How to Clean Mold

LESLIE: Scott, you’ve got The Money Pit. What’s going on at your house?

SCOTT: Well, in the wintertime, we have a little mold around the windows and I can’t seem to alleviate it. So, I was wondering if you guys had any ideas. Mainly in the wintertime.

TOM: So, the mold is going to form where you have moisture and you have a food source that’s organic, which could be wood trim, for example. Or frankly, even dust can do that and air, of course. So when you find the mold, what happens is, very often, people will just try to wipe it away but they end up leaving residual pieces of it behind.

So I would suggest you do is to mix up a bleach-and-water solution where it’s about, say, 25-percent bleach and about 75-percent water. And spray it lightly around that area, being careful to keep it away from drapes or anything like that that you’re concerned about staining. And let it sit. And that will kill the spores that are behind the mold and then you can wipe it off. If it’s just a little bit, that’s OK to do yourself without much risk of exposure. Does that make sense?

SCOTT: It makes sense. I’ve done it before but I’ve never let it sit any time. I’ve just sprayed it on and wiped it off.

TOM: That’s generally what people do and it makes a difference if you let it sit, because it has to sort of take effect and really kill what’s there, and then wipe it off.

SCOTT: That sounds pretty good. I can do that.