Removing Mildew from Clothes

After a hard days work, it’s just so tempting to toss your sweat-drenched clothing all over the room and go to sleep.  This is fairly normal; we’ve all done it at one point or another, albeit to the slight horror of our parents or significant others.  Keep doing this, however, and your clothes will be subject to a disgusting phenomenon that can affect all parts of your house -- mold infestation.  When it comes to fabric, though, it’s called mildew.  If you’re not familiar with the effects of mildew, it’s easy to let these things go only to regret it later on.  From health concerns to fabric damage, leaving mold growing on your clothes is sickening in more ways than one.  Our advice? Get a head start on wiping it out.

Prevention is always better than dealing with a bad situation.  So before you have to worry about removing mildew from your clothes, try to take some safety measures first.  As mentioned above, leaving clothes in a dark corner stained with any form of liquid, is a sure fire way to attract travelling mildew.  Sauce marks, sweat, even plain water, all of these should be taken care of right away.  Have all wet clothes and fabric laundered as soon as possible.  Hang them to dry and air them out to ensure mildew will not be able to stick to the material.  Also, make sure the closets and cabinets where you keep your clothes are not damp.  These precautions should ensure the prevention of mildew growth.

If the awfully furry fungi find themselves growing all over your clothes though, it’s still not too late.  Take your clothes outside and gently brush off any molds you find.  Please wear a protective mask as you do this, the flying spores give a large number of people allergies and asthma, even when they previously didn’t have the conditions.  As mildew feeds on the fabric, some of it may have really dug in there.  So soak the clothes afterward in detergent and warm water.  The next step is very important.  Most kinds of Mildew are very photosensitive, which is why it grows in cozy dark corners.  Have your mildew infested clothes dry under the sun to kill remaining spores.

If the molds are irritatingly persistent, wash the contaminated area with 2 parts bleach in water.  As this could damage colored clothing, use an alternative mixture of lemon and salt.  Applying a 75% solution of vinegar and water as well should take care of the nasty musky smell that mildew causes.  You may apply all your laundering skills afterwards to clean the clothes.

There are other methods as well, such as applying mildicides to your clothes, closets, and cabinets.  Some use the mildicide to fog the entire room to ensure all mildew is taken care of.  Just follow the proper instructions that come with the product.  For particularly stubborn and prevalent cases, calling a service is very helpful, albeit very expensive.  Whatever method you choose to use, however, remember that prevention is better than having deal with all of this.  Keep room and clothes dry and properly cleaned always.

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