry Room
The best way to get rid of mold in your laundry room is to prevent it from growing in the first place. Here are a few mold prevention tips from the experts at My Pure Environment.
- Clean Your Washing Machine
Mold often starts growing on the silicone gaskets inside washing machine doors. Clean your washer regularly, and as long as you don’t have children or pets, leave the door open when it’s not in use, so it can dry out inside.
- Clean Your Drains
If there’s a drain in your laundry room, it could be collecting mold as well as moisture and dirt. Snaking drains and scrubbing drain covers with a bleach solution will help prevent mold.
- Air Out the Room
Does your laundry room have enough ventilation? Running a fan and opening windows when you do laundry will help to prevent condensation. If your laundry room does not have windows, you might want to install a vent with a fan to keep moisture at bay.
Mold Remediation in Spokane, Washington
Do mold and mildew always seem to come back, no matter how many times you scrub your washing machine? Wondering how to get rid of mold in your laundry room for good? Professional dry fog mold remediation from My Pure Environment will do the trick! Every dry fog treatment comes with our 12-month mold-free guarantee. Contact us to schedule a free inspection today.
Photo by PlanetCare on Unsplash used with permission under the Creative Commons license for commercial use 8/22/2022.
