Alcohol, a brush and wall paint – this can be enough to remove small superficial mold stains on painted walls. A mold expert explains how to proceed.
Light mold growth can be easily removed from many surfaces with standard cleaning agents. The situation is different with porous surfaces such as plastered, painted and wallpapered walls.
Here you should spread at least 70 percent ethyl alcohol on the stain with a brush, advises Ulrich Opitz, trainer at the DIY Academy in Cologne and expert for mold assessment. Alcohol that strong will kill the fungus. You can get it in pharmacies, among other places.
After brushing in, the treated areas are repainted with wall paint. According to the DIY Academy, this fixes the dead fungi so that they can no longer loosen and spread even after the alcohol has dried.
If the mold has formed on the wall plaster or wallpaper, the affected areas are moistened and then knocked off or peeled off. It is best to cover the damp wallpaper with foil before removing it so that the spores cannot spread.
Expert Ulrich Opitz advises to ventilate well with all these measures and to wear gloves, eye protection and mouth protection. Nevertheless, only people who do not suffer from an allergy, an immune deficiency or a chronic disease should treat the mold infestation.
And: You should only treat mold spots that are smaller than 0.5 square meters yourself. And even if you are unsure what the cause of the mold may be, you should hire professionals.
In 95 percent of all cases, incorrect heating and ventilation are the reason for excessive humidity and, as a result, for mold in the rooms, according to Ulrich Opitz. However, the mold can also be traced back to hidden water damage in the wall or structural damage, for example.
Tenants should inform their landlord of the infestation. He has to take care of it.
