How to prevent mold/fungus grows on wood. Fungus is one of the microorganisms that cause the color of wood to change and then cause decay if the quantity is excessive. Because fungus is not able to produce their own food, they depend on several natural materials including leather, cotton, rattan, paper and wood.
In terms of its relationship with wood, there are 4 main requirements before fungi can be grow on wood, namely: oxygen supply, air temperature between 5-38 °C, high humidity and of course the presence of wood. We just have to overcome one of these conditions to prevent the wood on furniture or building construction from getting moldy.
It’s pretty clear that we can’t limit the presence of oxygen around wood because humans need it too.
The air temperature needed by fungus to live is in the same range as humans and other living things. Even some types of mushrooms can live at temperatures below 0 °C. So in this section it is equally difficult to limit. The most effective method is to keep the wood dry. That is why wood must be kiln dried at an MC level of 8-14% before being processed into furniture or other constructions (buildings or bridges). Most fungi begin to live on wood that has an MC level above 20%. Below that level, it is very difficult for the fungus to start spreading.
Furniture
For furniture in the room, with fairly stable air conditions and fairly low humidity, it is still possible to avoid mold, or it can be said that it is easy to prevent the furniture from growing mold. But for outdoor furniture is a challenge in itself. Therefore, outdoor furniture manufacturers must always be careful in choosing the type of wood for outdoor furniture. There are several types of wood that already have natural chemicals in the form of ‘poison’ for fungi so that no fungus can attack even though the 4 conditions mentioned above are met. Examples of types of wood in Indonesia are teak, ebony and ironwood.
However, the availability of this type of wood is also limited because more people need it and the limited time to grow for this type of tree which is at least 30 years old to be cut down and processed into industrial wood.
Laying furniture in the room will also be at risk of being attacked by mold if the room does not have good air ventilation.
Several ways of using chemicals have been widely used today by several factories and sawn wood industries. The disadvantage of this method is the presence of chemicals that can be harmful to furniture users or workers in the factory.
How to prevent mold/fungus grows on wood