Very mouldy worktop!

[pinknikki]

Hi,

Due to a dishwasher breaking about 6 months ago, we have been forced to wash up. As i could not find a dish drainer with a tray underneath, we ended up putting tea towels under instead. The kitchen has oak worktops from Ikea and over the past few months patches of black mould have been appearing. Therefor we made best efforts to dry up and remove the tea towels straightaway. Unfortunately the past few weeks this has not happened and we removed the tea towel the other day to find the biggest blackest patch of mould about the size of 2 dinner plates!! Any tips on how to get rid of this would be much appreciated or is it a lost cause and do we need to just buy a new piece of worktop?
thanks Nikki

 

[foxhole]

Scrub with salt and a little water and leave to dry, do this daily to prevent mold.

 

[IJWS15]

Dry the pots as they are washed and don't leave the damp tea towel on the worksurface - you are preventing the surface from drying.

 

[JohnD]

buy a large plastic tea-tray or serving-tray to protect it from drips

letting wood get wet will result in black staining, even without mould

Once you have solved the cause, you can rub it down and use a wood bleach before re-staining and oiling

Plastic laminate worktops and stainless steel drainers were a tremendous breakthrough, and made housework far easier and more hygenic. Even though they might look more quaint, wooden worktops in a kitchen are simply not so practical.