If you do your research, you’ll find lots of options to help with do-it-yourself mold removal. This ranges from over-the-counter cleaning solutions to air purifiers.
We aren’t against do-it-yourself mold removal if it meets certain conditions. If the patch of household mold is less than 10 square feet, it can be fairly easy to remove. Any bigger than that and you probably need a professional to help, which leads me to the topic of air purifiers and household mold.
Is it really helpful in mold removal?
How Helpful are Air Purifiers When it Comes to Household Mold?
There are plenty of air purifiers on the market.
They come in all shapes and sizes with different strengths and capabilities. Several of them, in fact, claim to be key in removing and preventing mold from setting up shop in your home.
In a perfect world, they would all work and we would live happily ever after in a mold free world.
Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.
This isn’t to say that air purifiers aren’t helpful, they just aren’t necessarily all that helpful when it comes to mold removal and prevention.
HEPA Rated Filters and Mold
For an air purifier to have any effect on mold, it must come with a HEPA-rated filter. To learn more about filters, you can click here, but the gist is that you need a filter in your purifier that can filter particulates down to 0.3 microns. This is the level at which mold spores can be trapped.
On top of that, even if you do have a HEPA filter,for it to be effective, the filter needs to be changed very frequently. This is to make sure that whatever mold spores are filtered aren’t released back into the air when the device isn’t running.
In the long run, when you add up the costs of an air purifier plus the filter replacements, it’s more cost effective to use a professional mold removal service.
Why Air Purifiers Aren’t Your Best Line of Defense
The reality is that mold needs a wet food source to grow and thrive. If captured spores are released from the HEPA air filter and land on a wet food source they will begin to feed and spread.
An air purifier isn’t going to stop that.
The air purifier will only filter the air that flows through it so if mold is perfectly happy in its hiding place behind your furnace, an air purifier isn’t going to magically cause the mold to dissipate.
It’s also doubtful that any air purifier is going to turn over enough volume of air to always keep an environment free of mold if cellulose material becomes wet.
We AREN’T Anti- Air Purifiers
We aren’t trying to give air purifiers a bad rep.
They’re great for many things and can help with providing you and your family cleaner air to breathe.
They can be a great device to run in the colder months when you aren’t leaving your windows or doors open to bring in fresh air.
Unfortunately, they just don’t help eliminate household mold.
If you believe you have a household problem, but aren’t sure where to start, you’ve found the perfect place to start. Our team of certified mold specialists have a wealth of knowledge on the subject of mold and would love to help you out. Feel free to contact us anytime with any mold questions you might have!
