The 7 best tips against mold in the household
Small spurs, big problem: In many households, the residents are struggling with unpleasant subtenants. There is talk of mold. They are not only annoying, but also harmful to health. But how do you avoid them? Below I give tips on how to make your apartment for the nasty mushrooms as unattractive as possible.
Tip 1: Ventilate properly
Whether it's showering, drying clothes, cooking, or just sweating and breathing: the household is getting wet every day. The must by regular airing back out to health-threatening mold to provide no breeding ground. Because mold always grows where there is enough moisture.
For the necessary air exchange, I worry with scorching. Experts recommend opening the windows in the house two to four times a day for about five to ten minutes so that the damp interior can be replaced by dry outside air. The best way to open the windows of opposite rooms at the same time and leave the room doors open? this creates effective passage. Continuous ventilation with tilted windows is counterproductive. The air exchange takes place only minimally and instead cools the apartment, especially in winter unnecessarily.
On warm summer days, it is best to ventilate at night, when the air has cooled outside.
Tip 2: Sufficient heating
Switching off the heating completely in the morning and turning it up again in the evening is a popular strategy among working people to save energy costs. they are out of the house anyway during the day anyway. But it is precisely these strong temperature differences favor mold. When heating the cooled apartment, condensation inevitably forms on the cold walls? and that's exactly what the gray horse likes.
If you want to avoid mold, you should never let your apartment cool down completely. Instead, especially in winter and in the transitional period: heat every living space continuously? ideal are temperatures between 18 and 20 degrees Celsius. In the bedroom it may also be one, two degrees less.
Tip 3: Danger in the bathroom
Especially in the bathroom mold fungi have good chances. Here is the daily showering and bathing particularly moisture and especially the mass in the joints offers the mold many points of attack. In addition to proper airing and heating, these two tips will help make it hard for the mushrooms: First, it is advisable to remove water droplets on the walls with a rubber puller and wipe them into the drain. This leaves less water in the room, which can humidify the air.
On the other hand, the joints can be filled with a special silicone compound containing fungicidal active ingredients. The preventive effect, however, does not last for eternity: According to eco-test, the anti-mold chemicals wash out with time.
Tip 4: Furniture away from the wall
Accurately put the sofa in the corner and put the closet as close to the wall as possible? Such perfectionism in interior design may encourage the proliferation of molds under certain circumstances. If furniture is so close to the wall that air circulation behind it becomes practically impossible, a moist, warm paradise of molds can easily be created there. Even behind murals, mold can form faster for this reason.
Therefore: Always keep a distance. For images there are spacers for this purpose in the trade. But you can also make yourself good ones? for example, from cork slices. By the way, the distance rule not only affects the wall but also the floor. Beds or sofas with feet are better than those without ventilation.
Tip 5: Store food properly
Mold on food is especially nasty. The greenish-white fluff makes food inedible and quickly spreads to fruit, bread & Co. However, when shopping, I can minimize the risk of mold attack: I buy fresh, sensitive food only in small quantities, which I can consume quickly. Especially with fruits and vegetables, I also make sure that it is free of bruises and injuries.
Home: All food should be stored clean and dry. Easily perishable belongs in the fridge and bread should be packed airy? best in a bread box. In addition, the refrigerator and all storage containers should be cleaned regularly with vinegar water. If infestation still occurs, the affected food must be disposed of immediately. Otherwise, the mold may change over to other foods.
Tip 6: Provide a good climate in the flower pot
Not only in the fruit basket, even on the ground in the flower pot often forms unpleasant mold. I can avoid that with the right care. Experts advise to put indoor plants in high-quality soil without peat. Because peat has the property to store a lot of water and therefore favors the formation of mold.
In order to prevent water from accumulating in the pot, an adequate casting behavior is important.In other words, it is better to pour small amounts of water than to flood every few weeks. Water that collects in the planter should be poured off. A layer of gravel, potsherds or expanded clay at the bottom of the flower pot promotes good water drainage.
In addition, the ventilation also plays a role in the flower pot: I can loosen up the earth on the surface, for example, with a fork or a small rake to provide better air permeability. Additives such as sand or coconut fibers, which are mixed under the earth, also have a relaxing effect. Finally, indoor plants should always be in a sufficiently bright place.
Tip 7: Mold down
You have all the tips heeded, but now a mold problem? Then only helps to go to the poisonous mushrooms with suitable means to the collar. Stiftung Warentest recommends that consumers first try effective household remedies. Particularly effective are therefore isopropyl alcohol or methylated spirits. These should? possibly diluted? be sprayed on affected areas and act for about 30 minutes. After the exposure time, the fabrics are wiped with paper towels and the cloths immediately put in a plastic bag and disposed of in the trash.
Because the substances evaporate relatively quickly, they should be applied several times to be able to combat the mold sustainably. The advantage of home remedies: they evaporate without leaving any residue. And: They are cheap.
Even with more expensive mold removers from the trade, the mold can be well combated. The manufacturers offer among other things sprays with ethanol and hydrogen peroxide. In the long term, according to the testers, anti-mold colors and color additives can also help on the walls.
