We only had mold cross-contamination here once—a bag of stuff in the mudroom for 8 hours. Simple airing out for several hours took care of it. So I do not know if these ideas apply to mold cross-contamination, but if you are having trouble, it may be worth a try.
Also keep in mind that some people think they have mold cross-contamination when there is a possibility they are actually reacting to synthetic materials (carpet, paint, vinyl flooring, other construction materials) and leftover scents/chemicals from previous occupants. Some reactions feel exactly the same as mold reactions.
However, if a person is doing better in a new place, and then stuff from their old, moldy place is brought in and they get worse, this is probably cross-contamination. Get rid of as much as possible and do not wash moldy clothes or other fabric items in the new place. Test everything before it comes in.
We have had one huge, several major, and many small chemical cross-contaminations.
Be prepared to fight bigger contamination for about 2 months at least. But usually, it will get better.
For the major ones, here are steps we took.
- Aired out by putting fan in one window blowing out. Closed all other windows on that side of the house so it doesn’t come back in. Opened windows on the opposite side of the house to let in fresh replacement air.
- Threw away paper products sitting out in the open. Paper grabs stuff. (Current roll of toilet paper, current stack of napkins on kitchen table, current rolls of paper towel sitting out. We had to keep doing this with the huge contamination until we finally got it under control.)
- Dusted with damp paper towels or cloths.
- Re-washed anything in dish drainer at time of bad contamination. Wet stuff grabs things as well.
- Wiped all flat surfaces.
- Washed all towels in the rooms with contamination immediately and then after every use or every day of use. It usually takes washing the towels three times in a row before drying before they are okay for me, during a house decon process. (The whole two months, unfortunately. Sometimes longer.) Baking soda seems to work the best. I think maybe it has a mild scrubbing action. (Be careful with septic—at some point possibly add probiotics, or add vinegar or other acid to help counteract too much base of the baking soda so the septic will work properly.) (I am not talking about washing bad towels from a moldy house, just the new, good, current towels which have been hanging there during a contamination of some kind. However, during our last, huge, worst contamination by far, which we suspect was DDT, we also found washing cross-contaminated towels and such could re-contaminate the house. 🙁 It helped a lot to tape the washing machine shut and open the window above the washer with a fan blowing out every time the washing machine was open. Open another window on the other side of the house for make-up air. But there are still risks depending on the toxin and the situation.)
- Washed all materials—curtains, quilts, “mats” (which for us are actually just towels), 3 times in a row before drying. It helps a lot that all our soft furniture is not perfect for MCS, so it is all covered with barrier cloth and quilts. 🙂 This means all these things can be washed. Uncovered soft furniture may be tricky, depending on type and severity of contamination. For preventative measures, one may want to consider covering soft furniture with something washable.
- Mopped. A lot. The first mopping seems to eliminate an amazing amount of bad stuff. But as the contamination slowly gets out of the house, more mopping is good. If you have carpet, dry rice and baking soda to absorb may help, though carpet is just pretty bad about holding on to stuff. If you can, replace it with tile or hardwood.
- Tried to be patient. As I said, it seems to take at least 2 months for big chemical contaminations to be worked out. My guess is that as one uses clothing in the house and washes along the way, same with dishes, same with dusting and mopping repeatedly, and one uses up pantry items and such, the molecules of contaminant gradually get out more and more. This last time, the mudroom got the brunt of it, and it is a little trickier because most of our shoes are in there. My husband also covered (with foil) some of the boxes stored in there (very few boxes in the main house), washed the winter coats and jackets in there, and pitched any unnecessary paper and other stuff.
It’s a lot of work. 🙁 But if it enables one to get better and maybe even to stay in a place vs. move, I think it’s worth it. Plus then you have a clean house. 🙂 (or camper)
Christa Upton Black Hills Picture Books Edgemont, SD 57735
