Month: May 2020

The Best Indoor Plants for Mold Prevention

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Best Indoor Plants

Nothing livens up your indoor space more than getting some houseplants—and actually keeping them alive. That’s why you’re on the prowl for the best houseplants right now: You want to know which ones will look great, offer the best indoor air quality, and stay alive with minimal effort on your part. But did you know that plants can even prevent mold? Yes, it’s not just that they keep your indoor space looking and feeling fresh. They truly, in reality help your home to be fresh too. Here are the best indoor plants for mold prevention.

 

English Ivy

 

Just get out of this plant’s way, and it’ll thrive. This is the plant that you see crawling up the sides of buildings, paving a way for itself. Not only is English Ivy easy to care for and lusciously green, it also removes mold from your home. You read that right: It doesn’t just prevent mold, but it actually works to purify the space so that mold feels unwelcome and then leaves. Pun intended.

 

Peace Lily

 

Despite what its name may suggest, this plant will fight for your right to breathe clean air. It takes toxins like trichloroethylene, benzene, toluene, and xylene out of your home. It has rich, rippling green leaves that spring up like flowers. Unlike the other plants on this list, this one will require a bit more maintenance.

 

Palm Plants

 

A wide variety of plants are considered “palm” plants, including Lady Palm, Reed Palm, Areca Palm, and Dwarf Date Palm. These plants are known for being low maintenance and for keeping allergens in your home at a minimum. Mold could be causing your eyes to itch, twitch, and water. Try leaving the watering to your plants!

 

Snake Plant

 

Why do these plants have such scary names? No, you won’t attract snakes by bringing this plant into your home. It’s so-named because its long leaves have an irregular color that looks vaguely like snakeskin. The snake plant filters out most of the same toxins as the Peace Lily but also knocks out formaldehyde. It might not be as traditionally pretty as the other, but the snake plant has a number of unparalleled benefits.

 

 

What to Do If You Already Have Mold: Call RestoPros

 

You started this search for the best indoor plants because you wanted to freshen up your living space, but could it be that you needed to spruce the place up because you have mold? It’s possible that you have mold without even realizing it, especially if you’re experiencing indoor allergy symptoms and there’s a musty smell in your home that you’re trying to mask with greenery. If you suspect you already have mold in your home, then call the leading mold remediation specialists at RestoPros. You should never try removing mold on your own, as the process can put you in long-lasting danger. Let us come take care of it for you. We’re trained to treat the infected spot and remove mold from your home as carefully and safely as possible.

5 Tips to Lower Indoor Humidity to Prevent Mold

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ips to Lower Indoor Humidity to Prevent Mold

Mold loves moisture. Humidity, then, is like a welcome mat for this dangerous organism. Conversely, controlling or even eliminating your indoor humidity can keep mold at bay, but how, in the hotter seasons, is it possible to do so? Here are 5 tips to lower indoor humidity to prevent mold.

 

1.    Avoid Cooking During High Temperatures

 

Hot pancakes, sizzling bacon, and butter melting on toast—few things satisfy more wholly than a hot breakfast. During the summer, however, it might be better to forgo cooking until nightfall. While the sun is up, there’s greater risk of humidity building in your home. It might not be enough to make you uncomfortable, which makes it all the more dangerous: Building humidity, little by little, over time is the perfect brew for growing mold.

 

2.    Dry Your Clothes at Night

 

In the summertime, your dryer is the second-greatest source of humidity in your home. Thanks to daylight savings, summer days are much longer than winter ones, keeping the sun high in the sky for longer periods and keeping the average temperatures high too. If you dry your clothes during the day, you’re creating a terrarium for mold. Wait until the sun goes down to dry your clothes.

 

3.    Change Your Showering Habits

 

While your dryer takes second place for humidity production in your home, your shower is the unbeaten first place winner: a domesticated waterfall of steaming hot water that temporarily fogs your bathroom mirror but more extensively holds moisture in your home. As with the other suggestions above, you can reduce the humidity in your home by showering at cooler times of the day. However, you can also change your showering habits in a few other ways to decrease humidity levels like turning on the bathroom fan, taking shorter showers, or switching to baths during the summer.

 

4.    Seal Your Windows

 

Your windows are a more surprising source of moisture. If you find condensation droplets on your windows, even if you’re following the above suggestions fairly studiously, then you likely have air leaks in your window sealant. This cultivates humidity by allowing the hot summer air to seep into your air-conditioned home. If you replace the sealant around your windows, then you can reduce moisture and prevent mold.

 

5.    Get a Dehumidifier

 

This thought has likely already crossed your mind, but after reading mixed reviews of effectiveness, you may have let it pass. Or, it’s possible that you already own a dehumidifier but found that it didn’t work as well as you’d hoped. If you’re taking the above tips into account, then a dehumidifier will bring much better results. Add one to your online shopping cart or take it out of storage to make mold feel unwelcome in your home.

 

Found Mold in Your Home? Call RestoPros

 

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, mold still finds its way into our homes, or maybe you’re only reading this article because you’ve discovered mold. These 5 tips to lower indoor humidity to prevent mold will help you moving forward, but they won’t eliminate mold that has already made itself at home in your house. If you’ve found mold, call the mold remediation experts at RestoPros right away.

Long-Term Health Effects of Mold Exposure

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Long-Term Health Effects of Mold Exposure

You know that being around mold isn’t good for you, but you’re not really sure what will happen if you endure mold exposure. If anything, you’re probably more familiar with the short-term effects of mold, typical allergy symptoms like watery eyes and wheezing. However, the longer you experience mold exposure, the more severe your symptoms will be. These are the long-term health effects of mold exposure.

Short-Term Health Effects of Mold Exposure

Just to highlight the more widely known symptoms of mold exposure, here are the short-term negative side effects of mold. These allergy symptoms include the traditional ailments associated with allergies along with a few more severe symptoms.

  • Itchiness
  • Nasal Congestion
  • Runny Nose
  • Watery Eyes
  • Wheezing
  • Coughing
  • Asthmatic Reactions
  • Rash
  • Fatigue
  • Headaches
  • Nausea
  • Vomiting

Long-Term Health Effects of Mold Exposure

The symptoms above don’t just present a mild inconvenience. They can make indoor living insufferable where mold is present. Long-term mold exposure leads to much more serious health conditions like the following.

Lung Bleeding

People with compromised immune systems are particularly impacted by mold exposure. Long-term exposure to those with autoimmune diseases can cause lung issues beyond respiratory troubles. Lung infections can lead to bleeding lungs, which is clearly a very serious medical condition that requires emergency intervention.

Pulmonary Fibrosis

Pulmonary fibrosis can be linked with bleeding lungs since this condition is another way of saying “lung scarring.” However, it’s better to use its proper name, as scarring suggests that a wound once existed and now only leaves behind a mark. Pulmonary fibrosis is an ongoing disease that makes the lungs inflexible and keeps those affected from being able to take deep breaths.

Memory Loss

Aside from the physical side effects of mold exposure, there are also neurological and cognitive side effects. Generally, short-term exposure can lead to feeling lightheaded or confused. Imagine being in that state for a long period of time. Of course your memory would also be impacted because your state of mind during your past experiences was compromised.

Pregnancy Complications

Mold doesn’t just negatively impact your body. It can also affect your unborn child if you’re pregnant. If your body, the metaphorical hospital building for your baby, is compromised, then your baby won’t have a safe place to grow and develop. Babies born from pregnant mothers who endured mold exposure are also more likely to be born with respiratory troubles.

Cancer

The worst long-term side effect of mold is cancer. It’s extremely unlikely to get cancer from mold, but it can happen, especially if someone is around unmanaged black mold for prolonged periods of time. Of course, if mold is visible, then it’s not likely for this to occur at all. However, if mold grows inside the walls, then it might not be obvious that someone is experiencing black mold exposure.

Call RestoPros for Mold Remediation

If you’re experiencing the short-term health effects of mold, call RestoPros for mold removal and remediation right away, before you start to develop the more long-term health effects of mold exposure. Call the number at the top of the screen to reach our office and schedule an appointment today.

Life After Mold: Cleaning Up After Mold Exposure and Future Mold Prevention

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Cleaning Up After Mold Exposure

Mold can lead to vicious allergies and respiratory issues. Cleaning up after you’ve discovered mold can be dangerous to your health for that very reason. It’s important to know how to properly clean up and dispose of mold so you can get back to your normal life. Starting your life after mold also involves taking measures to ensure it doesn’t feel welcome in your home again. Here are the RestoPros tips for cleaning up after mold exposure and enacting future mold prevention.

 

Cleaning Up After Mold Exposure

 

Protect Yourself

 

Once you know there’s mold in your home, it’s important to take measures to protect yourself. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) advises people who will be interacting with mold in any way to wear: a face mask to keep from breathing in the spores, gloves to keep from coming into direct contact with the mold, and safety glasses to protect your eyes.

 

Don’t Cover It – Scrub It

 

Cleaning mold is tougher than you might think. This isn’t like scrubbing the grime out from between your shower tiles. It’s hard work. This may not have been your inclination, but many people, after trying and failing to scrub away the mold, try to simply cover it up with paint or caulking.

 

While this may correct the unsightly appearance, it won’t do much to protect you from mold allergies and respiratory issues. Scrub the mold away as best you can. Take a break if you need to, but then come back until it’s done.

 

Throw Out Porous Material

 

Some parts of your home just won’t be saved. If porous materials have been infected with mold, for example, there’s no amount of scrubbing that will save them. Ceiling tiles, plywood furniture, anything covered in upholstery—throw it out.

 

Hire a Mold Remediation Specialist

 

After attempting to clean the mold yourself, you might find that it’s much, much more difficult than you had imagined. Despite your very best efforts, you’re just not getting all of the mold off of the infected surfaces in your home.

 

Asking for help is not the same as admitting defeat. You’ve done all you can, so now it’s time to let a professional take it from here.

 

Future Mold Prevention

 

Now that you’ve seen what a headache mold can be, you’re probably thinking, “I never want to see another speck of mold again.” While it’s not possible to ban mold from your home for good, there are simple steps you can take to prevent mold from growing in the future.

 

Dehumidifiers

 

Mold loves moisture. Even the limited moisture in humidity is enough to make mold feel welcome in your house. Besides doing your best to prevent home floods (like having your plumbing inspected and protecting your home’s interior from the elements), you can dehumidify your house to keep mold at bay.

 

Start Seasonal Cleaning

 

Our society makes a big deal about spring cleaning, but really, the nooks and crannies need your full attention at least once per season.

 

Nooks include areas of your home you rarely think of, like: your ductwork, your air filters, your water filters, your attic, cabinets that house pipes, and really, any space that attracts moisture.

 

Keep these areas clean, and you’ll avoid mold.

 

Stay Up-to-Date on Mold Prevention Tips

 

Come back to our blog for additional mold prevention tips. If you need help with mold remediation and mold cleanup in the meantime, give us a call.