Mould killer shortage rocks city

Stores across Brisbane have sold out of mould killer as Queenslanders hit the shops in an effort to detoxify their homes.

The popular cleaning product has been stripped from supermarket and hardware shops across the city, including some Bunning stores, as the state experiences a hot bed of mould following their dampest season on record.

One photo, uploaded to social media by a Brisbane man, showed the bare shelf surrounded by empty boxes as “a sign of the times”.

“In this day and age you have to be one step ahead of the panic buyers,” one user commented.

Another wrote: “After all this rain everyone will be after that midge and mosquito killing spray again but I bought one in advance last week.

Professional cleaners recommended using vinegar, bi-carb soda, water and thick cleaning gloves and masks while removing the widely known type of fungi.

Mycologist Heike Neumeister-Kemp, who studies fungi for a living, told the ABC that using bleach and harsh chemicals only hides the toxic and does not kill the mould.

“The fungi contain melanin and the bleach just takes the colour out, but the fungi are still there, you are just masking it,” she said.

“Six weeks later it appears to come back but it was never gone.”

The expert said using 80 per cent vinegar and 20 per cent water in three separate buckets – one for rising off mould, one for water, and one for vinegar – is the best way to kill mould.

“So it actually, via osmosis, penetrates into the structure and explodes it, so you actually kill the fungi.” she said.

The toxic fungi thrives in a damp or water-damaged environment, and can cause serious health issues if inhaled.

One study outlined how more than 10 to 50 per cent of Australian homes posed as a health risk due to mould growth.

Symptoms of mould exposure include increased risk of asthma, allergies, respiratory infections and coughing.

Queensland residents are urged to stop mould in its track by using a dehumidifier, opening windows and doors when the weather permits, and checking leaky roofs and walls for the toxin.