Have you just dealt with mold in your bedroom, and you’re looking to figure out how to prevent mold in a bedroom in the future? Or maybe you’re just concerned about getting mold in the future, and want to stave off the possibility? This is the guide for you!
Unlike most of the other advice you’ll find on the internet about this subject, the advice you’ll find here is from real mold experts. We’re Cleaner Guys, a mold remediation company in Mount Vernon, WA with more than 20 years of experience! We’re tired of seeing poor advice on the internet about mold, mostly from unprofessional sources. So we’re here to provide real advice, from decades of training and experience with mold. Read on!
Table of Contents
- What Exactly Is Mold?
- Is Mold In a Bedroom Dangerous?
- What Causes Mold Growth In a Bedroom?
- How to Prevent Mold in a Bedroom
- Signs of Mold in a Bedroom
- More Resources
What Exactly Is Mold?
Mold is a fungus that can grow just about anywhere it can find moisture, warmth, and a food source it can absorb. This means that mold is most commonly found in areas with high levels of humidity, or anywhere there is water damage, like a leaking pipe. Not sure what else might count as water damage? Find out in 30 seconds by opening this article in a new tab.
Mold spores are floating around in the air all the time, both inside and outside, just like dust. But they can’t grow just anywhere. Wherever mold spores find excess moisture, like from a leak or condensation, that’s where they can land and begin to root and grow — often within 24-48 hours!
Mold looks like clusters of dark spots or patches. The image below shows just a few of the many different types of mold. It can be black, grey, green, brown, and even yellow. It can look and feel fuzzy, grainy, or slimy, depending on the strain of mold.
WARNING: Do not touch mold to find out its texture! Touching mold can stir its spores into the air, which can cause mold sickness and irritate your skin. Additionally, touching mold with bare skin such as your hands can cause skin irritation and rashes. Learn more about this here.
Is Mold In a Bedroom Dangerous?
Yes, mold in a bedroom can be dangerous, or at the very least, bad for your health! All mold releases microscopic mold spores into the air. It’s how it spreads and propagates! But increased levels of mold spores in the air mean you inhale more mold spores, and mold causes mold sickness in most people.
Mold Sickness
Different people have different kinds of reactions to mold, with different levels of severity, but it’s not good for anyone. Common mold sickness symptoms include:
- Constant congestion or a runny nose that won’t go away.
- Regular coughing and respiratory problems that won’t go away.
- Headaches — especially if they come out of nowhere, mostly start at home in that bedroom, or are a new phenomenon for you.
- Increased sleeplessness, poor sleep quality, or snoring. You’re inhaling mold spores all night while you sleep!
- Skin irritation, rashes, or eye and throat irritation.
When Is Mold Dangerous, and for Whom?
Any species of mold can be dangerous for those with preexisting respiratory illnesses like asthma, or for those who are immunocompromised, like infants, the elderly, and those with chronic diseases or cancer. Individuals like these should be immediately removed from any area known to have mold, and not return until it is thoroughly removed and cleaned by professionals!
Additionally, there are a few species of mold that produce mycotoxins: an airborne toxin specific to mold. Mycotoxins and the molds that produce them are extremely dangerous for everyone! By far the most common toxic mold is “toxic black mold” — officially named Stachybotrys Chartarum. Prolonged exposure to Stachybotrys can cause internal hemorrhaging, lung damage that causes coughing up blood, neurological damage, vomiting, and more.
The problem is, toxic molds like Stachybotrys are almost impossible to tell apart from other types of mold that don’t produce mycotoxins. This is why we strongly advise against trying to clean up mold yourself. Trying to wipe or scrub mold away will agitate the mold, causing it to release more spores. This can make you much sicker and cause the mold to spread elsewhere in the home!
For the sake of your safety and health, and the safety and health of anyone else living in the home, mold removal should only be handled by trained professionals in mold remediation.
What Causes Mold Growth In a Bedroom?
The most common causes of mold growth in a bedroom are water intrusion in the walls or ceiling, high humidity and condensation, or a very damp environment. Let’s break each of those down more.
Water Intrusion and Water Damage
Water intrusion and damage is easily the most common source of mold growth. Mold requires a lot of moisture to grow, and most houses are pretty dry most of the time. But as soon as a pipe starts leaking, or an appliance or toilet breaks and causes a small flood, you’ve introduced a lot of extra moisture into the environment. That water will very quickly soak into the surrounding drywall and flooring, and it will sit there until the damage and mold get bad enough that someone notices.
And no, you cannot just ignore the water intrusion and wait for it to evaporate away on its own. Unfortunately, that’s not how serious water intrusion works. Without large-scale serious drying equipment, the water will not evaporate fast enough on its own, and it will sit there for days, weeks, or even months, saturating your drywall and flooring, and creating the perfect breeding ground for mold.
If you ever find mold in your bedroom, there’s a very good chance that you have a pipe leak or some other form of water damage in the nearby wall cavities or floors. If you find mold, it’s best to call a professional water damage restoration company to figure out the source of the water and repair the damage.
Humidity
The second most common cause of mold growth we see in our line of work as mold removal specialists is humidity. A very humid environment, by definition, has a lot of extra water saturating the air. When the air in a humid environment gets saturated enough that water condenses onto surfaces in the room, those surfaces can grow mold from the moisture of those droplets of condensation!
Other Sources of Dampness and Moisture
Another possible source of excess moisture for mold growth is if you regularly have damp items sitting around in your bedroom. If you frequently leave damp laundry or towels lying around, or have a lot of textiles like linens or keepsakes sitting untouched in boxes in your bedroom, these textiles can start developing mold or mildew just by sitting in that dampness for a long time.
Having lots of open vessels of liquids in an unventilated room, like lots of jars of water, open containers of liquids, and pet bowls full of water, can also contribute to an environment ripe for mold. That liquid can evaporate over time, filling the air with more and more moisture and making it more humid.
How to Prevent Mold in a Bedroom
Preventing mold in a bedroom essentially comes down to keeping the space clean and dry. A dry bedroom environment cannot grow mold, since mold needs moisture in order to grow. Keeping your bedroom dry means keeping the humidity less than 50%, increasing ventilation and air movement, doing what you can to prevent pipe leaks and other sources of water intrusion, and not leaving piles of damp laundry or open vessels of liquids all over the bedroom.
Lower humidity can be achieved through running a dehumidifier in your bedroom, running the AC more often if you live in a humid climate, or, if you live in a cold and dry climate, having the windows open more often, when you can. Having the windows open will also help increase air movement and ventilation, which helps reduce humidity. If it’s too cold or too hot to have your windows open, keep ceiling fans or freestanding fans running fairly regularly, to keep the air in your home from getting stagnant. Humid, damp, warm air sitting still in a home is a recipe for eventual mold.
To do what you can to prevent pipe leaks and bursts, we recommend you check out our article on the top 8 ways to prevent pipes from freezing and bursting in the winter. Pipe cracks and leaks are most common in the winter, when water can freeze and expand in plumbing in the walls, causing pipes to rupture.
You can also prevent water intrusion through your attic and ceilings by keeping your gutters clear of leaves and debris! This may seem like a trivial thing, but clogged gutters cause water to stagnate instead of flowing out of them, and that stagnant water can seep into your attic.
Does Anti-Mold Paint Work?
In our experience as professional mold removers, anti-mold paint or “mold-killing paint” can help prevent mold… but if you try to use it to just paint over existing mold, it will not work. Anti-paint mold is not strong enough to kill already-existing mold down to the root, and the mold will come back and just grow through the new coat of paint. These paints and primers are useful only as a preventative, after any existing mold has already been thoroughly removed.
Do Vinegar and Bleach Work to Kill Mold?
Sadly, in our professional experience, most of the time vinegar and bleach are not effective enough against mold. Especially mold on drywall. They will kill mold on the surface, which is why many other publications on the internet unfortunately claim that vinegar and bleach are just great for cleaning mold! But mold likes to root deep, and usually goes all the way through the drywall into the cavity behind, and vinegar and bleach simply don’t penetrate far enough to reach the mold down to the root.
We’ve actually gone through all the common household cleaning supplies that people think will kill mold, and described why they don’t (or do) work on mold, and on what types, and in what locations, in another article! Check out that information in our article “What Kills Mold 100%?“.
Signs of Mold in a Bedroom
The most obvious sign of mold in a bedroom is visibly seeing mold growth, but there are other signs you can be watching for that clue you in to the presence of mold before you can see it. These include:
- A pungent, damp, earthy, rotten odor. Mold smells like this, and it can be a sign that mold is hiding inside your walls.
- Water-stained, cracked, or peeling paint. These are all signs of water damage, which as we’ve already described, is where mold comes from.
- Mold sickness symptoms, such as persistent headaches, congestion, poor sleep, respiratory issues, and skin, eye, and lung irritation.
If you experience any of these signs, you need to call a professional mold remediation and water damage restoration company right away! If you need help knowing how to choose a good one near you, check out our article on how to choose a trustworthy service company.
Remember, it’s very risky and even dangerous to try to deal with water damage or mold by yourself, because some species of mold are highly toxic, and are virtually indistinguishable from less harmful types of mold!
More Resources
Looking for even more information on dealing with mold, or water damage? Check our our full blog archive, where you’ll find hundreds of articles full of useful professional insider information on mold, water damage, and more! Or, you can jump straight to one of our other popular articles on mold through one of the links below!
How to deal with mold in an APARTMENT – The Ultimate Guide ➜
Top signs of water damage hidden in your walls ➜
If you need a mold removal company or water damage restoration company in Western Washington state, Cleaner Guys is one of the best options around! We’re the only mold removal company around that boasts award-winning customer service, and a price-match guarantee! Call or message us today through the menu at the top of your screen.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. No part of this article is medical or legal advice, and may not be used as such. For all serious medical matters, consult your doctor. For all serious legal matters, consult your legal advisor. This article contains Cleaner Guys’ experience and opinions only.
