Mold is terrible. It is smelly, annoying, and destructive. Not only does it stain surfaces within the house, causing your space to look very unpleasant, it can also cause damage to your structures by eating away at your building materials like walls and furniture. So it only makes sense that once you notice mold, you want to get rid of it immediately.

The idea that bleach will help completely get rid of the mold in your home is a common misconception that has been sold by big bleach marketing agencies and websites.

The primary function of bleach is to disinfect (chlorine bleach) and to bleach (change color).

Chlorine bleach can help eliminate mold on hard non-porous surfaces like sinks, bathtubs, tiles, or glass. This is because the roots of the mold do not penetrate through this surface and so it is easily wiped off.

However, when mold grows on a porous material like wood or drywall, it spreads its root deep into the material to reach more nutrients. So when you apply bleach to such a surface, you are merely changing the mold’s color on the surface. Bleach quickly dries off on the surface and will not reach into the deeper part of the material to the mold’s root. So, in a few days or weeks, the mold regains its color and grows back to become even worse than it was before you applied the bleach.

The fact is that bleach might work well on a non-porous surfaces like tiles, sinks etc., it is not worth trying due to the numerous health hazards associated with it.