Living in a hot and humid weather such as in Malaysia can be challenging is more ways than one. One of the ways that maintaining your home can become an issue here is the growth of mold and mildew. After a few years, most home will develop these brown, black or green mold or mildew growing in your kitchen, bathroom or on the external walls of the house.

While the external walls of a house can be repainted easily to remove these unsightly black marks, getting rid of these pesky fungi in the bathroom and kitchen can be a tad bit more difficult.

Here are some ways you can get rid of mold and mildew without spending a fortune replacing tiles or hiring cleaning experts:

• Use a stiff brush and warm water and clean away any large and visible patches first.
• Now, move on to the stubborn stains by mixing a half cup of Chlorine bleach to about 1 Litre of water.
• Fill this mixture into a spray bottle and spray onto the dark stains
• Leave it on for about an hour.
• Now use a stiff brush and brush away these stubborn molds.
• Chlorine bleach is very affective as it is toxic to molds and will kill them when exposed for a long period of time.
• Alternatively, if you have no chlorine bleach or are sensitive to bleach, you can use vinegar.
• Using either white vinegar or apple cider vinegar in undiluted form and rub some, using a paintbrush, onto the mold.
• Leave the vinegar on for about an hour then brush the area with a stiff brush and rinse with clean water.
• Vinegar is less toxic than chlorine bleach but it is also gentler on your skin and does not give out noxious fumes.

Apart from bleach and vinegar, you can try using these other household products to help remove mold. Their usage method are all similar. Apply some on the mold stain, leave for half an hour to an hour, then brush it and rinse the area with water. Here are the alternatives:

1. Borax or Sodium borate, add 1 cup to one gallon of water. Put into spray bottle and spray on affected area. Warning: very toxic to humans so do not ingest.
2. Ammonia. Mix one cup ammonia and one cup water and fill into spray bottle. Warning: Do not mix Ammonia with Chlorine bleach as this will give off a poisonous gas. Use it alone only.
3. Baking soda. This product can be used dry or mixed with some water to form a paste. Rub paste on affected area.
4. 3% Hydrogen Peroxide. You can find this in pharmacies as they are used to clean wounds and cuts. Just spray it undiluted onto the mouldy area.

Please remember that all these chemicals must be used individually. Do not mix them.

Also, this guide is meant only for places with hard surfaces like bathrooms and kitchens where there are tiles.