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How to choose a mould test kit for home

Updated: October 2026

You have spotted a dark patch on the bathroom sealant, or a bedroom cupboard that smells musty, and you are about to buy a mould test kit for home. The amazon.co.uk results mix petri dishes, a five-minute strip, and meters that never sample mould. The [mould test comparison](/hub/climate-measuring/mould-test) is the table of kits that do sample a surface or room air. This page is the choice in front of that table. It matches the method and the pack size to one question, and it marks the products that do not belong in the basket. You should finish knowing whether you want plates, the rapid strip, or no kit at all.

You have spotted a dark patch on the bathroom sealant, or a bedroom cupboard that smells musty, and you are about to buy a mould test kit for home.

Our top picks

iigala iigala mould test kit, 10 plates

Best overall

iigala iigala mould test kit, 10 plates
8.6/10about £24.99
View offer
anlab anlab mould test kit, 3 plates

Best value

anlab anlab mould test kit, 3 plates
8.2/10about £13.59
View offer
Healthful Home Healthful Home 5-minute mould test

Alternative

Healthful Home Healthful Home 5-minute mould test
7.8/10about £39.97
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.What you are trying to find out
  2. 2.Plates, strips and what to leave on the shelf
  3. 3.How many tests, and what £13 to £40 buys
  4. 4.When a kit is the wrong buy

What you are trying to find out

A kit only helps when you can say what it should show. A swab or a strip on the patch is the closer tool for a visible mark. A dish in the middle of the room only grows whatever lands on the jelly. Several plates can show a relative difference between rooms, but they measure no volume of air and they cannot give a safe or unsafe score. Condensation or a leak will not appear as a named fault on a colony. A negative swab of clean paint does not clear a musty cupboard. If you need a species name that would stand up in a dispute, none of the boxes between about £13 and £40 is that report.

Plates, strips and what to leave on the shelf

Settle-plate kits from anlab, JOAAZAR, iigala, Omikrafto and ENESNES ship agar, swabs and a picture guide, with growth claimed in about 48 hours. A blank plate is not an all-clear. Healthful Home's strip looks for Aspergillus, Penicillium and Stachybotrys on one surface. It is the only kit in this set meant for the same day. A pin meter or a hygrometer does not sample mould. Opening and disposal are covered in how to use a mould test kit.
iigala iigala mould test kit, 10 plates

Testsieger

iigala iigala mould test kit, 10 plates
8.6/10about £24.99
View offer

How many tests, and what £13 to £40 buys

anlab and iigala seal plates individually. JOAAZAR and Omikrafto do not state that clearly. These are shelf prices from the listings in this comparison, not a live scrape. Under about £15: JOAAZAR's 10-pack at £12.96, anlab's 3-pack at £13.59, and Omikrafto's 5-pack at £13.99. From about £19 to £25: Omikrafto's 10-pack at £18.99, ENESNES at £22.81, and anlab's 6-pack and iigala's 10-pack at £24.99. Healthful Home at £39.97 is dearest because the chemistry differs, not because the strip surveys the house. Which box suits whom is on the best mould test kits.

When a kit is the wrong buy

Leave the basket when mould covers about a square metre, sits in several rooms, or returns after cleaning. The English Housing Survey's 2024 figure, 5% of homes in England (about 1.4 million), is a housing-stock figure, not a score a petri dish can pass. In a rented home, dated photographs carry more weight than a hobby dish. Awaab's Law time limits apply to social landlords in England, not to a private landlord. If someone is wheezing, contact NHS 111 rather than waiting on agar. Where a consumer kit stops is set out in DIY mould test or a surveyor.

Common questions

Do I need a plate kit or a five-minute strip?
Use the strip for a same-day screen of one visible patch, if a named-group result is enough. Use plates to compare two or three spots, or more than one room, if you can wait about two days. The strip does not map the flat. A plate opened in the middle of the room does not name the mark on the wall. No control line on a strip means that stick is invalid, not clear.
How many tests should I buy for a flat?
Count the places you will sample, and add a spare only if each dish is sealed on its own. One suspicious wall is often a three-plate pack or a single strip, not ten dishes. Ten plates make sense for a like-for-like check across rooms, provided you open one at a time. anlab and iigala state individual seals. Do not assume every brand in the cheaper band does.
Can a home kit detect black mould on a wall?
A black patch is a colour, not a species. Several moulds look black, and Stachybotrys is only one of them. A swab can show that the spot you touched will grow on agar, while the booklet photo still will not name it. Healthful Home's strip screens that swab for Aspergillus, Penicillium and Stachybotrys antigens. That remains one surface, not a survey of the home.
Is a moisture meter a mould test?
A moisture meter estimates damp in a material, and a hygrometer estimates humidity in the air. Neither samples mould, though either can sit beside a damp problem. Use a meter if you want to know whether timber is wet before you decorate. Use a swab, a strip or a lab sample if you want to know whether a mark is growing. A pin reading will not answer that.
Why do some kits say four tests and eight plates?
On the ENESNES listing, at £22.81 in this set, the title and the included-components line say four individual tests. The bullets on the same page say eight agar plates and eight individual tests, or two tests in four areas. Those lines cannot both be the pack you receive. If the count is unclear, choose a box that states one number of plates and shows that many dishes.

Related pages

Mould test comparison

Best mould test kits

How to use a mould test kit

DIY kit or surveyor

Report mould to a landlord in England: what to write

Sources

Public UK sources used for this comparison, last reviewed in October 2026.

  1. GOV.UK: damp and mould, health risks for rented housing (retrieved October 2026)
  2. English Housing Survey 2024 to 2025, housing quality (retrieved October 2026)
  3. Awaab’s Law: guidance for tenants in social housing (retrieved October 2026)
  4. HHSRS (England) Regulations 2005 (retrieved October 2026)
  5. NHS inform: damp and mould indoors (retrieved October 2026)
  6. Shelter England: damp and mould in rented homes (retrieved October 2026)
  7. RICS consumer guide: damp and mould (retrieved October 2026)
  8. UK Centre for Mould Safety: choosing a surveyor (retrieved October 2026)
  9. University of Connecticut EHS: facts about DIY mould test kits (retrieved October 2026)