Homes shelter you from external threats, but sometimes, dangers lurk within the home. Excessive mold growth causes a range of health concerns, from difficulty breathing to congestion. Whether they’re indoors or outdoors, warm and humid atmospheres create the perfect growing conditions for mold. Like bathrooms, your kitchen is one of the most humid spaces within your home, making it highly susceptible to mold. Here are some tips on minimizing mold growth in your kitchen to make your home safer and more enjoyable.

Between the plumbing, spills, windows, evaporation, and condensation, there are multiple water and moisture sources in the kitchen. One of the most common and likely culprits for creating ideal damp spaces for mold growth is leaks. They often occur from loose pipework and windowsills letting in some rain. Checking and sealing any leaks or their sources eliminates the creation of mold-worthy surfaces, keeping your kitchen mold-free and healthy.

Alongside leaks is their partner in crime, humidity. Kitchens create humid atmospheres from the upsurge in heat and surrounding moisture outlets. The warm air mixed with water vapor sticking to surfaces feeds mold growth. Increasing your kitchen’s ventilation with fans and other HVAC solutions circulates the air and reduces water vapor buildup, keeping the humidity levels low.

The best flooring for your kitchen consists of water-resistant properties. Not only does the water resistance makes cleaning easier, but it also helps reduce mold growth. Collected moisture plays a huge part in creating mold-worthy spaces, especially when moisture accumulates in dark corners. Installing numerous water-resistant design features in your kitchen minimizes the risks of moisture and dampness in the kitchen and makes any spills or collected water easy to clean. Aside from water-resistant floors, other design features that help minimize mold growth include stone counters and large windows bringing in lots of natural light.

Mold likes to situate itself in the nooks and crannies of dark corners. Due to their design, many appliances and cabinets provide the perfect shaded, damp, and hidden space that mold needs. Although it’s hard to shed natural light into cupboards and onto all of your major kitchen appliances, simply cleaning them regularly helps minimize mold growth. Cleaning prevents collected moisture from building up. Plus, the residue of chemicals from the cleaning products creates inadequate growing conditions for the mold.

From upgraded design features to sealing leaks, implementing different means of minimizing mold growth keeps your kitchen space healthy and clean. With mold out of the way, your home returns to operating as a safe space that you and your family can enjoy.