Bleach Does Not Kill Mold Roots or Spores on Porous Surfaces

Article From National Organization of Remediators and Mold Inspectors

Does bleach kill mold roots and spores on porous surfaces like grout, drywall and wood?

The answer is no. Bleach will not kill mold roots and spores in porous surfaces.

Yet unfortunately, whenever there has been a flood or hurricane, journalists and government disaster relief people are quick to publicly suggest using bleach to kill and prevent mold as the best way to treat water damaged walls, ceilings, floors and basements.

These well-intentioned journalists and government officials are obviously unaware of the fact that the EPA and OSHA stopped recommending bleach for mold remediation years ago. Sadly, when the journalists and officials recommend bleach, they are actually making the mold problem worse.

How do they make it worse? Well, not only is bleach corrosive and toxic, but studies have shown that the ionic nature of the active ingredient (sodium hypochlorite) prevents that active ingredient from penetrating porous surfaces. Therefore, bleach cannot penetrate and kill embedded mold roots and spores.

Only the non-ionic (neutral) water in bleach mixtures will penetrate porous surfaces. And ironically, the water will actually nourish the mold roots and spores. That’s why mold and mildew quickly regrows on bleach-treated porous surfaces, thus requiring repeated time, cost and hassle to remove it again and again. For example, most people see mold re-growing on the grout in their shower only 3 or 4 weeks after using bleach-based products.

Shameless plug for our Mold Prevention Spray… it will last 6 months in your shower and 2 years on other indoor and outdoor surfaces! Just think of the time, cost and hassle you will avoid!!

You should check out the following article titled Bleach Does Not Kill Mold. It was published by the National Organization of Remediators and Mold Inspectors. They are certified mold experts.

If you’d like some specific, scientific details about the limitations of bleach’s ability to kill mold, we suggest you read the following article titled Why Chlorine Bleach Is Not Effective in Killing Mold. It was posted by a company specializing in air quality sanitizing products.

Here is another article that debunks the myth that bleach kills mold. In this article, they confirm that despite OSHA and the EPA once recommending bleach, these agencies have stopped recommending bleach as a mold clean-up product prior to doing mold repairs or restorations. It is hard to believe the EPA once recommended such a toxic and corrosive product as bleach to begin with.

The article also mentions that the Clorox company only claims bleach as capable of killing mold on hard, non-porous surfaces (i.e. porcelain, glass, metal). In other words, Clorox is implicitly saying that bleach will not kill mold on porous surfaces like grout, wood, drywall, cement, etc. And it is on porous surfaces where the vast majority of mold problems occur.

So don’t use bleach as a way for how to kill mold or prevent mold from growing. It may remove visible mold branches when you scrub with it. But it will actually backfire by feeding water to the mold roots in porous surfaces like wood, drywall, painted areas, concrete, bricks, roofing tiles and more. And besides, bleach is toxic and thus not good for you, your family or the environment.

Instead, use Endurance BioBarrier’s Cleaner Prep to clean and remove mold and then use our Mold Prevention Spray to prevent mold from coming back through hundreds of wet-dry cycles, significantly outlasting competitors. These products are non-toxic and have zero harmful fumes.