The battle against mold doesn’t end when you’ve scrubbed away the visible spots. The real challenge is to address the lingering airborne pollutants, the spores and mycotoxins that have been released into your home’s atmosphere.
For a homeowner wanting to learn how to restore clean air, the journey from remediation to restoration is a critical one. This is a guide on how to restore clean air in your home, ensuring that mold’s last breath doesn’t continue to threaten your family’s health and well-being.
The first step in restoration is to ensure the moisture source is gone. As we’ve discussed, if you haven’t fixed the leak, addressed the condensation, or improved the ventilation, any restoration efforts will be temporary. Once the moisture problem is solved, you can focus on the air itself.
- Air Filtration: A high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter is a non-negotiable tool in this process. A HEPA filter is designed to capture at least 99.97% of airborne particles 0.3 micrometers in diameter, which includes mold spores. Running a stand-alone air purifier with a HEPA filter in the affected area, as well as in your central HVAC system, can help to remove the spores that have been released into the air.
- Thorough Cleaning: After mold remediation, it’s crucial to clean all surfaces in the affected area, including furniture, curtains, and carpets. Mold spores can settle on any surface, and they can be re-suspended in the air with the slightest disturbance. A vacuum with a HEPA filter is essential for this step to ensure you’re trapping the spores, not just circulating them.
- Ozone Generators (Use with Caution): Some people consider using ozone generators to “kill” mold. However, this is a controversial method. Ozone is a lung irritant, and it can be dangerous to use in an occupied space. Furthermore, it doesn’t solve the root cause of the mold growth and may not be effective at penetrating porous materials. It’s often not recommended for homeowners.
Monitor with a Proactive Tool: The final and most crucial step in how to restore clean air is to ensure that the conditions that allowed the mold to grow are permanently gone. This is where the uHoo air quality monitor is the ultimate tool for peace of mind. The uHoo Mold Index is a proprietary feature that gives you a continuous, real-time risk assessment for mold growth. This proactive data allows you to stay one step ahead of a potential problem, ensuring that the air in your home remains clean and healthy long after the mold is gone.