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Please learn from my mistakes.

Without intending to, Marie Kondo opened my eyes to a serious mold problem in my home. You see, I'd been KonMari-ing my apartment, and just after placing a stack of Harry Potters in the "sparks joy" pile, I turned back to my bookcase to spot an unfortunate pattern of brown and white circles. Turns out, the porous material of my particle board shelves is perfect for mold to grab onto, and the glue the packs the wood chips together is still wet enough for the fungus to eat.

After some quick Googling, I soon learned it's an all-too-common issue, and that effectively killing mold on wood is a daunting task, to say the least. If you find yourself in a similar position, here's the best course of action, according to the US Forest Products Laboratory.

Items that have been sitting near the mold colony often are dusted with spores and growth. Bookcases, closets, and pantries are especially susceptible, since we're prone to "dust around" long-term items like earthquake kits, read books, and clothes you'll wear once you renew that gym membership. Before moving the infected items, clean them throughly so the mold doesn't move into a new home. Here's how:

*NOTE: Do NOT mix bleach with cleaning products that contain ammonia. It creates a toxic vapor.

Once you've stopped mold from spreading onto other surfaces, like the new bookcase I bought at 10 p.m. in a panic, you'll need to kill the original source.

Now that you've left the particle board to dry, check the pressed wood for any spores with gloves. If it's clear, you can bring the item back into the home and re-use. Still see a colony? The mold growth has burrowed too deep into the particle board and needs to be thrown away, according to Purdue University. You can still keep your furniture: Pressed wood is typically used as a backing or lining, so it can be easily removed with a hammer or flathead screwdriver.

Mold grows in humid, dark climates, so follow these tips from The Mother Nature Network to keep fungus out:

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