How do i remove a SERIOUS case of black mold of cloths
about a month ago, my little sister had an accident (she peed her self) and my mom was out of town. so i just put all her peed on cloths in a bag. the thing is, we compleatly forgot about the bag and i start smelling this horrible smell comeing from the basement. so we go look, and we see a bag full of her cloths filled with what looks like some black mold with weird root like stuff growing out it.
I KNOW its DISCUSTING!!
so now its in the wash. I HAVE TRIED EVERYTHING to get it out
i’ve put regualar detergent, color safe bleach, EVEN regualar mold remover ment for bathrooms!!
so 3 things i need answers for:
1) what is the root like thing growing in the cloths
2) i know what black mold is, but is it toxic? how toxic is it? is it deadly?
3) do i have any hope in resoreing the cloths back, (she was wearing my favorite shirt!!!). if so, HOW?
thank you for your help!!
The rootlike stuff growing out of the clothes is probably a fungus. These sound like they’re too far gone to salvage. Happened to me once when the airlines lost my luggage for a while. Then, when they returned it to me, all the clothes were just covered with black spots. Apparently the luggage had been out in the rain somewhere in its travels before they finally found it and returned it to me. I tried everything and finally had to chuck all the clothes. And, that suitcase contained ALL the summer clothes of one of my kid and the majority of them were new cause I bought them for the vacation trip we took.
Sorry. I think you’re really outta luck here. It sounds like they’re not white clothes your talking about because then I’d say soak them in a bleach solution in the washer overnight. Or, if it was a small spot, I’d say to pour hydrogen peroxide on it and let it sit and that often works. But, this sounds too far gone. And, the bacteria from the pee sitting on the clothes, just breeding while enclosed in that bag —- well, that’s not good either.
Did you machine dry at any time in between washings? This is *very* important. If you did, just throw them out: machine-drying stained clothes sets in the stain permanently and there is nothing you can do. It’s also likely hopeless if you ever washed them in hot water. (Nobody tells you this stuff, I know, but now you know for the next time.)
If all the washing was done in cold water and the clothes weren’t machine dried in between, you might have a chance with hydrogen peroxide. Add 1/2 cup peroxide (you can buy it at the supermarket or the drugstore) to the washing machine with a normal amount of detergent and wash in cold water. Send it through an extra cold rinse cycle.
If that doesn’t work, you can try 1/2 cup regular Javex bleach in the next wash (cold water again), but you have to add the bleach before you add the clothing to the water and you’ll likely see some damage.
You probably have all kinds of things growing in it – four or five different types of mould, mildew, and other fungi. I have almost 30 years experience washing clothes and I think you’ll be lucky if any of it is ever wearable again. I’m sorry.
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Does it look some what cottony and black or dark brown if so It could very well be toxic and you might want to get rid of it asap
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It’s pretty much a lost cause. You need to just toss everything out as it is beyond repair. Next time put everything in the wash immediately.
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The rootlike stuff growing out of the clothes is probably a fungus. These sound like they’re too far gone to salvage. Happened to me once when the airlines lost my luggage for a while. Then, when they returned it to me, all the clothes were just covered with black spots. Apparently the luggage had been out in the rain somewhere in its travels before they finally found it and returned it to me. I tried everything and finally had to chuck all the clothes. And, that suitcase contained ALL the summer clothes of one of my kid and the majority of them were new cause I bought them for the vacation trip we took.
Sorry. I think you’re really outta luck here. It sounds like they’re not white clothes your talking about because then I’d say soak them in a bleach solution in the washer overnight. Or, if it was a small spot, I’d say to pour hydrogen peroxide on it and let it sit and that often works. But, this sounds too far gone. And, the bacteria from the pee sitting on the clothes, just breeding while enclosed in that bag —- well, that’s not good either.
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Been doin’ laundry for over 40 years.