Blog: Mould: How can you protect your home and family?
Mould can have a devastating effect on both your home and the people you care about most. There are a few simple things you can do now to help prevent mould building in your home.
Causes of Mould
Mould is formed when excessive moisture is present, this generally happens in areas that aren’t well-ventilated as the moisture built up can’t escape and is absorbed into fabrics and walls allowing the fungus to grow.
Mould can also form after floods, pipe leaks and other issues causing an excessive amount of moisture to be in an area for prolonged periods of time.
Dangers of Mould
According to the NHS, mould produces allergens that can cause irritation, coughing, runny nose and skin rashes. They can also cause asthma attacks and some forms of black mould can cause a fatal condition acute idiopathic pulmonary haemorrhage in infants.
How to Spot Mould
Mould on your walls is generally easy to spot, it will be green/black and look slimy and fuzzy. It can also come with a pretty nasty odour, so if your home is starting to have a damp smell it could be mould. Mould likes to grow in porous materials, your furniture like sofas and beds are perfect for this so check mould isn’t growing there.
As we discussed earlier, mould can cause some health problems, so if you have a cough that won’t go away and you don’t know the cause, there’s a good chance it could be due to mould. Make sure to check any areas that are likely to be wet, such as by boilers. These tend to be in hard-to-reach areas and thus a leak may be easily missed if it’s just a small one, but even a small leak can cause dampness and thus mould.
Preventing Mould
Mould forms in the presence of excessive moisture that can’t escape. Thus, controlling the humidity in the home is the easiest way to reduce the risk of mould forming. Keeping the home well-ventilated is the easiest way to do this, having windows open for example helps with this. In the winter months though, this might not be your ideal option. A dehumidifier can help with this.
As the name would suggest, a dehumidifier controls the humidity of an area, you can read more about dehumidifiers and how they work in our blog. Using a dehumidifier can be game-changing to help prevent mould
