What Plant Removes 78% of Airborne Mold?
Short answer: English ivy. A study presented to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology found that English ivy removed about 78% of airborne mold in a sealed container over 12 hours. It’s a real finding, and English ivy is a nice plant to have. But here’s the honest part. It will not fix a mold problem in your home.
Why not? The study was done in a small sealed container, not a real room. Your home isn’t a sealed box. It has doors, windows, air moving through, and people coming and going. A plant in the corner can’t keep up with all of that.
More important, a plant only touches the mold spores floating in the air. It does nothing about the actual source, which is the mold growing on your walls, under your floors, or in your HVAC. That mold keeps making new spores faster than any plant could pull them out of the air.
So if you like English ivy, enjoy it. Just keep it away from pets and kids, since it’s toxic if eaten. But don’t count on it to solve mold. If you have mold growing in your home, the only real fix is to remove it at the root and deal with the moisture feeding it.
If you’ve got mold that no houseplant is going to handle, we’re here to help. We do chemical-free mold remediation across Ann Arbor, Southeast Michigan, and Northwest Ohio. Call 734-439-8800 or email peaceofmind@moldprollc.com.
