Where does mold come from? Do you risk “taking it with you” when moving from a moldy apartment to a not moldy one?
In: Biology
In a technical sense, yes, you can ‘bring it with you’ by transporting some mold bodies or spores from one place to another.
In a practical sense, no, this doesn’t have a very meaningful impact on whether your new place will be moldy or not. Mold spores are *everywhere*, they get on *everything*. The cleanest and most mold-free apartment in town, still has a light dusting of mold spores on every surface. The difference between a moldy apartment and a not-moldy one, is whether there’s anywhere for those spores to land and grow into a fungal colony. In order to do that, mold needs to land somewhere that:
– stays humid most/all the time
– isn’t too hot or cold
– doesn’t get much sunlight
– doesn’t get frequent cleaning.
And the most important one is humidity. If your new place is kept dry, then all the mold spores in the world won’t be able to colonize it. And if your new place is damp and dark, then mold will take hold no matter *how* carefully you cleaned your things before moving.
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