Mold tends to gather wherever there is moisture, and especially if there is a lack of air circulation. It loves dark patches, and it loves organic materials to feed off of. Unfortunately, this makes the kitchen a common target for mold growth. Kitchens are filled with moisture from boiling water, spilled washing up, and dripping pipes. They’re also packed full of food stuffs and organic materials like wood. With few windows and lots of dark cupboards, they’re the perfect spot for mold. This is a problem. Here’s why, and what to do about it.

Mold Causes Damage

Mold doesn’t just look bad, it can cause permanent damage to your kitchen. This will be damage in the sense of molding and rotting walls and this will cause wallpaper to peel off and tiles to come away from the walls. This can occur to such a degree that it's necessary to replace all of the tiles on your wall – so you'd be much better off by getting mold inspection and having the mould removed which would be cheaper than having to make repairs. Mold in the top of your property – on the ceiling and along the inside corners of the wall – will cause worse damage as it may cause erosion to your actually ceiling and roof and this can in turn cause leaks and other problems. Seeing as steam rises, this is a common issue in the kitchen. Likewise, mold can get behind and inside your cupboards, even causing them to fall off the walls – which can be highly dangerous.

Mold in the Kitchen is Bad for Your Health

It is also important to get mold testing in order to protect your health and mould can have many negative impacts on your well being if you don't get it tested. For instance if you are breathing in a lot of mould this will mean that you are inhaling mould spores into your lungs which can cause a lot of problems. This can lead to the development of asthma even where you don't have it already. At the same time this can just make breathing more difficult – and if you do already have asthma then it is sure to worsen and this might cause you to end up having more attacks. In this rare scenario severe mould could even indirectly be lethal. At the same time the mould spores in the air are bad for your skin and this can lead to the development of eczema again even in those with no eczema, or can result in existing eczema spreading and getting worse. These issues are less sever in the kitchen seeing as we don’t sleep there. However, mold spores can also make their way onto our foods and cause fruits and other ingredients to become moldy more quickly. This is a waste of money and food, and also means you may end up ingesting large amounts of mold (remember: not all mold is visible!).

What to Do About It

With mold being a serious problem in the kitchen and one that can occur commonly and stealthily, it’s very important that you do something about it. Mold inspection is the first place to start.