Cleaning Expert Reveals Surprising Household Ingredient That Can Kill Black Mold for Good—and It’s Not Bleach By Realtor.com

Awoman who owns a small cleaning business is sharing her secret tips for getting into the nooks and crannies of a dirty refrigerator—and the common household ingredient that can help you eliminate black mold from the appliance for good.

The cleaning expert, known online as Ashly A., or @landonsmomjanuary13, shared her advice in a viral video.

While many use bleach to try to combat mold, this is a serious mistake, she warned. Bleach doesn’t kill the mold; instead, it masks the mold from view, which means the refrigerator could still be covered with the toxic fungus, which you can’t see.

Instead, she advised using a different cleaning agent that will go beyond hiding the problem, and actually eradicate it: hydrogen peroxide.

Sharing a short video transformation of a refrigerator that was once covered in black mold along its rubber seals, Ashly revealed how quickly hydrogen peroxide dealt with the problem.

“Did you know that hydrogen peroxide actually kills black mold while bleach only bleaches it?” she explained in her video.

She went on to detail her cleaning method, saying the best way to apply hydrogen peroxide is to put it in a spray bottle, apply it to the affected areas, and then rub them down with a magic eraser to wipe away the mold.

Once that is done, you respray the hydrogen peroxide and leave it.

“I see black mold in the seal of fridges a lot of the time,” Ashly explained. “If you spray hydrogen peroxide and use a Magic Eraser to wipe away the mold, then spray hydrogen peroxide and just let it sit. Hydrogen peroxide will actually kill black mold and keep from regrowing!”

Many viewers were left in shock, with some voicing horror over the likelihood of their homes harboring invisible mold.

“Wow so we’ve been dying mold blonde,” one commented.

“I had a doctor tell me they clean their offices and exam rooms with peroxide instead of bleach because it’s healthier and bleach doesn’t work as well as people think,” another person wrote.

One suggested an alternative method: white vinegar.

“Spray it, let it sit for 15 minutes, and wipe away—it prevents future mold too,” the viewer advised.

Another advocate for hydrogen peroxide piped in: “Pro tip hydrogen peroxide kills all living bacteria it touches. Good bacteria and bad.”

However, some viewers appeared reluctant to follow her advice—with Ashly later speaking out to defend her hack against critics.

“I did a little research for you guys and it actually shows that hydrogen peroxide is effective and it can penetrate porous surfaces,” she said in the follow-up clip. “And it is recommended more than bleach.

“I also did a little bit of a deep dive on bleach and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not recommend or suggest using bleach in any way shape or form to kill mold.

“Upon further research, it states that more cleaning products are actually using hydrogen peroxide in them for cleaning because of how effective it is.”

Ashly also gave her seal of approval to vinegar: “A lot of you had also talked about vinegar and vinegar does, in fact, help with cleaning mold and it kill it,” she said.

“So all of you out there using vinegar, keep doing you. If I didn’t care so much about the smell of vinegar I would probably use it more.”

According to the nonprofit medical center Cleveland Clinic, hydrogen peroxide is safe for many uses and “is often used in non-medical situations, including for cleaning, disinfecting and stain removal.”

The site also offers a list of other uses for the liquid in the famous brown bottle: disinfecting bathtubs, sinks, showers, counters, cutting boards, door knobs, garbage cans, mirrors, refrigerators, toilets, and toys.

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Source: www.realtor.com