How To Prevent and Remove Mold in Your Garage

Molds are an unwelcome sight in your home. Unfortunately, they can thrive anywhere in your house that’s damp, poorly lit, and lacks ventilation. While mold usually appears in the bathroom and basement, it also likes to grow in your garage.

If left unchecked, mold in the garage can pose health issues and ruin critical items made from organic matter, such as your car’s upholstery and tires. Learn about the symptoms of mold in the garage and the methods to remove and keep it out.

Common Signs of Mold in Garage

There’s probably mold in your garage if you encounter one or more of the following signs:

• Black, green, gray, orange, or white “stains” that look fuzzy or feel slimy
• The smell of something damp and musty
• Allergic reactions, asthma, coughing, irritated red eyes, and skin irritations

Mold can grow anywhere in a garage. You might find it on the ceiling, floor, and walls. It can also grow on any object that lies loose.

What Is Mold?

Molds are a type of fungi. They’re related to mushrooms and mildew, and it’s possible to mistake mold for mildew and vice versa.

Mold prefers to grow on organic matter that it can convert into nutrients. It often targets cardboard, dust, fabric, soil, rubber, and wood. However, it can grow on any surface that’s wet enough.

When mold spores land on a suitably moist surface, they take between one and two days before beginning to build the structures most people associate with the fungi. Meanwhile, mold extends tendrils around it to search for food.

The best growing period for mold is between early spring and fall. Temperature and precipitation levels usually rise during this period. Between the increased warmth and condensation, your garage becomes highly humid, the perfect environment for molds.

Why Is Mold in Your Garage Bad?

Molds can trigger allergies and cause diseases and other harmful effects on you. In particular, toxigenic black molds are considered a severe health risk.

When mold spores travel through the air, they can cause allergic reactions and asthmatic attacks. They worsen after landing and growing on an appropriate surface because the mold can produce more spores.

Household molds pose a greater health risk to people with allergies, bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, and similar health conditions. Extended exposure to high mold levels can also make it more likely for babies and kids to develop asthma.

What Causes Mold in Your Garage?

Unfortunately, your garage is one of the most welcoming environments for mold. Its interior doesn’t get much natural light or fresh air from the outside. And while the climate and weather might vary, the garage usually feels more humid than the living room or bedroom. The higher humidity makes it more likely for condensation to form on surfaces.

Mold loves dark, warm, and wet places like the garage. Its spores can enter the garage through various means–airborne through openings, clinging to the fur of animals like cats and dogs, or landing on items you unwittingly carry inside.

There’s more to mold showing up more often in garages aside from suitable environmental conditions. Compared to attics or basements, garages usually have their doors opened more times daily, exposing their interior to the elements. Most garage doors also don’t form a tight seal against the floor. Thus, not only can mold spores easily enter garages, but so can water and snow, which increases moisture levels and encourages the fungi’s growth.

How to Get Rid of Mold in Your Garage

Once you confirm the presence of mold, deal with it immediately. Otherwise, it may spread out and become more difficult to remove if you don’t act quickly.

Measure the surface area covered by mold. If the moldy area doesn’t exceed 10 square feet, you can clean it yourself. Otherwise, consider hiring a certified mold removal expert, especially if you’re uncomfortable around molds.

Are you planning DIY mold removal? Start by improving the garage’s ventilation. Improve airflow into the space and ensure the air moves around the garage.

Don personal protective gear to minimize your exposure to mold spores. A high-quality face mask or respirator, goggles, and gloves will protect your eyes, nose, mouth, and skin from potential irritation.

Apply mold removal cleaner to the affected area. For best results, use a commercial cleaning formula.

If you don’t have or want a commercial product, you can look up recipes for homemade mold cleaners that mix warm water with bleach, detergent, or distilled white vinegar. While these DIY mold removal cleaners usually work, they might have side effects like causing minor damage and staining.

Avoid scouring a moldy area untreated with mold removal cleaner. If you dry scrub, you will only scatter the mold spores into the air, which can cause mold to spread to other parts of the garage.

Whatever cleaning formula you applied to the mold, let it sit on the treated area for a while. Then, use a stiff-bristled brush to scrub moldy spots before rinsing them with warm water.

Afterward, carefully check the scrubbed area for signs of stubborn mold. If you find any remaining mold, spray it with mold removal cleaner before another round of scrubbing. Repeat this process until you’re sure that no mold remains.

Air-dry the newly cleaned surface, and inspect it over the next few weeks. If mold returns, you might need to call a mold removal professional.

How to Prevent Mold in Your Garage

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Prevent mold from growing in your garage (or block its return if you have already cleaned the space) with the following tips and tricks.

Use Mold-Resistant Construction Materials

Some building materials attract mold, while others prevent the fungi from growing on them. If you want to keep mold out of your garage, use mold-resistant materials like steel.

Paint every square inch of drywall to deny molds a surface on which they can grow. Furthermore, use a paint product that blocks mold and mildew growth.

Apply a water-resistant coating to the floor to minimize the chance of water accumulating on the ground surface.

Humidity Control

Set up a humidity control system in the garage. You can install a dehumidifier that removes excess moisture in the air. Keep the humidity level between 35% and 60%.

Keep the Garage Dry

No matter your precautions, your garage might experience an influx of moisture in some way. Rain, snow, or hail can damage your roof and cause leaks. Some of your plumbing might wear out or get damaged, leading to similar issues.

Whatever causes the influx of water, you need to get rid of it immediately. Remove any puddles with a mop, sponge, or squeegee. Then dry out the surfaces.

Improve Ventilation

Good airflow helps suppress mold growth. Install a ventilation system in your garage that draws clean air from outside the space to freshen the interior.

Keep the Garage Clean

Your garage inevitably ends up as storage for assorted items ranging from tools to storage boxes holding various items. Unfortunately, accumulated junk makes the space more cramped and serves as potential surfaces on which mold can grow.

Remove unimportant objects from the garage and store the rest in cabinets and storage systems. Get rid of cardboard boxes because mold loves growing on them. If you need extra containers, use plastic ones.

After drying your garage, it’s time to take steps to keep it dry. Install seals on the doors to keep water out. Additionally, insulate the garage door to better control the temperature inside the room.

Improve Floor Drainage

If your garage has puddles after washing your car inside it, you must improve its floor drainage. While the costs will be considerable, consider rebuilding the floor with a proper slope and installing an efficient way to drain water.

More Natural Lighting

Natural light inhibits mold growth. Look for ways to increase the light level from outside the garage. Replace the windows with larger ones, install a garage door with window panels, or change the exterior access door for one with a window.

If you want to keep the interior hidden from the outside, choose opaque window glass that prevents passers-by from peeking inside the garage while allowing natural light to enter.

Mold should never be allowed to flourish inside your garage. Fortunately, you can take steps to remove the harmful fungi and prevent it from gaining a foothold in your home.

Where to Get Mold Cleaning Tools

You should never, ever put off cleaning mold. Mold exposure can lead to a number of health issues, such as coughing, sneezing, and nausea. It can also damage your garage’s internal walls, compromising the structural integrity of your home. For your own safety, it’s best to get rid of pesky mold infestations as soon as possible. Luckily, getting cleaning supplies is fast and easy with CarParts.com.

CarParts.com offers a wide selection of cleaning supplies, all sourced from the most trusted manufacturers in the industry. You can easily browse through our catalog of gloves, car cleaning cloths, and hand cleaners with the help of our vehicle selector and search filters. If you need any help with your order, don’t hesitate to reach out to our friendly customer service staff. We offer round-the-clock support, so we’re here to help you whenever you need it.

Don’t wait until your garage is infested with mold before cleaning it. Check out our selection of high-quality gloves, car cleaning cloths, and hand cleaners at CarParts.com and order today!