Clothes Mould: Removing Mould from Clothing

[Oct. 9, 2003]       
 

Q. We have left our home because of mould. We have Aspergillus/Penicillium (in the basement at 278,878 Air-o-cell) and HVACs between 10,773 and 4,000 as well as other air-o cells in other rooms at 13,000. We have stachybotrys mould in a tape sample also in the basement (3,417) as well as HVAC (1500-2300). We had just moved into this home, which is a very old home. My question is our possessions. We have 6 children ages 3 weeks  to 12. We sorted and had most of the kids clothes on the old carpet (probably 15-20 years old). We are getting conflicting reports as to how to clean our clothes, shoes, jackets etc. We've been told to just wash them normally in the house (or have them dry cleaned) and then take them out or that everything needs to be decontaminated professionally. Which is it? While the high # of the Asperillus/Penicillius is a concern, it's really the Stachybotrys I an worried about.

A.  Sorry for the great mould problems your family is facing. You were very wise to move out in view of the serious mould health threat to your family members. Stachybotrys, Aspergillus, and Penicillium are the three most dangerous moulds, in the order written [Stachy being the worst]. Your infant child and other young children can quickly be permanently harmed medically by living in mould infestation. You are also wise in not moving any personal possessions without first doing mould decontamination of such items to prevent mould cross-contamination of where you move to. Washable clothes should be washed at least twice with Borax laundry detergent being the washer soap used. Borax is a natural mould cleaner. Dry cleaning clothes is usually but not always effective in killing and remove mould spores from the items dry cleaned. We have an in depth section about mould cleaning each and every different type of personal property in our new book Do-It-BEST-Yourself Mould Prevention, Inspection, Testing, and Remediation.

[June 3, 2003]

Q. My home recently had a leak under my house, and caused damaged to my back bedroom closets, and mould grew over my shoes, on some of purses, spores was found on my my clothes, and I removed those from the closet. I still had clothes in my closet that had no obvious spores What should happen to those clothes? Should the all be replaced or cleaned? The closet is being mould remediated.      
A. Dry cleaning clothes is good for killing mould and removing mould spores, and cleaning moldy clothing. Washing clothes twice with Borax laundry detergent also kills and removes mould spores. Borax is a natural mould killer and mould cleaner. Borax is one of the ingredients of the very important anti-mould protective coating. After the closet area has been remediated and cleaned of mould infestation, be sure that two wet coatings of effective and EPA-registered mold fungicide are sprayed onto the cleaned area, followed by two wet coatings of Tim-bor Antimicrobial Coating. Let each spraying dry naturally before the next spray application. Read about all of the required procedures for effective mould remediation at: Mould Removal.

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Also visit these pages---
[Mould Testing][ New York City Mould Guidelines] [Clothes Mould] [Recreational Vehicle Mould Problems] [Wall Paper Mould] [Air Conditioning, Heating, and HVAC Mould Problems]
[Crawl Space Mould] [Top Ten Mold Mistakes To Avoid] [Bathroom Mould] [Basement Mould] [Chlorine Bleach is Not Effective to Kill Mould] [Siding Mould] [Roof Leaks and Mould Problems] [OHSA Mould Guidelines] [Laundry Room and Washing Machine Mould Problems]
 

Do-It-Best-Yourself Mold Solutions

Phil can help you fix your own property’s mold problems at low-cost, more safely, and better-in- results than what is done by many mold inspectors and mold contractors.  How can Phil help you?

     1. Read Phil’s five plain-English, mold advice books to master mold inspection, testing, removal, remediation, and prevention for your house, condo, apartment, office,  or workplace.

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     3. Get FREE mold advice, mold help, and/or answers to your mold questions, by emailing mold expert Phillip Fry at envirodangers@yahoo.com. You can also email pictures of your mold problems in jpeg file format as email attachments.