Removing Mildew from Clothing and Books

Typically you will have mildew problems in your kitchen or bathroom, especially on tiles and tile grout, however mildew can still grow in any number of warm and damp environments and you will sometimes find this mold on unusual surfaces like clothing, upholstery and even books. There are specific cleaners that you can buy for cleaning these items and the instructions are straight forward but here are a few extra tips to help you on your way.

When cleaning textiles be aware that there are quite a few homemade recipes that you can try before you consider buying a commercial cleaning product. Of course remember that when cleaning colored fabrics you should test them to make sure they are colorfast. If they are then one recipe you could try is soaking the textile in a gallon of water and a cup of buttermilk. Leave the fabric in this solution over night before machine washing on a cold cycle.

Mold and mildew removal from leather is a slightly trickier proposition. For starters brush off as much of the surface mildew as you can. This should be outdoors to avoid spreading the spores further around your home. Make a small mixture of water and denatures alcohol (keep this away from children), dip in a cleaning cloth and wipe away remaining mold. If you need to clean the leather further then just use a regular washing up liquid with water and let the leather dry completely before polishing.

If you really want to test your mildew removal skills, then try getting it off books and other paper products! The first step is to make sure the paper is completely dry. You can either stick the book or paperwork in a warm but dry and well ventilated space or sprinkle cornstarch over it which will draw out the moisture. Once bone dry, then just use a dry clean and soft cloth to gently wipe away the mold spores. Sometimes the mildew will leave behind a stain but there’s not much you can do about that.