Your Belongings and Mold Damage

10/24/2023 (Permalink)

SERVPRO® of Jacksonville Beach/Ponte Vedra advises what to do if you see mold or mildew in your home.

Mold in your home is at best a nuisance and at worst a serious health risk. If you suspect that you have mold in your house, you could look for some of these signs:

• Rotten smell
• Spots on your clothes or other belongings
• Contaminated carpets
• Allergy flare-ups
• Fungus on the furniture
• Warped walls
• A musty smell coming from your air conditioning unit

If you see any of these signs, it’s best to turn to a professional mold remediation company. They can identify the source of the mold and remove it or encapsulate it from walls, floors, or other surfaces. When they’re finished, you might not see or smell any more mold on clothing, books, or other contents of your home, but your personal belongings may be contaminated with mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are tiny mold spores that can be hazardous to your health and the health of your loved ones so what should you do?

Throwing everything out is one solution, but it’s not very practical, so what DO you do? At the very least, everything should be thoroughly cleaned and sanitized, but can you clean the mold from your things?  The answer to that question is, it depends.

What to Keep and What to Pitch

Non-porous Belongings

In most cases, it’s ok to hang on to most of your non-porous items if they’ve been thoroughly cleaned. This would include items such as glassware, metal furniture, dishes, pots, pans, or anything made of glass. However, some non-porous items should also probably go, not because their surfaces are porous, but because they may have areas or components where mycotoxins can find a hiding place. Examples would be the cooling fan on your laptop or the coils in your refrigerator or laundry equipment.

Porous Items

Cleaning is not able to fully remediate porous items, things such as wood furniture, backpacks, suitcases, upholstered furniture, pillows, stuffed animals, rugs, or anything made of cloth that can’t go into the washing machine. To be on the safe side, you should probably get rid of any porous items you may have. This would include anything made of wood, books, papers, laptop computers, backpacks, suitcases, or more.

Ask the Experts

If you suspect that you have mold in your home, you may still have lingering questions, and the best place to have those questions answered is SERVPRO of Jacksonville Beach/Ponte Vedra. For over 40 years, SERVPRO of Jacksonville Beach/Ponte Vedra has been the trusted leader in the restoration industry. We are experts in repairing water damage for residents in the area of Jacksonville and the St Johns County beaches. We have a team of highly trained technicians that are dedicated to responding quickly to any size disaster. We provide 24-hour emergency services and have the training and expertise to handle your restoration and cleaning needs.

For additional information about our company, visit our website or call us at 904-246-6118.