Heat can effectively kill mold and there are lots of appliances like heaters ovens or dryers that can produce heat to destroy mold. If you want to kill mold without damaging soft or hard surfaces, you must know what temperature kills mold. In this case, you can use around 140 to 160-degree temperature to kill mold.
However, you’ll need to control the humidity level inside the hose and prevent moisture build-up to avoid bold spores build up.
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What is The Right Temperature To Kill Mold?
Most molds and yeasts are heat sensitive and you can destroy them by applying heat treatment at around 140-160°F or 60-71°C. So whether you want to kill molds on walls, wood, clothes, or grills, around 140 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit will be good enough to kill them. However, some molds can make heat-resistant spores and service heat treatment particularly those in preserved vegetable products.
They need oxygen to grow. These molds get oxygen while keeping thermally processed acidified vegetables in cracked or improperly sealed containers or jars. The spores that grow under these conditions, service heat treatment and grow on the liquid surface inside of the jar.
How To Kill Mold Using Temperature?
You can follow plenty of methods and use plenty of appliances or chemicals to remove mold from kitchen, walls, wood, or cloth. They can even use temperature to kill mold. Both extreme heat and cold temperatures can kill mold spores.
1. Killing Mold in Cold Temperature
Place your mold-covered items in a zipper storage bag and put it in the freezer. This way you can prevent the items from contacting other fresh items inside the freezer. Leave the items for a few hours in the freezer. Then take your items from the freezer and clean them using soapy water. If you have put fabric in the freezer, wash it in the washing machine.
2. Killing Mold in Hot Temperature
To kill mold-covered fabric at a hot temperature, place these in the dryer. It isn’t fabric, put it in the dishwasher and set the dry setting. But if the item is made of stone or wood, put it in the oven and apply the lowest setting.
Appliances You Can Use To Kill Mold With Hot Temperature
Killing mold using the heat method is a safer choice as it reduces the risk of using chemicals and other dangerous products. In this case, you can use these appliances to kill mold with heat method:
1. Heat Gun
A heat gun is an effective tool to kill mold, however, it gets extremely hotter. You can use a heat gun to kill mold in furniture, baseboards, and other solid items. However, you have to be extra careful while using a heat gun to kill mold as it can be up to 1100 degrees Fahrenheit or 593 degrees Celsius.
2. Heater
You can use a heater to kill mold from the walls, furniture, or the whole house. Heater will also help you warm the house and reduce humidity to prevent future mold growth. In this case, you’ll need to use a central heater as it can produce sufficient heat to reduce average humidity from the entire house. However central heater won’t work in some places with high mold colonies.
In this case, you will need to use a portable heater or hair dryer to destroy the mold colony. To do so, turn on the heater and set the highest settings. Then keep the heater moving around the surfaces that have mold to avoid burning the original item. Heat the surface continuously for around 15 to 20 minutes and then scrap the mold off.
3. Dryers
If you want to kill mold on toys, clothes, or other small materials using temperature, you can apply a dryer. Simply place the moldy items in dryers, set the dryer on the highest setting, and wait for around 20 to 25 minutes. Then clean the items.
4. Ovens
You can also use the oven to kill mold. But if you don’t use it properly, your items can get damaged completely. So put only the things that can endure hot oven temperature and apply the lowest setting on the oven. Keep the items for only around 25 minutes inside oven to kill mold from them.
Best Temperature To Prevent Mold Growth At Home
Set your air conditioner at 78 degrees Fahrenheit or lower to prevent mold growth in the house in summer. If you want to leave house for a few days for vacation, don’t increase the temperature. The highest setting won’t offer enough dehumidification to prevent spores from growing.
However, temperature isn’t the only factor that affects mold build-up. Mold requires moisture and dark places to grow. It means humidity has a great impact on the home.
Hence mold problems mostly occur in summer. So if you want to control mold build-up in a home, keep the humidity level between 30 to 60. In this case, you can use smart thermostats or humidistats to get humidity readings in various parts of your home.
If you want to control the home humidity level without ruining the AC all the time, set the forced air system to fan-only mode. It will help circulate air without cooling or heating AC. you can also use room dehumidifiers to dry basements or other areas that get damp.
Do Cold Temperatures Affect Mold Growth?
Though mold usually grows well in moist and warm environments, some kinds of mold can grow in cold temperatures. Some species of mold can grow and survive between 32 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit or 0 to 25 degrees Celsius. Cold temperatures can slow down mold growth. But it can’t prevent mold from growing completely.
So if mold spores get moisture, they can start growing even in cold weather. So you should reduce humidity levels and fix the sources of moisture even during winter to prevent mold growth in your home.
FAQs on What Temperature Kills Mold
Does Boiling Or Steaming Kill Mold On Food?
You can boil or steam food to kill mold. If you want to kill mold spores from foods, you’ll need to boil or steam them thoroughly. But if your food is infected with organisms or spore-forming bacteria, it can cause food poisoning. In this case, steaming or boiling the food won’t remove toxins.
What Temperature Does Mold Form?
Mold grows well at around 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature is also comfortable for humans. Temperature gradients can also produce moisture which is required for mold buildup.
Does Sunlight Kill Black Mold?
The UV light of sunlight can penetrate the surface and destroy mold. If you want to kill mold from hard-to-reach places, you can use sunlight. Sunlight exposure also helps prevent mold buildup in the future.
Final Words
Most mold die at around 140 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. So if you have mold on the wall, cloth, or around the house, set the required temperature on your preferred appliance and kill mold. Then keep the humidity level in the house controlled to avoid future mold build-up. Finally, keep all the windows and doors open during summer to let the sunlight kill and prevent moisture or mold build up in the house.
