Cleaning Moldy Wet Clothes

Our first instinct when we come into contact with clothing that has been contaminated by moldy Wet Clothes is to throw it away. Depending on the lifestyle you’re currently living, as in whether you work a full time job or have children or other matters to tend to, it might indeed be more beneficial to your situation to just throw them away. But, if you have a little more time on your hands and a little patience, you can keep the clothing that was covered in mold as long as you’re careful to completely decontaminate it.

Most items can be cleaned and the mold gotten rid of, but one thing that mold tends to do is cause stains. If you’re dealing with white clothing, you can possibly use bleach to remove them, but the longer you let the Wet clothes sit without treating them, the more difficult it will be to remove the stain in the long run. A brush can be used to remove the mold and putting a pre-wash spray onto it and soaking it in water and laundry soap can be a good way to begin the process of removing the stain. Let it soak in the water around 45 minutes and then wash it in the washing machine. The best thing that you can do after they’re done washing is to let them dry outside naturally on a clothes line in the sun instead of using the clothes dryer in the laundry room. Using this artificial heat source can hinder your effort to remove the stain, but putting white clothes outside in the sun can actually help whiten them.

If you have something made of real leather and mold grows on it, the easiest thing to do is throw it away. Leather items can usually not be restored back to their former condition after becoming contaminated with mold.

If you need to clean mold off of furniture or anything else made of cloth, using the brush method mentioned a minute ago is the best way to go about doing this. Using a vacuum cleaner that has a hose and brush attachment piece can help in making sure that the mold spores get sucked up into the vacuum instead of into your air conditioning system. Clean the item where the mold was with a clean white rag and laundry or dish liquid, as long as you’re sure that the cleaner won’t stain the fabric.


Jim Corkern is a writer and promoter of
Texas Water Damage Restoration and
Houston Water Damage Restoration Which are Certified IICRC Water damage and mold remediation contractors.