MOULD, GOOD OR BAD?

Mould, do we need it? If so, how do we live with it? If not, how do we get rid of it?

Mould can be a boring, yucky subject, or it can be a vital and rivetingly interesting. Most people only think of mould in negative terms, eg: it smells horrible, gets up my nose and ruins my shoes and jackets.

Maybe this short piece will enlighten you with some facts on what a truly marvellous living organism that mould is.

Are you aware, for instance, that moulds main purpose for existing is to eat and reproduce? How cool would that be?! I don’t think there would be a man alive who wouldn’t agree that this is the ultimate dream job.

Alright, now I’ve got you thinking that mould isn’t all bad. Mould is actually the most prolific living organism on earth, it makes up around 25 % of the earth’s bio mass, and life as we know it today would not exist without it.

Every living breathing growing thing, including animals, vegetables, plants, grass, fish, porcupines, yes, you get the picture, will eventually die. And what happens to us when we die, we go back to the earth with a lot of help from mould. Mould will eventually break down every living mass on the planet and rot it back to the earth.

Mould even plays a major part in keeping trees alive by bringing water to them. A certain type of mould attaches itself to a tree and uses this tree as its host. It then spreads in all directions seeking moisture. Remember what I said about the feeding and reproducing? Well, this is about the feeding; I’ll give you the juicy bits about the reproducing in a minute.

Ok, we have the tree, we have the mould attaching itself to the roots of the tree, and we have the mould spreading as much as one kilometre seeking water. This water finds its way back to the tree via microscopic hollows in the mould and feeds the tree, a perfect parasitic relationship between the tree and mould. You can see this relationship in action when you see a road or opening cut through the bush. The road cuts a path through the trees and in doing so the long microscopic mould tentacles are broken, interrupting the supply of water. Eventually the tree will wither and die through lack of water.

Mould is also very hardy

It has been discovered healthily growing under the ice in the Antarctic and in the Sahara Desert. Mould is the ultimate survivor. In fact mould has been around in its present form for more than 10 million years doing the same old thing - eating and reproducing.

Reproducing...

In fact the reproducing part is the cleverest thing it does. Let me explain. When you disturb the average boring old bit of mould it immediately thinks, ah, I’m being attacked and I quickly need to guarantee I survive by sending out microscopic spores. For simplicity we‘ll call these mould spores, another term is off gassing.

These mould spores float in the air current and are carried where ever the breeze blows them, until they land on a new source of nutrient that they can grow on and start the growth cycle all over again.

The other really interesting thing is that during the life circle of mould they can actually change their sex. How convenient?!

Even though we can’t live without mould in certain conditions, life is pretty uncomfortable trying to live with it in our day to day living space. Headaches, allergies, mood swings, depression are just a few of the symptoms occupants of damp mouldy properties can suffer from. In fact the Australian Institute of Architects has reported that up to 40% of Australian homes have a dampness problem. It is now well documented that mould issues are contributing to Sick Building Syndrome.

If you suspect you have a mould issue in your life, what can you do?

Two of the most important things are to introduce plenty of natural sunlight into your building and ensure it has adequate ventilation. Also resist cleaning with bleach or chlorine as all these chemicals do is take the colour out of mould. The mould is still there but it’s now invisible. Vinegar and water is more suitable and so is Aqua Magic, a chemical-free cleaner. If the problem persists, invest some time and contact our knowledgeable and experienced team here at, Moisture Cure.