Purchasing The Correct Mold Testing Kit For Your Home

When you find what you suspect may be mold growth in your home whether it is on the walls of your bedroom, in the basement or the crawl space of your house or possibly in your closet it is always wise to identify the type of mold before attempting any sort of clean up.

Why? Well, certain molds are fairly harmless, maybe causing some minor irritation like itchy eyes, headaches or aggravating some existing illness such as asthma. Others, can be dangerously toxic and should only be dealt with by professionals.

To enable you to determine mold types in your home there are an array of different home mold testing kits on the market. As always the choice can be confusing with certain kits designed for a specific type of test.

So, in an attempt to help you choose what kind of mold testing kit you should purchase shown below are some different types of kit and an explanation of their uses.

1. The Lift Tape Mold Test Kit

This type of mold test kit is great if you are already 100% certain that the growth you have uncovered is definitely mold but still need to establish the type. It may be used to test the surfaces of floors, walls, ceilings, furniture and so on.

This mold testing kit could not be more straight forward to use, simply peel back the tape from the tacky surface and press the sticky side of the tape gently onto the mold surface. All you need to do then is replace the covering over the tacky surface and take it off for laboratory analysis.

Remember - you will have to use one mold test kit per surface.


2. The Instant Mold Test Kit

This mold testing kit will give you an answer straight away - well, in around 10 minutes to be more accurate - whether the staining you are worried about is actually mold. What it will not tell you is the actual strain of mold, you will still need laboratory analysis to decide whether it is toxic and/or potentially damaging to health.

Once again this mold testing kit is very simple to use. Remove the swab out of the tube - be sure you don't touch the end of the swab. Swab the suspect area and then return the swab to the tube. Shake the test tube and leave for around 10 minutes then check the color against the color chart which is included in the kit.

With this mold testing kit also you will require a new kit for each area you want to test.

3. The Viable Mold Test Kit.


The Viable mold test kit is possibly the one which has most uses for a mold testing kit which does not require laboratory testing.

You can use this mold testing kit to confirm whether there is mold present and also the strain of mold. This kit is suitable also for use in testing the air quality of your house and the heating system.

This mold testing lit includes a Petri dish with gel in it and a swab. To carry out the test simply swab the suspected mold then rub the swap over the gel in the dish, replace the lid and allow it to germinate for a few of days - normally anything from 3 to 7 days.

Should you want to use it to test the air quality of a room you will require 2 mold test kits. Remove lids off both - place one in the room and the second should be located outside but still close to the room you are testing.

Leave the the mold kits in place for approximately one hour before replacing the lids. In about 7 days you should have some mold growth.

Next, compare the results. If both show the same strains of mold growth then the mold found in your room is actually representative of what is found in the general environment. If differences are found and the Petri dish from the room is displaying additional or different kinds of mold growth it is certainly wise to have it analysed at a laboratory.

To check your heating system, close all vents leaving one which is furthest away from the heating/cooling system open. Turn on the system on the maximum setting for about 10 minutes with the mold test kit attached to the open vent. Once the 10 minutes is up close the dish and again allow it to sit for 7 days maximum.

A note note of caution - if you discover that there is significant mold growth in the Petri dish used to test the heating/cooling system it would be sensible to have it properly checked out at a laboratory.