Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Killer mold?

IT STARTED with a series of leaks. Within a year, Melinda Ballard's 11,500-square-foot Texas dream home was quarantined; her 3-year-old son, Reese, was on daily medication to treat scarred, asthmatic lungs; her husband, Ron Allison, had lost his memory along with his job; and the family was living out of suitcases and locked in a seemingly endless battle with their insurance company. The problem? Household mold.

So I convinced Lady Pun and Tron that we must clean the house before Chinese new year. For good luck and shit. And, you know, it would be nice to live a clean house for a change. Anyway, we have a really disgusting mold problem in our bathroom. An army of mold covers the shower ceiling and it's steadily proliferating in the corners of the walls. It's really gnarly. But I had no idea how deadly mold can be. I mean, I heard about killer mold but I never thought I would one day be the proprietor of toxic mold and not even realize it. In fact, I always thought it was some sort of strange urban myth... until Blu-tooth forwarded a variety of links about, not only the extermination of mold, but also extremely scary cautionary tales about how mold kills.

Not that I know for certain whether MY mold is deadly.
Stachybotrys atra (pronounced Stack-ee-bot-ris) is the most lethal mold apparently. I hope I don't have that.

Per the recommendation of multiple sites about the subject, I'm going to buy either X-14 or Commercial Zap Mildew or Lime Away. All these products are reportedly "not environmental". Suggested eco-friendly product is vinegar mixed with a little bit of baking soda.

But I'm not making a salad.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG! It's not salad dressing. Chemical properties found in vinegar helps to disinfect and baking soda creates a lift for the bateria safetly. You need to wear a mask if you attempt this.. because you may end up with lifelong bronchitist!

DYY said...

Thanks for totally utterly scaring me (again).

Anonymous said...

Make your landlord clean it!

Anonymous said...

can you say adult onset asthma?

DYY said...

Yes, I can say it. The mold hasn't destroyed my superior verbal skills... yet.

Anonymous said...

OMG.. Rebecca, clean that shit! The longer it waits the more it grows... I already sent you like 5 sites...

DYY said...

Damn girl. Check it:
http://daughterofyipyee.blogspot.com/2007/02/update.html