Have you ever used a chlorine bleach product to kill a big mold stain only to have it grow back weeks or months later? Maybe, after the traditional bleach failed, you went to the grocery store and bought one of those fancy bleach products with mold cleaner in it, but the same thing happened again? How about after using a bleach product, someone in your home got really sick? Or perhaps you’re just Googling ‘Does bleach kill mold,’ before you try it. Either way, you’ve reached the right place!
If you were to Google the question ‘Does bleach kill mold?’ you will see a variety of answers to the age old question. This may be because over the years, the answer to this question has changed. Professionals in the field have found this question difficult to answer, until recently. Recently, both OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has stopped recommending the use of bleach for remediation. Let’s find out why.
So, Does Bleach Kill Mold?
The answer is no, it doesn’t. In fact, bleach is known to do more harm than good when used. It kills what you can see with your eyes but mold is deeper than that. When it grows, it may appear that it is sticking onto the surface of your wall, ceiling, furniture, etc., but it’s roots are actually spread deeply into the surface. According to Clorox’s website, bleach is made to disinfect hard, non-porous surfaces, such as glass, sinks and showers. This means that the bleach solution does not soak into surfaces to kill the roots beneath the surface. Actually, it doesn’t even clean all of the surface mold; instead, it bleaches it until it’s no longer visible. So after a few weeks of using a bleach cleaning solution, roots will likely grow back, the bleached surface mold will regain it’s color and it will re-appear. If spores were spread during the cleanup, or if water from the bleach soaks into the surface(since chlorine bleach is composed mostly of water), it could be worse when it grows back.
Warning: Not only is bleach an ineffective cleaner, it can also carry a load of health related issues with it, especially to those who are immune-compromised.
So, How Do I Get Rid of Mold?
If there’s a large amount of mold involved, it is always recommended to call and speak to an expert. Dealing with mold can be dangerous and can carry a load of health issues, which you can learn more about in our What Can Mold Do To You? and Mold Symptoms blogs. If it is not handled correctly, spores can spread into other parts of the property and cause more active growth. For smaller jobs, I would recommend Moldklear. Unlike most cleaning products, Moldklear doesn’t contain any bleach and is 100% organic, so it’s safe for both human and pets. Contact us to learn more about Moldklear. The secret to making sure that it doesn’t grow back is to first resolve the moisture problem that is causing active growth.