How to get rid of mould and mildew on your walls

Seeing as it has been raining a lot over the past few weeks, especially in Lahore and Islamabad, some of our friends here on the Zameen Blog might require some help in getting rid of a pesky problem that may have emerged as a result of all this dampness.

Mildew, commonly known as fungus or ‘kayi’ in Urdu, can easily take hold in any damp area in your house, particularly bathrooms, and it is especially troublesome when it appears on white or light-coloured brick walls. It looks a little something like this:

Now if any walls in your home look anything like the picture above, first of all, you have my sympathies. But there are a few quick steps you need to take, because not only will this growth ruin your wall paint, it will also cause a musty, unpleasant odour to pervade your home. And nobody wants that.

So here’s what you have to do.

Step 1

Get your hands on some chlorine bleach. You’ll need about half a cup to prepare 4 litres of solution.

Step 2

Get a 1/3 cup of ordinary washing powder (detergent)

Step 3

Heat up 4 litres of water to lukewarm temperature and mix in the chlorine bleach and detergent. Stir with a long-handled spoon or old spatula. Now pour the mixture into a spray bottle.

Step 4

Put on some rubber gloves and spray the mixture on the mildewed area of the wall. Using a sponge, gently scrub off the top layer of mildew. Reapply and scrub until all the mildew has been removed. Make sure not to scrub too hard or you’ll mess up the paint.

If the mildew is on the ceiling, use a step-ladder and a mop to clean it up instead of a sponge.

Step 5

Rinse the area thoroughly with clean water and allow some time for it to dry up. You can point a pedestal fan at the wall if possible to accelerate this process.

Step 6

Repaint the area with anti-mildew paint if you can find some. If you can’t, good quality paint from a reputable manufacturer like Brighto Paints should do.

Good luck!