Mold leaves stubborn stains on various surfaces in our house, but most people do not know they are also harmful to human health. Is there any DIY way to deal with the molds?
Can you put baking soda on the mold? This article will explain everything related to the uses of baking soda on molds.
Can you put baking soda on mold?
Baking soda is the most compelling element of your kitchen in removing molds. It does not only destroy the mold colony. It removes the bad smells and stains that come with the mold. However, there are numerous mold species, and baking powder may not work on all.
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Baking powders have excellent cleaning power. It can remove most types of stains from different surfaces of our house.
Almost everyone knows it, but most people do not know that baking can work as an excellent fungicide. (mold is basically a type of microscopic fungus)
How good is baking soda for cleaning off the molds? How well does it work on them? Let’s dive deep into the topic.
Baking powder can absorb water from anything. If you apply enough baking powder on a wet surface, the baking powder will leave no water there. So, what’s the relation between absorbing water and controlling mold?
Well, the fact is every living thing needs water to live, and when you remove the water source from it, that will make the condition unlivable. However, it is not the only way baking soda removes molds.
Baking soda disturbs the ion balance of mold cells, which is fatal for the mold species. That happens for most of the mold species, although some of the mold species may have resistance to the ion imbalance.
If we look into the essential characteristics of mold, we will find similarities in most species that need acetic conditions. Most of the mold species can thrive in PH 4-6.
Baking soda PH is 8-9, which helps to remove them from a surface. However, some mold species can live in alkyl conditions. Molds that can live in alkyl conditions will be hard to remove with baking soda.
Roughly 80% of mold species can thrive in acetic environments, and baking soda can easily remove them. Other 20% of mold species like or can live in an alkyl condition.
Therefore, you can not remove all types of molds with baking soda. But the high success rate and easy availability make it suitable for mold cure.
Baking powder also does an excellent job of protecting something from mold infestation. Supposedly, you want to protect something from molds. You can use baking soda spray to keep the molds away from the stuff.
You may want to add protection against the mold when one part of your house is infested, and you worry it will invade other parts too.
However, mold prevention and curing are not as easy as it sounds. Molds infest many types of objects and surfaces. It’s easier to get rid of molds from a flat surface.
When they invade the surfaces with tiny pores, they spread their roots inside the pores, making it hard to control them.
Woods and some types of walls have tiny pores, and you may be unable to remove them easily using baking powder. Baking powder paste does a better job on them.
Why should you not ignore the mold infestation in your house? Mold can be pretty dangerous for health. When mold matures, they bloom and spread spores that can grow new mold colonies. Molds spread trillions of spores from an infestation area.
The spores often contain toxic elements, and when you stay in a mold infestation room, you are continuously inhaling the poisonous spores. You can have allergies, eye issues, runny nose, fatigue, headache, etching, etc. If you live around the molds for a longer time, it can cause more complicated health issues.
Check out if you can remove molds from those surfaces using baking soda.
Moldy carpet:
Molds of carpet can be treated with baking powder. Pour baking powder on the carpet and leave the carpet overnight. It will allow the baking powder to absorb all the water from the carpet.
Then pour water and vinegar over the carpet and scrub with a brush. This is how you can clean moldy carpets.
Moldy clothes:
Baking powder helps to clean moldy clothes too. You can soak the clothes in baking powder solution overnight and wash the clothes in the morning. Use 4 spoons of baking soda for one gallon of water.
Moldy grout:
Grout is one of the common places where mold infests. They make the drought looks unappealing and also unhealthy. Generally, the grouts of our bathroom and kitchen get affected by molds.
You can use baking powder to clean them. Make a 1:1 paste of water and baking soda. Use the baking soda in the grout. After some hours, apply water and a hard brush to scrub the grout. It should make the grouts clean as new.
Moldy plants:
Baking soda is not harmful to plants. It will help the plants to get rid of the mold. Mix 2 spoons of baking soda and one gallon of water. Spray the solution in the plants to get rid of moldy plants.
Moldy soil:
You can treat moldy soil with baking soda, but remember that baking soda is alkyl and will make the soil more alkyl. So use a little baking powder and plant trees that can live in alkyl soil.
Moldy wood:
Moldy wood is hard to treat with baking powder. As we know, wood is porous, and molds can spread its root deep inside the pores. However, baking soda frequently on moldy wood may permanently remove the mold.
Moldy mattress:
You can use baking soda to cure moldy mattresses. Follow the carpet cleaning technique mentioned above to eliminate the moldy mattress.
Moldy walls:
It’s easy to remove the molds from moldy walls, but sometimes they permanently damage the wall paint, so you may need to recolor it.
How does baking soda get rid of mold or moldy smell?
Baking soda has three ways to remove molds from any surface. When you apply dry baking soda to mold colonies, it absorbs the last molecule of water from the colony, which helps to remove the molds.
Baking powder and water solutions make the environment alkyl for the molds, which helps to remove them. Baking soda also disturbs mold’s ion balance, making them easy to clean.
How long should you leave baking soda on molds?
For heavy infestation, you should leave baking powder paste or solution overnight. For light infestation, one to two hours is enough. It also depends on the surface.
You must leave baking soda on a porous surface for a long time. The application process of baking soda can vary in different situations.
How to use baking soda for mold?
There are different techniques of using baking soda in various types of mold infestation. Check out some of the major ways you can use baking soda to remove mold infestation.
The basic solution:
Want to make a solution to clean mold infestation? This solution will work for most types of infestation.
Take 4 spoons of baking soda in one gallon of water. Apply the spray to a different surface that does not have a chance of damage from an alkyl product.
For plants:
Plants are living things. So, you cannot use a high volume of baking soda solution for them. Mix one spoon of baking soda in one gallon of water. If the infestation is heavy, use two spoons in the solution.
For porous surface:
Grout and similar surfaces can have mold infestation that is hard to cure. To clean them effectively, you can use one part of water and one part of baking powder pest. The higher concentration of baking powder will deeply remove the mold.
Powder form:
You can also use the powder form to clean a mold surface. First, spread baking soda powder on a surface overnight, then apply some water and wait a few hours. After that, clean the colonies with a brush.
Final thoughts
Baking soda is a convenient way to clean mold infestation. It’s pretty effective, non-toxic, and readily available in our kitchens. It also does an excellent job of removing mold colonies’ bad smells and stubborn stains. However, some types of mold can be resistant to baking powder.