Yellowy mould?

[Overallthis]

Recently discovered this (pic attached). It looked like little yellow eggs at first but I gave it a wipe down and it's gone this creamy, splotchy way.

How do I get rid/cover it up?

Thanks.

[Reedwarbler]

It looks a bit like a damp patch, but your pic is rather blurry. Was the stuff you wiped off powdery? Whereabouts on the wall is it and what is on the other side of the the wall?

[Overallthis]

I don't think it was powdery no. It's on living room wall backing onto kitchen. Neighbour had an incident with washing machine a few years ago and I wonder if it's anything to do with that (I had water coming through the ceiling at the time). But I've only noticed the mould/damp recently. There's a sofa in front of it.

[BruceAndNosh]

Yellow mould is often due to Staphylococcus Aureus (the second word means golden) which is a pretty nasty bacterium. So make sure to clean the area thoroughly, good idea to mask up before you do so.

[PigletJohn]

What is on the other side of that wall?

Sink? Cooker? Tumble drier?

mould spores are always everywhere, but they only grow if you provide them with damp.

[Overallthis]

There's no sink or cooker behind the wall, just a thick wall. Fridge is a few feet away but not beside it. I reckon it's maybe water from upstairs, when my neighbour had water leakage. Or maybe unrelated.

@BruceAndNosh can I apply bleach to remove it? Or mould killer? I wasn't sure if there was some kind of paint I could use to cover/ kill it. Thanks

[PigletJohn]

If it's really fungal, and you clean it off, it will not regrow unless the wall is still damp. However if it is efflorescence of mineral salts left behind on the wall as water evaporates, don't wash it off with water as this will dissolve the crystals and they will go back into the wall.

[Overallthis]

Thanks @PigletJohn I'm thinking it's mould or mildew. Would bleach help?

[PigletJohn]

I think I'd scrub it off, you can use a kitchen or bathroom cleaner with bleach if you want to be certain of a quick kill, but since there are mould spores everywhere, I probably wouldn't bother myself. Efflorescence is hard little crystals and should be scraped or brushed off, dry.

Some mildews leave a stain on the paint that is so fine you can't clean it off.

But unless there is some source of damp in the wall, mould won't regrow.

If the paint has been damaged, you can touch it up, but there will be a colour difference until you next paint that wall.

[Overallthis]

Great, thank you! I'll have a look tomorrow 😊