Mold and his annoying little brother Mildew are not the most fun subjects to blog about, but mold vs mildew is an important topic that we run up against quite often with our maid service clients here in Austin, Texas.
Mold and mildew are common problems in areas that are damp – bathrooms are the most common areas that we see when we provide maid service to our
Austin clients. However, many people are unsure what they have in the shower and they ask “What is the difference between mold and mildew?”
Well, one is typically more damaging to your health and home and is harder to get rid of. MOLD!
In our terms of service one of the points we make very clearly is:
WE DO NOT CLEAN MOLD. No exceptions.
For health reasons, we do not expect our cleaners to expose themselves to what is potentially a dangerous toxin. The same reason we use vinegar and baking soda rather than commercial brand cleaners – they contain toxins!
Mold can cause
all sorts of health problems not to mention damage to your home and needs to be removed as soon as possible. We recommend that you hire a professional mold removal service to take care of your mold problem – after which your favorite
maid service austin can come on a regular basis and make sure it never returns! If you do decide to tackle it yourself, which we DO NOT recommend, we would hope that you would take proper precautions and wear a professional grade respirator along with a full on haz mat suit.
MILDEW, on the other hand, is not such a big deal and we can totally clean that for you during your Austin maid service! Regular cleaning will prevent mildew from ever making an appearance. We love cleaning your Austin home once a week, but every two weeks is ok too so long as you are wiping your shower walls dry! Mildew and mold both thrive in moist, damp environments. If you take away the moist, you take away the environment that mold and mildew need to grow!
So, how do you know if you have mold or mildew?
MOLD
– Fuzzy!
– It can be many different colors, including blue, green, yellow, brown, gray, black, or white.
– can cause a variety of health problems, ranging from mild to serious
MILDEW
– Flat pattern – either powdery or downy.
– Powdery mildew usually starts out white and may later turn yellow, brown, or black.
– Downy mildew usually starts out yellow and later turns brown.
– Mildew can also cause health problems and trigger adverse reactions, but generally are not as severe as those caused by mold.
How do you clean Mold and Mildew?
With our tried and true favorite! VINEGAR does a fabulous job cleaning and preventing these terrible enemies. Vinegar is acidic, it does a good job cleaning the area and the acidity discourages future growth. Once a week treatment is recommended, along with keeping your bathroom area and shower walls dry! Our cleaners that we make in house also contain hydrogen peroxide and some other mild ingredients to help sanitize your bathroom walls.
Vodka is another cleaner you can try! Not drinking it, sorry. Scrubbing your walls with it!
Good luck with your mold and mildew – and remember, when in doubt CALL A PROFESSIONAL MOLD REMOVAL SERVICE – and ask them if they can remove it without chemicals. You wouldn’t want to replace one dangerous toxin with another!
Happy Cleaning!
