Mold’s Favorite Hiding Spots: The Living Room

Welcome back to Disaster Response’s blog! Lately, we have been covering the topic of mold and the places that mold loves to creep into our homes and thrive. In the first blog of our series, we began talking about how mold can take up residence in our bathrooms due to humidity, the ampel dampness, and sometimes a leaky pipe or sink. Secondly, we covered the places where mold likes to grow in our kitchen due, again to humidity, dampness, darkness, and old food. In our last blog post, we talked about the frightening reality that mold could grow in our bedrooms and more specifically our mattress, ducts, and windows. Today, we are going to tell how mold can be an invisible and an unwelcome guest in our living rooms.

Couch & Curtains

Mold loves to grow in damp fabric like our curtains and our couches. These areas can often become moist due to our home’s excess humidity, the spills that occur, and leaky windows. If you’re enjoying some couch time and notice a musty, foul smell—and the dog has recently been bathed—then you may have a moldy couch or some nasty moldy curtains. If you think mold may have come to visit and stay, then start investigating where the mold is and get rid of it.   

Indoor Plants

Indoor plants are lovely. They not only add some greenery and natural elements to your home but they also are natural air purifiers. Unfortunately though, plants can also be sources of mold. Mold can grow in plants that are over-watered or mold can grow in potted plant dishes that are perpetually damp. Keeping a close eye on the humidity of your home and avoiding over-watering your plants can help you avoid mold.

Fireplace & Chimney

Yes! Mold can grow in your fireplace and chimney. It may seem counterintuitive for mold to grow in the place known for heat and fire, but the chimney and fireplace make excellent homes for mold when it isn’t used much. These places are cool, dark, and damp which makes an excellent place for mold to lay down roots and flourish, especially in porous brick.

How to Make Mold an Uninvited Guest in Your Living Room

Though there may be some debate as to how much humidity is comfortable, having a humidity level of 40-50 percent is optimal with lower percentages sometimes being desirable in the winter months. Employing a dehumidifier can be a great way to make sure that humidity levels stay at a reasonable rate. In addition to a dehumidifier, here are some ways to keep mold from coming to visit and staying like crazy Uncle Eddy.

• Keep your couches and curtains clean and be sure to clean up and dry messy, wet accidents.
• Hire a professional to clean your chimney and fireplace regularly.

Mold should never be a house guest and there are ways to keep it at bay. However, depending on the humidity levels and other aspects of your house, you may have to be proactive to keep mold out of your home and out of your life.

If you have recently discovered that you have a mold problem or suspect that you do, contact Disaster Response! We offer mold testing and mold removal to residents and businesses. We have someone to take your call day or night so we can get started on eradicating the mold living in your home as soon as possible. Our mold remediation specialists, are trained professionals with extensive experience and can help you when dealing with the insurance company. Whenever you are dealing with a mold infestation or the aftermath of a flood, you can trust that the professionals at Disaster Response will be here for you. Visit our website to learn more.