It is extremely important to clean moldy carpets since apart from affecting the outlook of the carpet; mold causes serious health hazards for the inhabitants of the building. Therefore, while it is always advised to take preventive measures for keeping the carpets clean, it is also pertinent to perform a cleaning process in order to kill off the already grown mold. However, it is important that either the help of a professional be sought for performing the cleaning process or someone who is not allergic to mold performs it. Since mold can trigger an allergic response resulting in health complications, a non-allergic person should clean moldy carpets.
It is also advisable to perform a complete mold test in the home in order to determine all the places where the mold has grown since only cleaning the carpet is not enough. Mold growing in other parts of the home and especially in the HVAC system will spread shortly after few says of the cleaning process.
Testing the Presence of Mold in Homes and Commercial Buildings
Before starting the cleaning process, it is recommended to perform a test to detect the presence of mold in the buildings. Today, you can find kits in the market, which can be used to test the presence of mold.
In order to check the presence of mold you can perform the following steps:
- Take a test kit from the market and protect yourself as recommended.
- There will be tape in the kit, which is used to take a sample.
- Cover the areas with tape where the presence of mold is suspected.
- Now, put the tape in a sample box and send it to the laboratory.
- Clearly mark, which parts of the home correspond to which sample box.
- When the test results are received, the presence of mold will be determined.
There is a system available in the market, which also tests the presence of mold in the air.
The process to Clean Moldy Carpets
In order to clean moldy carpets, you first need to take the precautionary measures. Some of the precautionary measures include covering your eyes, mouth, and hands. The byproducts of mold are usually toxic and they can attack even a healthy person. It is extremely important to cover your mouth so that the mold particles do not enter.
Cleaning the Moldy Carpets
In order to clean the moldy carpets, a detergent will be required to kill off the mold. Followings steps will guide in the process to clean moldy carpets:
- Get the moldy carpets outside and let them dry for some time.
- Now, vacuum clean the carpets to remove the dust particles.
- Once the general cleaning has been performed, pour the hot water on the carpet. Water should be heated to an optimum level so that it does not damage the carpets.
- Now, apply the detergent on the carpet. A shampoo or Lysol solution is usually used for this purpose.
- With the help of a scrubber, apply the detergent on all parts.
- Clean the carpets with hot water again.
- Now, dry the carpets so that no moisture is left behind.