Cleansing Molded Fabrics

When we clean out our closets sometimes we run across an old piece of clothing that has a somewhat fuzzy material all over it. Finding something like this in your closet is probably not a good thing and if you picked it up, the thing that you need to do is to put it back down and go wash your hands with some antimicrobial soap. This piece of clothing was probably contaminated with mold and touching mold spores with your bare hands is not advised, since it can cause allergic reactions in some individuals.

Most pieces of clothing that become molded can be cleansed and the mold gotten rid of, but it usually ends up leaving some kind of stain behind. If you are having to clean mold off of white fabric, then you can probably try to use bleach to remove the stain with. Unfortunately, killing the mold with bleach usually does not work very well. Borax laundry detergent should kill the mold effectively after you have removed the majority of the growth with a brush of some kind. An old toothbrush can be used to do this with. Put a pre-wash stain remover on the fabric and let it soak around 45 minutes before you put it in the washer. Wash these items at least twice, but refrain from using an artificial heat source to dry them out. Instead, take them outside and air them out there. Putting the clothes in the dryer can set the stain further into the fabric and you will have a harder time making sure that it comes out completely.

Unfortunately, if you have an item that is made of real leather and it was covered with mold, it can probably not be saved. These things get discolored pretty easily and mold tends to do a number on this kind of organic material, because mold’s job in nature is to decompose it.

Upholstery and curtains that come into contact with mold colonies can be cleaned with the same method used on clothing. You can use a vacuum with a HEPA filter on it to collect all the mold off of your furniture and curtains and this will give you the peace of mind that the mold spores are not being put back into your air after they are collected by the vacuum. Be careful when you are emptying the container in the vacuum, however, and try your best not to stir up the spores. It is best to do this outside.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of quality
water damage restoration companies and
Dallas Residential Water Damage Restoration Contractors.