Understanding Mold

7/21/2021 (Permalink)

When cleaning mold you need a trusted source, like SERVPRO of Kendall County.

What causes mold?
Mold spores are all around us all the time. Mold spores can lay dormant for long periods, just waiting for the conditions to be right before they can grow. So, what do they need?

• Something to grow on and to provide food for their growth. These are your family heirlooms, such as drawings, wedding dresses, christening gowns, leather, letters, tape cassettes or vinyl records, films, photographs, and many other items which are precious to you.
• Mold needs the air to be damp; to have a high moisture content. Conservators call this Relative Humidity or RH for short. An RH of over 70% is generally agreed to be the point at which mould will grow on your heirlooms. However, mold can grow at an RH of 60% or lower, especially if the item has been affected by mold in the past. There are many different causes of a high RH in the home, this could be from the bathroom, cooking, poor ventilation which allows pockets of damp air to build up, a disaster like a burst pipe or flood and even your own breath.

Mold growth is can also be encouraged by dark conditions and lack of air movements, such as behind wardrobes and cabinets, or even inside them! You can easily monitor the RH of your storage area using a thermohygrometer which will highlight peaks in humidity.

Mold is very damaging
Mold growth can lead to the complete destruction and loss of your treasured possessions and collections due to discoloration, staining and weakening, spoiling your treasured wedding dress, rare book, or vinyl record forevermore. It can cause photographs and papers to stick together. It can be very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to get such damaged objects apart.