How to destroy mold?

June 21, 2009 10:11 AM

Help me stop the mold! I live on the damp Oregon coast. My wood-lined bedroom closet is moldy. Consequently, items I store there are also afflicted with mold (such as my photo albums and artbooks and clothing), and it has an unsavory odor. I try to keep it dry with a dehumidifier.

In the past I've cleaned the walls and baseboard with a solution of vinegar and water in order to discourage the mold. Does anyone have another remedy for mold?

posted by partner to home & garden (10 comments total)

Try diluted bleach on the wood. I've used it on furniture our basement before we water-proofed.
posted by bonobothegreat at 10:32 AM on June 21, 2009

Tea Tree oil and bleach will kill mold and Tea Tree oil is said to supress it. This article is somewhat useful, although I haven't found grapefruit seed extract to actually kill mold.

You could also try some higher acetic acid concentration vinegar - it's sold at plant stores as a weed killer.

Moving air is the enemy of mold, so if you could possibly put a small fan in the closet, that might help. If the closet has carpet, can you rip that up?

The thing to remember is that anything that will kill mold will not be the most gentle thing for wood or gypsum board or whatever the closet walls are made of.

If you are really hard core, you might consider a light sanding of the wood-lined closet. If it's unfinished wood, you might be able to get down to some "fresher" wood that still has some mold-fighting properties.

Good luck. I hate mold.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 10:39 AM on June 21, 2009

If you were to sand it as Lesser Shrew mentions I'd make sure you had a good mask on. It might not be the best idea because of getting the spores in the air.

I don't know what I'm talking about though.
posted by sully75 at 11:08 AM on June 21, 2009

I'm wondering what's behind the wood. You might need to take out the wood paneling and treat whatever's behind it (which might be so damp it needs to be replaced). Good luck.
posted by amtho at 11:29 AM on June 21, 2009

I'm with amtho, this sounds like more then a damp air problem.

Ambient moisture from the air is seldom enough to get some good mold growing without moisture coming from somewhere else. Finding out where that moisture is coming from is going to be a key to solving your problem. If this closet is along an exterior wall, then look for places where moisture might be entering your house either at ground level or up at the roof level. If it's an interior wall, the problem might be with plumbing or possibly with the roof over the closet. In a basement situation problems can sometimes be solved by improving the way that water drains away from the house.

I'm not from a super damp climate, so I guess it's barely possible that if your humidity is near 100% all the time you might get mold from moisture in the air, but if this problem is due to moisture entering your house from the outside, you definitely want to get it looked at by a professional. Water coming in to your house can cause all kinds of problems with the structure, including corrosion of wires and decomposition of wood.
posted by jefeweiss at 12:35 PM on June 21, 2009

What jefeweiss. Find the source of the dampness or the problem will never go away.

Also, get your photos out of there immediately and start digitizing them. Hopefully they aren't irreparably damaged. I wouldn't store anything else in that closet until the mold issue is eliminated, otherwise you risk further contamination.
posted by LuckySeven~ at 1:48 PM on June 21, 2009

Ditto the suggestions to find the source of the moisture. You should also have a vapor barrier in the walls and ceiling.

I had a mold/mildew problem in one of my closets (in the whole house, really, but especially bad in that closet) caused by moisture entering from a leaky roof. A new roof solved a lot of the problem. Putting a moisture barrier in the crawlspace (aka a vapor barrier, 6 mil plastic sheets on the ground) also helped.

My next project is getting louvered doors on the closets, laundry room and pantry for a added ventilation.
posted by Majorita at 2:15 PM on June 21, 2009

in the meantime as a stopgap measure, you might want to try damp rid. it doesn't solve the problem, but it does help.
posted by msconduct at 3:14 PM on June 21, 2009

i second misconduct with regards to damp rid. I have used it and it really works. it doesn't solve the problem but it helps in the interim
posted by trinigirl at 4:34 PM on June 21, 2009

instead of a dehumidifier, maybe use a heater to keep the damp at bay? My SO used to live in the tropics, and they used heaters in the closets to keep mold from ruining everything.
posted by defcom1 at 6:02 PM on June 21, 2009