Mold can cause allergic reactions and cause children and adults alike to fall ill. For that reason, you never want to have mold growing in your own home, where your family spends a good portion of their time. But sometimes, we are simply unaware of the presence of mold. One prime location for mold to grow is your floor and area carpets. Carpets, whether made of natural or inorganic materials, are highly susceptible to mold. They can sometimes be hard to spot as well, as they may appear underneath the carpet, or within the carpet fibers. Once mold appears in a carpet, it can spread surprisingly fast throughout the entire carpet, hence it is urgent that you treat mold spots right away. Here are our tips for how you can spot mold on your carpets.

Musty Smell

One of the easiest ways to notice that there is mold on your carpets is if you detect a faint musty smell. The smell might become unnoticeable if you have been in your home or workplace for a long time, but upon entering it should be detectable, especially if someone new enters the room. For reference, it might smell like a basement, or the cupboard below your sink. If you or a visitor notices this smell, it is time to have the carpet checked for mold.

Damp Areas

There is nothing that encourages mold to grow faster than the presence of water. A leak in the floor or ceiling, or dripping from your air-conditioning unit, or even spills on the carpet, can all cause mold to grow rampantly if untreated. Do not let wet patches and damp areas go uncared for – they must be cleaned and dried as soon as possible so that mold does not get a chance to grow. If you discover that your carpet has been damp for a long time, perhaps weeks or even months, the carpet definitely needs water damage restoration services.

Discoloration

While a change in the color of your carpet should be the most obvious telltale sign that there is mold growing on it, it might in fact be hard to spot unless you go looking. That is because generally, discoloration tends to happen underneath the carpet, before affecting the pile or fibers on the upper surface. Look beneath your carpet to see if you can spot greenish or blackish dots or worse, patches in your carpet base, where it would need to go through a thorough cleaning process.

Age Of Carpet

Carpets that have been around for some time will tend to be prone to molding, like it or not. Some carpets are old enough that so much mold has grown on it, it may be better to just throw it away. However, if the mold growth is not too bad, it can still be salvaged.

Allergic Reactions

If you or someone else starts sneezing, having a runny nose, or develops other symptoms of falling ill due to being in the space where the carpet is, you must get your carpet cleaned immediately. Mold can be dangerous for people with asthma or bronchitis.