It's been raining a lot lately, not quite the most rain our gorgeous country has ever seen (no according to the records, that was in the 50s) but I tell you what, we are pretty close. While it's the best time to make coffee, grab biscuits, watch movies, read books, and do a lot of stuff in the comfort of your home, this is also the time when we should be keeping an eye out for the possible growth of black mould in our homes!

A woman on Facebook shared how she was surprised to see mould in places she never expected it to grow.

Everything looks fine until you pull the bed out from the wall. Source: Facebook​

“Unknowingly, every night we've been sleeping with this mould above our heads - wondering why we have headaches, sinus issues and more,” she said in shock.

“If anyone in your family is allergic to mould like us, please check behind photo frames, inside your wardrobes, underneath your beds, and in drawers as we found some items also covered in mould. Jackets, boots, and bags... Just check everything!” she added.

Mould, which is black in colour, can often be found in places that are humid or have high moisture levels. It can grow on walls, ceilings, floors, and anywhere else where there is moisture.

“I found mould in my car today. I also found mould under my son's mattress and three bookshelves, shoes, and clothes. Tomorrow I’ll be looking behind my bedhead because my bedroom smells musty and mouldy.” another user wrote.

The story stirred people up to the point where everyone was sharing their own experiences of finding black mould in odd places around their homes.

“It's on my couches, carpet, majority of our furniture, outside in our carport, all 3 bedrooms carpet, on my bed, my kids' mattresses (threw them out), in our wardrobe, my drawers, my kids' wardrobes, found it on my son's mattress as well (threw that out too).”

“It's everywhere and it's relentless. We've tried so much – had half our carpet ripped up and living off of concrete flooring until we can get it relayed.” a third commented.

“I have mould badly. We have had to throw out my daughter's bed, bedside tables in my room, mould in the main room, in my backroom and I have a leak in the roof. I found mould on my lounge room ceiling today and along with our window seals… It's terrible”.

Nearly-empty shelf for mould-killer products. Source: incendiary_bandit/Reddit​

These unlikely incidents led people to rush to their local stores to panic-buy a popular product that is known for killing mould. However, the shelves with the popular mould killing product are nearly-empty everywhere you go, and that says a lot about how mould is really making a mess of our households.

“After all this rain everyone will be after that midge and mosquito-killing spray again but I bought one in advance last week.” said in a comment.

Since people are too desperate now to secure a mould killer spray, mycologist, Heike Neumeister-Kemp, who studies fungi for a living, said that bleach and harsh chemicals are the ones acting worst in removing the toxic growths in our home.

“The fungi contains melanin and the bleach just takes the colour out, but the fungi is still there, you are just masking it,” she told the ABC.

“Six weeks later it appears to come back but it was never gone.” she added.

So, one of the best ways to remove mould in your home is by mixing 80% vinegar and 20% water, and putting the mixture in three buckets. Afterwards, dip a microfibre cloth into the first bucket and clean a patch of mould. Rinse the cloth in the second bucket, then rinse it again in the third until all the mould is cleaned off.

This works according to Mrs Kemp since vinegar attacks the fungi 'mechanically'.

“So it actually, via osmosis, penetrates into the structure and explodes it, so you actually kill the fungi.” she explained.

But safety first, a reminder from Ricky's Cleaning Services as they told the Daily Mail Australia ''You need to wear gloves and a face mask to remove it.”

Prevention has always been better than cure as they always say. That's ultimately why we need to control the humidity in our home to avoid mould from building up and messing around with our favourite clothes, shoes, furniture, books, and whatnot.

Want to learn a simple way to prevent mould from growing? Here's another great read that you can check out.

So there you have it, the possible dangers of black mould in your home and how to get rid of it! Be sure to stay safe and always keep an eye out for mould!

What do you think about the article? Do you also have a horrible experience finding mould in your home? Share it with us in the comment section below!

 

[Cheb]

If it is just a reasonably small area of mould, you could try using a few drops of, Oil Of Cloves added to a Litre of water in a spray bottle. I have used this on a bathroom ceiling and the mould didn't come back.

 

[Esma Rose]

Many years ago I was very surprised to find mould on the inside of the sliding doors of our wardrobes. Actually they were wet & had turned an orange colour. That year a member of my family was more than a little surprised to find the wardrobe in her bedroom growing mushroomy "things" that were wet, damp & an awful sight. It shocks you when you know you are a fussy housewife to keep everything neat & tidy, then all of a sudden you feel .....yucky & it's not your fault. I had never come up to this before, then I found it on my shoes that had not been worn one Winter.

 

[Possum Lover]

Our granddaughter was very upset to find mould growing in the baby's cot. All down the side near the wall and growing very well, no wonder baby beautiful has been ill.