Guest guest Posted December 20, 2010 Report Share Posted December 20, 2010 I am new to this list, and fairly new to the surreal new world of mold. My question relates to the risks of cross-contamination. We left one home, and all belongings still there, because of serious mold problems, spores contaminated everything. We moved to another but turns out it had stachybotrys so we left within a week. Now drifting about. We rented a house last week, stayed there two nights. There was no visible mold, but in our hypersensitive state there was something that made my son and me feel unwell, night sweats, couldn't sleep, his face broke out. So we left. My question is about our belongings we had in that house for 2 days -- clothes, suitcases, books, miscellaneous. If there was some sort of mold there (whatever the problem was, was worse by the heating vents so I assume it was in the air and hence everywhere) then are they all now contaminated? I can see already that there are two views, the leave-everything view and the take-stuff view. Let's assume for my question I am of the leave-everything view, I want to really minimise my risks and give my family a chance to get past this. If I'm coming from that angle, then should I be leaving everything from the two days in a house with unknown contaminants? What about clothes -- should they be cleanable after this short an exposure? Or is it, once contaminated, it's contaminated. What about clothes that stayed inside suitcases that were just opened once or twice? The big fear is cross-contamination. It's one thing to take things, change my mind and throw them out. But I am afraid of taking things, and having them cross-contaminate other things. Other places to live. Does that risk come from cleaned clothes, or does that get rid of the cross-contimination risk leaving only the risk of reacting to the clothes themselves? thanks Betsy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 20, 2010 Report Share Posted December 20, 2010 About the only thing you can do is either try washing the belongings and see if you still bother you or leave them behind, no one can tell if there was something in the heating system that contaminated your belongings,or weither it was just something that acted as a irritant to your already suffering body. possably they are not. many have had luck useing ammonia and non scented laundry deturgent for laundry and washing washing other belongings that are washable. besides being hyper-reactive to molds and their by products you can be reactive to other things, your body can still be reacting to the inital home exposure, my night sweats didn't go away just because I left the home. no on knows how you were affected in your first home and how or what all you may be reactive to now, or how your body was damaged,mucosal,tissue, organ damage,ect. all this plays in with what can irritate your condition. it's really not possable for anyone to be able to know . you just have to do what your comfortable with doing. > > I am new to this list, and fairly new to the surreal new world of mold. > > My question relates to the risks of cross-contamination. We left one home, and all belongings still there, because of serious mold problems, spores contaminated everything. We moved to another but turns out it had stachybotrys so we left within a week. Now drifting about. > > We rented a house last week, stayed there two nights. There was no visible mold, but in our hypersensitive state there was something that made my son and me feel unwell, night sweats, couldn't sleep, his face broke out. So we left. > > My question is about our belongings we had in that house for 2 days -- clothes, suitcases, books, miscellaneous. If there was some sort of mold there (whatever the problem was, was worse by the heating vents so I assume it was in the air and hence everywhere) then are they all now contaminated? > > I can see already that there are two views, the leave-everything view and the take-stuff view. Let's assume for my question I am of the leave-everything view, I want to really minimise my risks and give my family a chance to get past this. If I'm coming from that angle, then should I be leaving everything from the two days in a house with unknown contaminants? What about clothes -- should they be cleanable after this short an exposure? Or is it, once contaminated, it's contaminated. What about clothes that stayed inside suitcases that were just opened once or twice? > > The big fear is cross-contamination. It's one thing to take things, change my mind and throw them out. But I am afraid of taking things, and having them cross-contaminate other things. Other places to live. Does that risk come from cleaned clothes, or does that get rid of the cross-contimination risk leaving only the risk of reacting to the clothes themselves? > > thanks > Betsy > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 20, 2010 Report Share Posted December 20, 2010 Betsy I can only tell you what I did and how it worked for me, I'm sure others will chime in with their own thoughts and opinions. I was living in a hotel with all new things and was doing pretty good so I decided that provided my g/f take all the necessary precautions she could come over and spend the weekend. Five minutes after she put her contaminated clothing in a trash bag, took a shower and put on all new clothing I became symptomatic again. I stayed in that hotel room for another week and half and never felt like i did prior to her coming over. I have since moved and rather than take the chance to bring my clothes with me and not know if I was reacting to my new residence or to my clothes I put all my clothes in a trash bag put them in the bed of my truck and bought all new clothes. Now I have a room that I've yet to react to and I'm positive the clothes I'm wearing aren't making me sick. It cost me about $200.00 to replace everything but that's going as cheap as possible and buying things like sweats then regular denim jeans. I still have a few more things to buy but I have enough clothes to last me a week without having to do laundry. Some here will say to replace your things some will say it isn't necessary, in the end it all boils down to doing what you think is best for you. Best of luck > > I am new to this list, and fairly new to the surreal new world of mold. > > My question relates to the risks of cross-contamination. -snip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.