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Carol asked: How do I remove mold from a plastic yogurt container used for yogurt making? The 2-liter container which goes into our incubator has a mold line near the top. I washed it well, but fear the mold may be the cause that our yoghurt processing has not functioned correctly the last two times. We could not find a specific ratio of bleach to water for removing mold from plastic food containers. We need to know that amount and the length of time to leave it in the container.
Anywhere that there is moisture, mold spores can thrive. Mold can be dangerous in so many ways and cause problems when it enters the body. Use these steps to quickly rid your plastic pieces of mold and freshen up your dishes.
You Will Need:
- Non-ammonia soap or detergent
- Bleach
- Water
- Soft cloth or sponge
- Rubber gloves (optional)
Steps to Remove the Mold
- Begin by washing away any visible mold from the surface of the plastic using a dish soap or detergent that does not contain ammonia. Ammonia is avoided because bleach is used in the following step. If bleach and ammonia mix, it creates toxic fumes.
- Mix a bleach solution with ½ cup of bleach and 1 gallon of water. For mold that cannot be cleaned off, use a stronger strength solution of 1 cup bleach and 1 gallon of water.
- Place the plastic container in the solution so that all of the moldy areas are completely submerged.
- Allow the moldy areas to sit in the bleach solution for at least 15 minutes.
- Remove and wash away all bleach with a non-ammonia soap or detergent.
- Allow the piece to dry completely before use.
Additional Tips and Ideas
- The sun is a natural mold remover. Set the piece in the direct sunlight for several hours to remove any remaining traces of mold.
- Be sure to ventilate the area well and use rubber gloves when working with bleach. The liquid and fumes can be irritating to the eyes and skin.
- If the mold is visibly setting on top of the surface of the plastic, it can be removed by very carefully scraping it away with a razor. Use caution not to cut into the plastic.
- Do not try to use the dishwasher to kill the mold. There is a chance that the temperature won’t be high enough to be effective, and mold spores will then be deposited on your other dishes and within your machine.
- An alternate to bleach is using white vinegar. The vinegar will remove the mold without the harsh fumes. Follow the same applications as above.
- Disinfecting the plastic pieces regularly will help deter mold build-up. Quickly drying each piece will keep the moisture away that mold requires to grow.
According to the manufacturers of Tupperware, the only (non-toxic) way to truly remove mold spores from plastic is to soak it in white vinegar. (I imagine other vinegars might work too, but white is generally used for cleaning purposes.) I would try this and then dry it in the sunshine before I tried to clean a food-related item with bleach.
I need to remove mold from colored plastics (toys), so I am hesitant to use bleach. Will vinegar preserve the color?
Hello,
I have orange mold inside my coffee maker. I lifted the lid to remove the grinds and was met with flood of orange mold all over the inside the lid and where the basket goes. These parts can’t be removed so now I am stuck with this mess. Any ideas what to use to remove this nasty, nasty stuff!
Nancy,
Vinegar will kill most kinds of mold. First, unplug the coffee maker. Soak a paper towel with white vinegar and wipe away as much of the mold as you can reach. A toothbrush or scrub brush soaked with vinegar could help you reach the mold in any crevices; the article How to Clean a Keurig Coffee Maker with Vinegar and a Toothbrush might help. Then, fill a spray bottle with vinegar and spray the affected areas on the coffee maker to remove any mold spores. The vinegar smell will dissipate when dry. Finally, run a cycle of diluted vinegar through the coffee maker to remove any spores from inside the system.
Source: Mother Nature Network – Kill mold naturally – 5 eco-friendly ideas
I cleaned my plastic blender cup of the mold I found using the bleach method and ran it through the dishwasher twice afterwards. It still kinda smells of mold on the inside and I’m hesitant to use it, however these are expensive. How do I get rid of the smell? I’m in Minnesota and a winter storm front is coming so there may not be a lot of sunlight for a while. Does a lingering smell mean lingering live spores?
Tom,
Try using vinegar; it is great for removing odors as well as for killing mold. Just fill the blender cup with a diluted vinegar solution and allow it to soak for several minutes. Then pour out the vinegar solution, rinse, and once the vinegar smell is gone (dried), the mold smell should be gone as well.
Remember only white vinegar actually kills the spores whereas bleach may clean mold it doesn’t kill it.
I forgot about coffee left in the pot and now have a major science project happening. On top of the liquid coffee there is mold growing. I am not sure how to dispose of the coffee/mold. I am afraid to run it down my garbage disposal for fear it will become airborne as it is going down drain and churning in the disposal. Any suggestions to safely dispose of it?
Kelle,
That’s smart – I made that mistake one time (pouring the moldy coffee water down the disposal) and it was terrible. Instead, you can pour it into a disposable drink cup (coffee) or soup cup that has a lid. Another idea is to pour it into a Ziploc bag. Good luck!
I am forever trying to get rid of mold inside my Dyson hose pipe. I have tried putting bleach down and scrubbing with a radiator cleaner, and am getting no where. I can’t really afford to get another; please help. Thanks in advance.
Roxanne,
Mold is a fungus, which spreads by spores. If there is mold in your vacuum’s hose, there is likely mold throughout the vacuum system as well, so in order to remove it, you need to completely take apart the vacuum and clean each part. If you don’t want to take the vacuum apart for cleaning yourself, call a vacuum repair shop and ask if they will do the cleaning. For more vacuum cleaning ideas, see the article, How to Clean a Vacuum.
My grandma taught me to pour dirty water, used “bleach water,” or anything nasty outdoors on the ground, away from the house and pets or humans. I dump old dishwashing water way in the back of my yard. I am careful not to dump near my neighbors or anywhere it could get into the ground water. After I cleaned some plastic shelf lining paper with bleach/water solution recommended, I then poured the excess outdoors.
I would search around on the web! Telling people to use bleach with plastic is potentially dangerous. Due the porous nature of plastic, never use bleach to clean it!
Bleaching dishes/Tupperware is perfectly harmless if you rinse with an acidic substance afterwards. I would recommend thoroughly washing as much bleach out as possible with water first, so you don’t create a big puff of chlorine gas. Then, splash a little vinegar into the Tupperware and make sure it contacts all the surfaces. Any tiny remnants of bleach will be neutralized fully by the vinegar and you’ll be left with nothing but water. Just don’t huff the resulting vapor.
A non-toxic way of ridding plastic of mould spores after soaking it with vinegar, then washing with dish soap, is sticking it in the freezer, provided it is dry before it goes in. Mould lives at specific temperatures, and cold kills it just as heat would, without ruining the plastic. This only works if the whole thing is plastic – metal or other substances react to cold in different ways and could cause cracks.
Hi, I have an outside spa with a plastic inside. I have left the water inside all winter with the cover on and when I have opened it, the plastic where the water line is has gone mouldy. I have tried bleach and the liquids the pool cleaner brings to clean the water line, but it does not come off. Can u suggest something? Thanks.
For those who want the ‘cliff notes version’…
1) Wipe it with a paper towel.
2) Rinse it.
3) Put a 5% bleach solution** (1:16 ratio, bleach to water) in and wait 30 minutes.
4) Dump the solution; rinse well.
5) Clean as normal with soap and very hot water. The dishwasher works very well, especially if you add vinegar to the wash water (1/4 to 1/2 cup) after you have done steps 1-4!
I plan on using this article today to clean my reusable coffee mug’s seal around the lid. But I have another question; we have a turtle and I use the vinegar to clean his tank and filter parts, but I am wondering if I can also use it to clean and extend the life of the filter itself. What do you think?
Hank,
Do you mean to clean the actual carbon? That’s an interesting idea! I’m not sure it would really work to the point needed though. Carbon absorbs materials from the water, including heavy metals, chlorine, and other non-bacterial bad-for-your-turtle things. While the vinegar might kill the bacterial/organic content in the carbon, it would not do anything for the other things. In order to clean the carbon, it would need to release the materials that it has absorbed.
There are some places online that recommend boiling or baking the carbon to ‘”reactivate” it, but according to the article Activated Carbon by Dr. Tim A. Hovanec, the carbon would need to be heated to 2000+ degrees to be reactivated, so those ideas wouldn’t work.
The easiest way to cut down on the cost of filter replacements would probably be to make your own filters. The teabag method (Method #2) on WonderHowTo might work. There are ‘bulk’ containers of carbon available at pet stores and online, so you would just need to determine if the amount of carbon you need to fill a teabag would be cheaper bought in bulk than buying a pre-made filter.
Hi, I do not remember plastic getting all moldy when I was a kid in the 60’s. Seems too common these days. Could it be due to the process of recycling plastics that items get so terribly affected in the 2000s?
Maah,
There are different types of plastic, some of which are more porous than others and are therefore more prone to mold and bacteria growth.
Source: HowToCleanStuff – Natural Store-Bought Glass Cleaners Put to the Test
Source: The Brooklyn Rail – A Brief History of Plastic
How do you clean a Tervis tumbler lid? I can not get the mold out from under the sliding mouth piece. The dishwasher does not work and I can not get a brush up under it to clean it out. Any ideas would be helpful.
Hi Stacy,
Soaking in white vinegar can also help as vinegar is a natural mold remover, but you really want to clean out the mold residue as well. To do that, try using denture tablets. Place the lid in a bowl of water and drop in the denture tab; let it fizz and that should help remove the mold. Another idea is to sprinkle baking soda into the lid, then spray on a little white vinegar – that mixture will fizz up, jarring off the mold. Ultimately though, if you aren’t sure that the mold has been removed, it would be best to replace the cup/lid with one that can be thoroughly cleaned. Contigo recently redesigned the lid on their travel cups so that it can be completely taken apart for cleaning. Good luck!