Matt Kelly, the Mold man, explains that mold clings to paper and books easily and wiping won't remove it. Store contaminated items outside plastic for three to six months, use an air compressor or EC3 spray, then test cautiously before bringing them back inside.
Questions this video answers
EC3, hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, ammonia.
Get them outside and blow them off with an air compressor or spray them down with EC3.
Around three months to six months.
Chapters
Here's a good question about paper. I have some stacks of old newspapers wrapped in garbage bags. Can they be a home for mold? Unfortunately, the answer is a hundred percent. Okay. Paper and books can almost magically hold onto it. You think you could just wipe it down? Like if here, I've got super gut book here, good book, by the way. You think you could just wipe a book down? EC3, hydrogen peroxide, vinegar, ammonia, something. You think you just wipe it down and your books will be okay. But what people have found, and again, it's depending on your personal sliding scale of sensitivity. Some people are okay, you know, other people are not. There are people that have lost whole libraries of books, but somehow it ends up just hanging on to books and paper so hard that people can't clean it. And is that the case for everyone? No, because everyone's sensitivities are different. So. But will it. Can it potentially be contaminated and ruined? Yes, absolutely. So what should you do if you have these and it's good that they're wrapped in plastic, first thing I would do is get them outside and blow it off with an air compressor or spray it down with EC3, do something to treat that garbage bag and you could potentially put them into storage for a time. If you're living in mold and you're going to be moving to a cleaner place, put these in storage and wait. Give them, you know, three months, six months, whatever, till you're feeling better. And then what you can do is go get that, open it up, you know, just look at a newspaper. Just that movement enough. Just that movement from the newspaper is enough for some people to tell them, to give them a clear answer of this is a problem or you're okay, you know, and it's different for everyone. So that's what I would do. I would clean the bag, clean what you can, put it in storage if you're in the process of getting out. And then when you feel your body's ready, just open it up carefully, listen to your body, see if you have reactions. Some people have reactions right away. Some people takes an hour or two. Some people, they get to their, to their clean house and they open a tote in the garage and start, you know, unpacking slowly or cleaning more stuff outside before it comes into their new house and they start reacting. You know, unfortunately, some people have to make tough choices to get rid of things, but some people are okay. So that's what I would do. I'd put it in a clean spot, clean it good, wait till your body's a little bit stronger. Expose yourself to it and see if it's okay to keep those things. 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 heal.
