If your nose becomes runny at random parts of the day, and you find that your family is becoming more and more susceptible to common respiratory illnesses like colds, coughs, and sinusitis, but your doctor cannot put a finger on the exact cause, you may have a mold allergy to deal with. Medications for allergies may help clear the symptoms, but if your home is infested with mold, you are not exactly getting rid of the same toxic particles that may cause more severe and fatal health concerns later on. Besides, it can be pretty taxing to keep returning to the doctor for a prescription.
So, there really are ways you can go about getting the perfect mold allergy treatment plan, which is cleaning up your entire home. Here are the things you can do to make sure you protect your family from diseases caused by molds. Here are some suggestions:
1. Get rid of everything old. Old means that it has probably been kept too long in a corner or the basement storage and forgotten about. You don't really need them, so de-clutter all areas in your home. Places where a lot of mold can grow are libraries, cabinets under the sink, storage areas, basement and the attic. These places get very little sunlight, and dampness may occur due to climate, so they're the perfect breeding ground for mold.
2. Trash old books. You may not believe this, but flip through some really old books, and you will see tiny brown to black spots. These are molds. They take advantage of the cellulose in paper, because it serves as nutrients for them.
3. Hold off on organic fruits and veggies. It's a pain, especially when you're committed to living healthy. But here's the truth about non-organic fruits and vegetables. They have been treated with pesticides and fungicides, so they are less susceptible to fungi like mold. Remember, you aren't really sure where the molds are coming from. They have roots too tiny to be seen by the naked eye. You can go back to organic products when you and your family have resolved the mold allergy issues.
4. Inspect your hardwood floors for dark spots. If they weren't there before, they are probably mold. Molds thrive on materials that have carbohydrate material, like wood. If you have mold issues on your hardwood floor, there's a major possibility that there are also molds growing within the walls that surround these floors. Hire a contractor to open up these walls, clean and bleach them, and patch them back up. This may cost a little, but is nothing compared to your health if you ignore the mold infestation within the walls.
5. Clean your kitchen and bathroom tiles with bleach. Scrub, scrub, scrub away! Be sure to get into those little spaces between tiles. The black soil-like matter you see there are actually molds.
6. Get rid of drapes in your rooms. When it rains, moisture can accumulate on the windows, and can be absorbed by these drapes. Because they may not be exposed to direct sunlight, drapes or curtains can be the perfect thriving place of molds too. Replace these drapes with shades, or Venetian blinds.
7. Replace damp rugs in the bathroom and in other parts of the house regularly.
8. Hang towels to dry in the sunlight after using them after shower.
9. Reposition steaming appliances where the windows are. For instance, crock pots are better used where moisture can escape instead of accumulating on walls and ceilings.
10. Finally, inspect your sofas, mattresses and furniture for mold. Have them bleached and upholstered, or if the molds are too much, consider replacing them.
