How To Rid Your Furniture Of Mold And Mildew

The more expensive the furniture, the more easily it seems to collect mildew – that grey-white mold that leaves spots and rots the furniture, from within. We all dread this day because it might mean having to discard the furniture altogether. Or it may mean getting the furniture cleaned by professionals, which would cost a fortune. Cleaning and dusting are not very taxing in terms of effort, money, or time. However, cleaning of mildew send chills down the spine of any homemaker. Not only is it smelly, it may also be invitation to other insects and pets. Of all types of furniture – solid wood, wood veneer, upholstered – it is upholstered furniture, which is most difficult to rid of mildew. The moment it catches mildew, we start contemplating replacing it. Relax, you need not do that. All you need is some simple stuff that may be available in your kitchen. Read on to know how to clean mildew and mold off furniture.

 

The first step in the process is to manually sweep away the mildew. It will cause the bonds between the mold to loosen up, and break. Make sure to do so, outside the house, or else mildew will spread all over the house or room, re-triggering growth of it. Also, vacuum the area where the piece of furniture was kept; discard or properly clean the vacuum bags later.

 

If mildew still persists, which may actually happen, use a sponge dipped in soapy water on the fabric of the furniture. Then, using a soft cotton cloth dipped in a mixture of one cup each of water and one diluted denatured alcohol, wipe the affected areas on the fabric. An alternate to denatured alcohol, if not easily available, is a mixture of chlorine bleach with water.

 

Since it is common knowledge that mildew spreads because of excessive moisture that accumulates in fabric, it is best to dry the fabric thoroughly, in enough sunlight. Maybe the reason why mildew spread so easily and quickly into the piece of fabric was because of insufficient supply of sunlight in the room, where that piece of furniture was kept.

 

After completely dry, Deodorise and fumigate the fabric of the furniture to remove any more odour or small remainder of mildew that may not have been cleaned totally. Use a low-pressure spray containing fungicide to completely rid it of any more mildew.