Settled Spores

Mold inspection in Santa Rosa today and the question of settled spores came up. The lady asked what that means and if the mold removal company can adequately clean her stuff. "Settled spores" is just what it sounds like... mold spores that were airborne, but have settled out on the surfaces of the structure. The IICRC calls this "Condition 2", which is nothing more than mold spores that have moved from a "Condition 3" area (actual mold growth), and settled out on the surfaces. So, whats the deal? How does that effect the project? Well, it just means that the surfaces need to be properly cleaned and returned to "Condition 1" (normal fungal ecology). If we are talking about the contents of a structure (clothing, bedding, furniture, picture frames, etc.), then I recommend that the contents be seperated into three catagories; 1) soft, porous items like upholstered furniture and clothing, 2) semi-porous items like unfinished wood, leather, etc., and 3) non-porous items like metal, plastic, and varnished wood. Lets tackle the non-porous items first, since they are the easiest. Non-porous items can be cleaned by damp-wiping with a mild surfactant (soap and water) and disposable wipes ( the "Box of Rags" at Home Depot work very well). Semi porous items can be cleaned by a combination of HEPA vacuuming and damp-wiping, and the porous items can be cleaned by HEPA vacuuming. I always recommend that porous items such as upholstered furniture be HEPA vacuumed three times at 60 degree angles. There may be some items that just cannot be cleaned... like certain stuffed animals and mattresses. If you have problems with these items it may be best to just throw them away. Now, where do you do the cleaning? Many remediation companies have off-site cleaning facilities but the cleaning can also be done outside away from the structure. Do I recommend a full pack-out and cleaning of contents?... Rarely.  Most of the time I recommend that the items be cleaned in place, and usually just the horizontal surfaces where you would expect to find dust. One note on clothing and bedding... I always recommend that the item be laundered by the manufacturers tag. Keep in mind that we are talking about "settled spores"... If there is actual visible mold growth on the contents... well that complicates things and may mean that more of the soft goods get thrown out.  So, enough with the contents, what about settled spores in the structure itself? HEPA vacuum and wet-wipe the surfaces and you will get 90% of the settled spores. Of course, the act of HEPA vacuuming and wet-wiping will cause some of the settled spores to become airboren again so give it a few hours and then vacuum and wipe it again. Do this three of four times and you are ready for the post-remediation verification sampling (final clearance testing). Mold remediation is certainly not rocket science, but it does take a methodical, logical, and repeated approach to do it correctly.