Mould Killer ?

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neb

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#1732591 7-Mar-2017 15:28

Does anyone have any empirical data on the effectiveness of all the "natural" remedies vs. an actual targeted fungicide? If you google for info on killing mould almost all the results tout the naturalness, greenness, non-chemical nature (because apparently borax isn't a chemical, sort of like carbon-free sugar), and so on of the remedy rather than spending much time on how effective they are. For example borax appears to work because of its alkalinity rather than any inherently fungicidal properties it has, which is pretty weak. Is there any evidence that borax and vinegar and whatnot are as effective as just spraying some myclobutanil or similar onto the affected area?

MadEngineer

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#1732593 7-Mar-2017 15:34

Mentioned above was borax, you can get this from mitre10. Not endorsing it however

I believe mould sends roots right down into the surface it grows on so unless you actually kill it you can never remove it without renovating.

You're not on Atlantis anymore, Duncan Idaho.

SepticSceptic

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#1735723 13-Mar-2017 13:31

I do know Borax works on painted wooden surfaces.

In the last place I rented, it had a shower with no exhaust, or any other moisture mitigating options. Mould was all over the ceiling, partially down the walls, just blehh

Tried the Exit Mould - worked OK for a couple of months, mould came back like an unwelcome rash.

Borax - sprayed using a garden sprayer - up on to the ceiling, walls, etc, anywhere there was a possibility of mould or spores.

Unlike Kotter, it never came back, even after 2 years. Well, there was one slightly greyish 1cm blemish showing, but I think that was a particularly nasty spot of mould.

I had kept remainder of the Borax in a spray bottle with its borax solution - it eventually evaporated because of non-use, and crystallised out the borax.

JayADee

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#1736109 13-Mar-2017 22:06

I use borax on my wooden window frames where they meet the glass in the winter. I think it's also a wood preservative. It does seem to work but I also generally triple whammy the mould there with vinegar to clean the glass itself and sometimes a swipe of bleach/water. We get water there due to condensation on the glass.

I should just paint the stupid things. The danish oiled ones are the problem.

neb

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#1740400 16-Mar-2017 16:19

MadEngineer: Mentioned above was borax, you can get this from mitre10. Not endorsing it however

I believe mould sends roots right down into the surface it grows on so unless you actually kill it you can never remove it without renovating.

Checked with Mitre10 and they say they haven't sold it for years. The only stuff they had was half a dozen variants of bleach dressed up as mould killer, as did supermarkets and whatnot. So it looks like you're pretty limited for choice, it's bleach, bleach, or, alternatively, bleach.

Outside of the regular outlets, you can buy it (borax) on Trademe if you really want, but I'm more inclined to go for myclobutanil or something similar.

neb

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#1740401 16-Mar-2017 16:20

SepticSceptic:
Tried the Exit Mould - worked OK for a couple of months, mould came back like an unwelcome rash.

Exit Mould is just diluted bleach, so it has the same (non-)effect as using straight bleach.

1101

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#1740629 17-Mar-2017 09:32

I tried to find borax , couldnt see it anywhere at Mitre10

So Ive bought 2 products to try, neither are bleach based
Mold power , about $10 a small spray bottle
Move it, about $20ish for 2litres of concentrate

So now we have a long term test

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neb

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#1742693 17-Mar-2017 13:03

1101:
I tried to find borax , couldnt see it anywhere at Mitre10

So Ive bought 2 products to try, neither are bleach based
Mold power , about $10 a small spray bottle
Move it, about $20ish for 2litres of concentrate

So now we have a long term test

It'll be interesting to see how it goes. The MSDS for Mould Power says it uses bioflavanoids, with more info on this page, which sounds like authentic gibberish. There's a bit on the net about treating mould with these, almost all from companies selling patent medicine^H^H^Hcleaning products and all emphasising their natural green non-toxic-ness, with no references to any research but just anecdotal "lots of people tried it and think it's OK" text.

Move It, a.k.a. "Moss and Mould Killer", looks a lot more promising, the MSDS has a pile of warnings about how toxic it is (in large doses), and the active ingredient is benzalkonium chloride (BZK), which is an actual biocide, not chemical woo-woo. So I'd put my money on that.

Another one worth trying if you can get it is Sterigene, used for the anti-kauri-dieback washes, that contains a whole cocktail of fungicides and bactericides.

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