Vinegar and Mold

Vinegar & Mold – cleaning myth addressed

You can’t “clean” mold. You can’t “kill” mold. You can’t “disinfect” mold. Glad that’s out of the way.

Vinegar is an organic substance.
What does this mean?
If you are using vinegar to “clean” mold you are inadvertently providing mold yet another source of food & surface to grow on.

Common DIY articles recommend using vinegar mixed with water as a safe & efficient way of “killing“ mold.
If you are using water & your acidic ratio is off, you use it on the wrong surface type, or you misuse your vinegar solution…
You may very well be feeding the mold while potentially sending a toxigenic strain into a threatened state.

This is surface mold they are referring to when DIY articles encourage people to use vinegar.
Surface mold can usually be a key indicator that you have a bigger problem as mold usually starts below the surface…

I HIGHLY advise against the use of vinegar when living with mold. It’s grossly overused as a “natural fabric softener“, “natural household cleaner” to “natural mold killer”.

There is NO way to differentiate what kind of mold you have. Mold and Mildew are the same. Mold can also change color & is heavily influenced by food source, humidity level, as well as light.

I also disagree with the use of certain essential oils when living with mold. These are unpopular opinions and this will undoubtedly trigger some people.

A lot of people in the community are also mishandling mold & their personal protection when “cleaning”.

Dead mold spores are also capable of causing reactions.

If you have ANY reason to believe you have mold you should ALWAYS proceed with caution.

I never clean without my eyes, nose, & mouth being fully covered. Why?
Since mold is so adaptable & easily influenced by it’s surroundings, & can truly survive anything, there is no guarantee that you will not breathe in these microscopic spores & their harmful byproducts, toxins, & poison.

Even after a “successful” remediation and a “passing” score spore fragments can linger behind & still cause problems in your home & for your family.

All molds cause reactions. Allergenic, toxigenic, & dead mold are all capable of making us feel sick to extremely ill.

You should never ever mishandle mold, you could inadvertently be making your situation much worse. Always work with your environmental consultants, remediation team, and functional practitioner to develop an action plan appropriate for your home and your body.

Written by: Alexandra DeLeón (@holisticallylexy)