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Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. Found Mold? Featured Video. Article Sources. The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Read More. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for TheSpruce. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. Mold and mildew are both types of fungi that can thrive indoors and affect your health or cause structural damage to your property.
So, in order to come up with an efficient cleaning strategy and ensure the safety of your living environment, you need to understand the difference between mold and mildew. Mildew can be described as a specific type of mold. Mold is a fungus that contains multiple identical nuclei and grows in the form of black or green patches which penetrate beneath the surface of the affected material.
Mildew, on the other hand, has flat growth that remains on the surface where it can be easily removed. While mold usually grows on food or inside permanent structures, such as walls and crawl spaces, mildew is to be found on damp surfaces, paper, fabrics, and various organic materials in your home. Primarily, mildew is a plant disease that causes great damage to crops and plants. It is classified as powdery and downy:. Although the number of mold species that can live indoors exceeds 10, according to the latest CDC estimates , most household molds belong to one of the following five types :.
Toxic black mold is the most harmful kind of household mold. When this happens mold can start growing. Both mold and mildew are fungi. Note that both can lead to irritation and health problems, too! One of the most common mildew examples — in a bathroom where moisture is present.
As I mentioned earlier, mildew and mold are both fungi and have many similarities. There are a few things that set it apart from mold, however:. Mildew is very often found growing on items with a damp surface like paper, fabric, leather, and other common household items that may get wet.
People with basements in their homes often have the headache of fighting mildew and use dehumidifiers to help prevent it. Some of the symptoms of fungal spores are headaches, pains, respiratory problems and coughing, nausea, and much more. In extreme cases especially when exposed to mycotoxins from black mold permanent.
A closeup view of aspergillus species mold under a microscope. Mold spores are often too small to see with the naked eye and are a few microns millionths of a meter in size, making them microscopic and easy to breathe in.
When mold or mildew is present, it will continue to generate spores you can breathe in. This leads to a number of mild to serious health problems. These are some of the less serious side effects of exposure.
More serious and extreme consequences can include:. In fact reports of the possible harmful effects of black mold have been around since the s. In the US Center for Disease Control verified that in Cleveland, Ohio, a number of infants became sick and died from bleeding in the lungs after very high exposure to black mold spores.
Former syndicated radio show host Tom Leykis, once the host of one of the most popular radio shows, suffered the permanent effects of black mold in his home. You agree that BobVila. All rights reserved. Expert advice from Bob Vila, the most trusted name in home improvement, home remodeling, home repair, and DIY. Mold vs. Mildew Though these two potentially harmful household fungi are often talked about in the same breath, they each have unique traits that can help you tell them apart.
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