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Please help with this mold issue and wearing clothes!

jason30

Senior Member
Messages
513
Location
Europe
Hi all,

After being exposed for years to different kind of molds in the basement, I am now super-sensitive for molds and their spores.
I have this problem which I can't solve; clothes which holds mold spores.

When I wear new organic cotton clothes then I feel normal, my skin is normal, no itchy symptoms, clearly thinking, no depression and more. When I get exposed to molds then it gets into my clothes and from there it keeps outgassing, because molds feeds theirselves with dust-mites. First the itchy symptoms, then not clearly thinking anymore, fatigue, after a while depression and more. When I put the clothes off then the symptoms go away in minutes. When I go into the shower and then put the clothes on then it starts again; first itching symptoms and then the rest.

Now the biggest problem; I can't remove the mold spores from the clothes! When I wash the clothes then I get even more reactions after it. I think my MCS is responsible for this as well. Apparently the molds are not elimated in the washing program? That's my guess. I can't wear the clothes after washing. I have tried different things but with no luck.

This is now going for more then 1 year, I have kept buying new clothes to solve this issue. This is ofcourse not a solution. I have lost my job a few months ago and now I am not be able to buy new clothes anymore.

In general; is there anything I can do to reduce my molds sensitivity? I use activated charcoal but that does not help. The only thing that helps is a antihistamine medicine, which blocks the symptoms for a short time (not all symptoms).

Hopefully someone has some tips for me, any help is appreciated!
 

roller

wiggle jiggle
Messages
775
perhaps the new cotton is heavily treated with pesticides?

i know what you mean... but if you know about dustmites and mold - why do you even consider cotton?

imo, do everything microfibre... best quality, as its nicest to the skin. there is nothing better "for us".
no feather, down or organic stuff.. its bad.

no bleach and nothing helps - except for sulfur.
perhaps you can find it in the pharmacy and use it for cleaning, washing etc.
the cotton thing you may try to steam iron as hot as possible?

otherwise, i havent tried but thought of using pet wash (shampoo) containing sulfur for laundry and cleaning...
 

ghosalb

Senior Member
Messages
136
Location
upstate NY
I heard that mold remediation people/companies dry clean all clothes to get rid of mold. You can try that. Hydrogen peroxide also kills mold I heard.
 

Forebearance

Senior Member
Messages
568
Location
Great Plains, US
Wow, I'm sorry to hear about your experiences, @jason30 .

It's hard to give advice for your specific situation.
But I wonder about your washing machine. Are you sure it's okay for you? Have you hand-washed your clothes to see if there is a difference? Do you air dry them, preferably outdoors on a clothesline? Do you know that most dryers have mold toxin residue in them?

My experience has been that mold spores are pretty easy to wash out. It's the toxins carried by some species of molds that stick relentlessly to objects and are hard to get rid of.

My experience with mold toxins sticking to clothes has been that either they wash out with one washing, or else they never wash out.

I hope things will get better for you.
 

GreyOwl

Dx: strong belief system, avoidance, hypervigilant
Messages
266
A laundry sanitiser will kill the mould and also clean your machine. Try one that contains benzalkonium chloride around 7%. I would run a cycle using just the sanitiser and hot water, and then wash your clothes using the sanitizer with hot water, and then re-wash in an unfragranced, enzyme-free washing liquid with a rinse cycle using vinegar in the fabric softener compartment. Try that. If that doesn't help, have a think about whether it could be the type of fabric your clothing is made of. Wool makes me itch if it's directly on my skin.
 

Forebearance

Senior Member
Messages
568
Location
Great Plains, US
Or, if your washing machine has mold growing in hidden places, you could have an appliance company take it apart and power wash it. They will pick up the machine and take it to their shop to do this. It isn't THAT expensive. It cost around $100 the time I had it done.

When they brought the machine back, they told me it had a lot of mold, dog hair, and mouse droppings in it.
(Note: it wasn't my washing machine! It was in a cabin I was using.)
 
Last edited:

IreneF

Senior Member
Messages
1,552
Location
San Francisco
Front loading washers really do need to be cleaned regularly. I'm not sure why. My husband took the tubing apart and found all kinds of gunk. Using machine cleaner helped too.

I'm extremely sensitive to textures. I can't wear wool next to my skin, except for socks. I just tried to buy some lingerie and the cheaper stuff was itchy. Sometimes seams are itchy, even on cotton. I've been like this my entire life.

Maybe there is something protective on the new clothing that you are washing off?
 

jason30

Senior Member
Messages
513
Location
Europe
Thank you all for your answers.

My apologies for my late respons, I had trouble with my house (mold again) and had to leave it. In addition, a lot of brain fog and no access to a computer.

@roller Thanks for the microfibre tip. A google search doesn't give much microfibre clothes results in this country.
Never heard of a sulfur containing detergent. I will look into it.

Thanks!

@ukxmrv Mostly I wash the clothes and bedding on 60 degrees, because 60 degrees and more kills dust mites. I have a dust mite allergy.

@ghosalb I have heard about Hydrogen peroxide before. I will look into it.
Dry clean looks promosing, I will look into it.
Thanks.

@GreyOwl Thanks! I will try it with a laundry sanitiser.
Why should it be an enzyme-free washing liquid?

@Forebearance
I tried hand-was with vinegar before, but it's difficult to find the right doses because to much vinegar gives symptoms as well.

Until now I had not hung the clothes outside because of the pollen, but I'm going to do that differently next time to see if there is a difference.

I never knew that dryers holds mold toxins. I always thought that the heat eliminates the fungus and the spores? Is there something to do about that? Something that eliminates the molds and the mold toxins from the dryer? Especially in the winter I use the dryer a lot for the bedding.

Power wash sounds interesting, but I don't know if there is a company here that will do that. I will google it.
Which cabin do you mean?

I found it unbelievable that mold toxins stick relentlessly to objects and are hard to get rid of. They even stick to plastic!

Thanks a lot!

@IreneF I've never thought about something protective which can be the cause. Really interesting, I'm going to investigate this further.

Do you only get itchy or also other symptoms like brain fog?
Thanks for the front loading washer tip.

@Lotus97 Yes I do use a fragnance free laundry detergent.
I also only wear bio-cotton clothes.

Thank you all for thinking along!
 

GreyOwl

Dx: strong belief system, avoidance, hypervigilant
Messages
266
Why should it be an enzyme-free washing liquid?
Wearing clothes that have been washed in laundry products that contain the enzymes alpha-amylase and protease is terrible for my daughter's respiratory condition. There is evidence this is an emerging issue:

"Enzymes used in cleaning products and food 'are potent allergens', warns study"
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...cts-and-food-are-potent-allergens-warns-study
"As well as artificially created flavourings and fragrances, industrial applications for enzyme technology range from cheese ripening through speeding up the baking process to enhancing the power of detergents and medicines."

"Sensitising effects of genetically modified enzymes used in flavour, fragrance, detergence and
pharmaceutical production: cross-sectional study"

http://oem.bmj.com/content/early/2016/08/23/oemed-2015-103442
"Our data confirm the previous findings showing that genetically engineered enzymes are potent allergens eliciting immediate-type sensitisation. Owing to lack of commercial diagnostic tests, few of those exposed receive regular surveillance including biomonitoring with relevant specific IgE assays."