Moldy carpets are a challenge to clean. Not only does mold eats away the fibers of the carpet, it is also very difficult to dislodge. To make matters worse, having mold in your carpet can cause numerous health problems including throat or eye irritations, stuffy nose, wheezing, and even allergic reactions and lung complications.
If you think your carpet has mold, you will want to deal with it immediately. Putting it off at a later time will only cost you more money for having to replace it with a new one, or hire a professional to kill the mold.
Before attempting to deal with moldy carpets, make sure to fix the source of the mold problem first. Otherwise, it will just keep on reoccurring.
Take Precautions
Put on protective clothing, face mask, and goggles when working with mold. We all know how harmful mold can be when inhaled or came in contact with, so it is only right to use protection against it when attempting to remove it. Make sure that the toxins or spores does not get on your skin and avoid breathing them in by using rubber gloves and wearing safety goggles and a respirator.
Test for Mold
Test not just your carpet, but your entire home to ensure that the mold has not spread anywhere else. Cleaning just your carpet, when mold is present in the HVAC system or other parts of your home is a waste of your time as it will just keep on reoccurring.
You can hire a professional to do a thorough mold test in your home. However, if budget is an issue, there are a couple of ways to do the test yourself. Mold test kits can be purchased in stores. These kits contain tapes that are placed on surfaces, and then are sent to a lab to be checked for mold. There are also certain types of kits that let you examine the air indoors to confirm if the HVAC system has mold. The air test is pricey but still less expensive than hiring a mold inspector to do the testing.
Clean the Carpet
Mold in the carpet, if caught early, may possible be salvaged. But, generally, mold-infested carpets should be pulled up and sealed in a plastic bag for safe disposal. If mold has just started to build up, here are a few tips on how to remove mold from carpets.
- Take the carpet out and leave it under the sun to dry out for about 48 hours. Otherwise, just keep a fan running to dry the carpet.
- Sweep mold debris from the front and back of the carpet with a stiff brush. Check for mold beneath the carpet, and vacuum that area, as well.
- Kill the mold by spraying a cleaning solution to the carpet and letting it sit for 20 minutes before vacuuming the dirt.
- Apply an anti-mold spray to the carpet and let it dry.
- Continue to run the dehumidifier for a few days or until the carpet is dry and the residual spores are gone.
