Cleaning moldy carpet will not rid your home of mold growth if you haven’t treated the source that promoted mold growth in your home in the first place. While mold is always present in the air, it attaches itself to damp surfaces and grows on them only if they stay damp for long periods. Hence, cleaning moldy carpets also requires treating the water damage that may be making your carpets or other surfaces around the house moldy.

Once the source of the mold growth in your home is treated, here’s how you can clean moldy carpets at home:

Place Carpet in an Empty Room 

Cleaning moldy carpet in the middle of the living space can be a very bad idea. Cleaning mold where it can find other surfaces to stick to can aggravate the mold situation in your home. Therefore, you first need to dedicate an empty room for the purpose. This empty room should have an exit door. A home garage can be perfect. If you don’t have your garage available, you can utilize your home’s entryway for this purpose.

However, don’t forget to seal the entryway or garage from where it opens into your home’s living spaces. You will have to seal the space from three sides and only leave it open from the exit door. In short, you don’t want mold to go in any direction other than the outside of your home. 

Mold should not have access to even the walls or ceiling of your home. You can use heavy-duty plastic sheets to seal the space. A plastic sheet on the floor will make cleaning the floor easier too. You will need to dispose of the plastic sheets once the carpet is cleaned. 

Apply Baking Soda and Vinegar to the Carpet

A mixture of baking soda and vinegar can be the first cleaning agent you can use for this purpose. While it may not kill all types of mold, there’s no harm in trying it as it can help remove the mold roots from the carpet fibers. Vinegar also helps in removing the funky smell of the fungus. 

Apply the mixture generously and brush the carpet away from yourself and outward towards your home’s exit using a stiff brush. Repeat the process as many times as needed until you see the carpet getting cleaned. Once satisfied with the results, use a blow dry to blow mold that might have remained stuck in the carpet fibers. Keep the blow dryer air on hot so kill the mold during the process. 

Apply Heat with a Steam Cleaner

Besides a blow dryer, a steam cleaner can also help clean moldy carpets. Steam cleaner is used for at least 12 seconds on each moldy spot on the carpet. After the heat, it requires swift brushing with a swift brush.

Immediately, brushing the moldy spot is essential to prevent mold growth from new spots. Since steam makes the surface damp, it can make carpet fibers habitable for mold spores as soon as the spot cools down. Hence, each spot on moldy carpet needs to be brushed immediately and effectively once the steam cleaner is removed.

You can also use the steam cleaner on moldy spots more than once. Apply the heated steam and brush over and over until you are satisfied with the results. The steam cleaner also needs to be wiped carefully with a disposable cleaning wipe after every use.

Coat the Carpet with an Anti-Fungal Treatment

Since mold is a fungus, coating the carpet with an anti-fungal treatment helps kill any remaining pores and help prevent further mold growth. Follow the instructions on the anti-fungal treatment packaging for effective results. Let the carpet dry completely before taking it back inside the home and using it. 

Don’t Forget About Mold Exposure

When cleaning moldy carpets, ensure all safety measures to avoid mold exposure. Mold exposure occurs as a result of inhaling or ingesting mold spores. It can lead to flu-like symptoms such as sneezing, coughing, and watery and irritated eyes. Mold exposure to skin can result in redness or itching of skin. Severe mold exposure can result in further health consequences.

Hence, when cleaning moldy carpets, dress in a PPE suit that you can dispose of after cleaning. You will also need to be careful when cleaning the mold spores from the entryway or garage space. Sweep all mold and dump it in a trash bag.

Leaving the mold spores outside the home will make it easy for them to affect your home once again. Dispose of the mold spores, the plastic sheets, and the PPE suit in a heavy-duty trash bag. Tie and dump this trash bag in a dumpster as soon as possible. 

However, if you continue to find mold damage in your home despite cleaning it off from carpets and other surfaces, it may be time to seek professional help. Many restoration companies in New Orleans, such as the 911 Restoration of New Orleans, provide complete mold damage restoration services for residential and commercial properties.