Monday, July 26, 2010

White Fuzzy Mold?

Okay, for months I have been fighting with what I thought was mold on my entranceway wall.  We knew that it was caused by a water leak from outside our house.  We had that taken care of.  However, the problem has continued.  For around 3 weeks, every single day, we sprayed it with a vinegar, water, bleach and mold killer solution.  Then I would wipe it down.  And then put a floor fan blowing on it to dry it out for the rest of the day.  The next day, every day, it would be back!  White, fuzzy mold.  Over the past week, I decided it was out of hand.  It even seemed to be spreading.  So, I washed the entire wall down with a bleach and water mixture.  And I borrowed the church dehumidifier and sat it next to it, running for like 3 days straight.  The morning after the bleach wash, it was back again!  That just did not make sense to me.  So, I decided to actually google "fuzzy white mold".  My previous googles had been only about how to clean mold.  I was very happy to find, after a few hours of researching, that my mold was probably not mold at all!  I am now quite certain that it is something called "efflorescence".  Here is a link that tells all about it:  http://www.google.com.py/search?sourceid=navclient&aq=0&oq=efflorescence&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4DKUS_enUS252US253&q=efflorescence

It is basically the bleeding out of salts and other minerals from a concrete type surface as water passes through it.  Once the minerals hit the air, outside the surface of the concrete, they crystalize into a white fuzzy form!  And the best news is that it is not dangerous to your health!  I have been so worried that this wall has been a primary cause for the allergies that the kids and I have been dealing with.  So, now I think I am just going to leave it alone and see just how much this stuff will grow. 

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