Can you save moldy clothes?

Let's talk about saving clothes. I hear this question a lot. I have clients that say, Matt, how do I save my clothes? How do I wash my clothes? What do I do to my clothes so that I don't have to throw them out when I move? And there is no, like everything else in mold, there is no black and white answer. There is no question, one size fits all for everyone. Because everything, as I, as I repeatedly say, and people hate hearing, is on a sliding scale, right? And clothes are one of those things that sometimes you can never get clean all the way. And they do become an issue for some people. I had someone who is a couple that moved to an apartment because their house was being remediated. And the lady had gotten rid of all her clothes, bought new clothes and, and she started out fresh. So clean apartment, fresh clothes. Her husband, of course, did not want to get rid of his clothes. So she had soaked them in ammonia, she had done all the washes, she had done everything she knew to do. And whenever she hugged him, her skin would get itchy. So even though she had made every attempt to clean them, her body still reacted. And that's just an example of how much effort you can put in. Because. But sometimes knocking stuff over on my desk, sometimes you just can't save things. So another analogy I use with people is to consider a burr. You know, you go for a walk through the bush, you get a burr stuck on your sock. You know, a little brown burr with a million pokies on it, right? You pull it off, it still leaves pokies behind. And you can sit there, especially if you have this with your dog or German shepherd who has long haired, would get burrs all in them. And this is a perfect example. I should switch to this analogy. And he would run through the long grass, through the weeds in the bush, and he'd get them all on his chest, on his underside, behind his legs. And even though you see the bur you pull it out, it leaves a million little pieces behind. And I would literally spend like an hour just trying to clean some of this out. Well, it's the same thing with clothes. Say you have a sweater, a suit, something that's more than just a T shirt. Even though it can still happen with a T shirt. But the thicker it is, the more fabric it is, the more it's going to get in there. Like a dog with long hair. Okay, but imagine you have a nice sweater, you take a handful of burrs and you smush it in, okay? Now you put it in the laundry you put it through the washer. When that comes out, does it still have problems? Yes, they're still in there. You do it again. You put it in a vinegar soap. You put in borax, you put in baking soda. Is it still there? Yes, it's still there. Okay. Now, mycotoxins and mold spores and fragments, they're not pokey like that, but they are sticky and they're tiny. And they get in between all these, all the thread, all the material, they get in there. And for people that are sensitive, that presence that's still there, that you can't get out all the way when you put it back on and it goes against your skin is enough to create a reaction. Okay. And some people can't tolerate it, cause itchy, cause burning. Those are kind of. Kind of the big symptoms there. So can clothes be saved? Yes. For some people. You, you know, you use ammonia, you use vinegar, you use borax, you use EC3, you have a ozone machine hooked up to your washing machine, which is super cool, and I'm jealous, and I want one for all you that have it. There's a lot of good tools out there to try to save them. But does it work for everyone? No. It depends on your personal level of sensitivity. Right. Just like everything else in mold, it depends. What are your molds? What are your mycotoxins, what are the concentrations? How sensitive are you? What's your. Is your limbic system, neurological system freaking out when you get exposure to these? Right. So with clothes, we want to be able to save them. Can some be saved? Yes. Are there times they can't be saved? Yes. It mostly comes down to your molds, their concentrations, how long you've been in that place, so how saturated your clothes are and how sensitive you are, whether you're going to be able to tolerate it, whether enough can be taken out through special washings so that you can maybe tolerate them or not. Wish is black and white. Wish there was a magic solution that I could say, just get this. It'll take everything out. Nothing, it seems, will take everything out. It comes down to if you can tolerate the mouth that's left after making your best effort for cleaning. Hope that helps.

Do you have questions about mold in your home or body? Book a consultation with Matt, AKA the Mold man, to guide your home and body to the next level of healing.