What Kills Black Mold Instantly?

The short answer: bleach and hot water.

How does this work? How do we kill black mold instantly with bleach and hot water? The secret is surface area and concentration.

“Surface Area and Concentration”

This is how it works: Bleach is sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). When you mix it in water, it turns into hydrochloric acid (HCl) + sodium hydroxide (NaOH). As long as the two chemicals remain separate, HCl will eat away at organic material such as your skin, while NaOH will work against that to keep things balanced. Mixing bleach with too little water won’t get rid of enough HCl, though; adding too much water dilutes the bleach and won’t produce an intense enough HCl concentration to kill black mold instantly.
What kills black mold instantly is bringing these two chemicals together to create hypochlorous acid (HOCl). HOCl is a powerful oxidizing agent that will quickly destroy organic material. So by adding hot water to bleach, you’re increasing the surface area where these two chemicals can combine and form HOCl. And since HOCl is so powerful, it will quickly kill any black mold it comes in contact with.

So there you have it – how to kill black mold instantly with bleach and hot water! Just be sure to mix them in the right proportions for the best. And always take safety precautions when working with bleach and hot water!

FYI: This article describes what my husband and I did to kill black mold in our bathrooms. We tried many different cleaning products, but nothing worked until we finally found this combination of bleach and hot water on Google. You can read more about that here: Bleach + Hot Water = Instant Mold Removal.

If you’re trying to clean your home, medication cabinet, or work office space, don’t forget to search online for “mold [PLACE]” to see if black mold has been detected there before! When it’s found inside an air-conditioned space, black mold removal should always be done by professionals because the spores will continue to multiply after you’ve killed the current crop.

The chemical formula for bleach is NaOCL. The hypo- part means it contains less oxygen than another compound that would be written exactly like this. So hypochlorites are chemicals that have less oxygen than chlorine gas (Cl2). Now, sodium hydroxide is an entirely different beast. It’s also called lye and caustic soda. Always wear protective gear when cleaning with bleach and hot water.