Begin Decontaminating Your Home from Mold
There are so many variables when dealing with mold, you could have experienced a one time flooding/leak event and are looking for answers. You may also be extremely mold sensitive and learning how to manage mold contamination is vital to your well being. Once you have located the areas where there is mold contamination you can begin using EC3 products immediately. This will help to alleviate the problem but you really MUST know the source of the moisture and solve that issue. > See Remediation
I am constantly amazed at how people will not seriously and consistently clean their homes of mold contamination. Consider how folks freak out over bed bugs or head lice. If you knew there was a lice or bed bug contamination in your home how seriously and quickly would you work to eradicate the problem? Here is the thing, while a nuisance to be sure, lice won’t kill you but mold CAN! I often advise patients to go about eradicating mold as if they were eradicating a lice or bed bug problem. — Dr. Donald Dennis
Rooms, using Mold Concentrate:
Spray (mist) floors, walls, ceilings and furniture with EC3 Mold Concentrate. Let solution dry. Repeat. Use a household sprayer or an electric paint sprayer. Mix one bottle with one gallon of water. For heavy mold contamination use ½ gal. water per bottle of Micro Balance EC3 Mold Concentrate.
NOTE: If you have pets realize that they are constantly bringing in mold spores on their coats. It is a good idea to make misting furniture with EC3 Mold Concentrate a part of your weekly cleaning routine.
In each room you spend time, place a plug-in HEPA air filter with two to three Micro Balance EC3 Air Wicks on top. The wicks should be placed on the filter where the air flows out. For example: Bedroom, Kitchen, Den, etc.
Use EC3 Air Purifying Candles – one candle per 12×12 area, burn candles for 3 hours the first day and 1 hour each day thereafter until the candle is depleted. This should get your counts down to zero. Candles are one of the fastest and easiest ways to bring the air mold spore count down!
Basement treatment, using Mold Concentrate:
Spray (mist) floors, walls and ceilings with Micro Balance EC3 Mold Concentrate solution. Let solution dry. Repeat. You should ensure your results by testing with mold plates.
Crawl Space Mold treatment:
Get a professional to properly inspect your crawl space. Water entry should be stopped from the outside, not with sump pumps from the inside. For a temporary solution, install a vent fan so the air is pulling across the crawl space. Be sure the vent fan exhaust is emptying into the yard in an area that you do not use. Install fluorescent lighting. This can be done until a professional can properly stop the moisture intrusion, treat, and seal the crawl space.
If you seal the crawl space it is imperative that it be done by an experienced professional who is trained in human environmental health, otherwise it is most frequently done incorrectly with substantial loss of time and money, and can cause even MORE environmental contamination. Use only professionals trained in the environmental treatment of human airborne illness.
We recommend Mead Indoor Envirotech as a reliable consultant for all environmental health issues @ 770-916-0070.
HVAC Systems and Mold:
Use professionals trained in the environmental treatment of human airborne illness.
Have your house fogged; this will bring the mold count to zero within a hour. This should be done by professionals.
It is best not to have carpet in your home, mold grows in fabric. If you trying to improve your environment to prevent illness, cleaning or vacuuming a carpet is like vacuuming your front lawn. It is a futile exercise for environmental health. If possible, get rid carpet in all areas that you spend 1 hour or more per day. Replace carpet with tile or pre-finished solid wood, not laminate. If you must have some carpet, area rugs are an alternative and can be periodically washed, treated or simply replaced. If you cannot afford to replace the carpet and you are moderately to severely sick on the sinus evaluation on this web site, get a professional to saturate the carpet with EC3 Mold Concentrate spray, cut it into small rows, put each row into a plastic bag, saturate the underlying floor with EC3, finish removing the carpet, then mop the floor with EC3 Mold Concentrate, air dry. The person who is sick should not be present during carpet removal. You can paint the floor with NO VOC floor paint and use small washable floor rugs until you can do something else. Meanwhile you will not be waiting to get well. This has worked well for many people.
Find and fix areas that allow moisture into your home. Look around windows, pipes, etc. Also be careful with plants. Place them outside of your living area. Avoid standing water in plants or the drain pans that they sit on.
Clothing & Closets – Mold Considerations:
For dry cleanable clothing locate a cleaner who will fog them to remove mold, then dry clean them and return them. In Atlanta we recommend Admiral Cleaners (770) 973-6939; clothing can even be shipped to them for this type of cleaning.
Washable Clothes: Wash clothes with your regular detergent and add 1 oz. into the rinse cycle reservoir of EC3 Laundry Additive. The Laundry Additive can be used in addition to your normal bleaching agents and is also safe in HE washers. Place clothes in new plastic container with a top until you are able to decontaminate the clothing areas. >> Decontaminate your washing machine before starting. See Washing Machine treatment below.
Closets: Remove ALL contents of the closet. If a leak has caused the problem remediate, otherwise spray floor, walls, ceilings, inside panels of doors with EC3 Mold Concentrate and allow to dry thoroughly. Place a HEPA filter in the closet with two EC3 Air Purification Wicks on the outflow track, or use a EC3 Air Wick Dispenser. Hang clothes one inch apart when restricted air flow is an issue.
Hampers: Remove all contents if mold is visible take outside and wash thoroughly with a stiff brush and EC3 Mold Concentrate. Let dry in the sunshine. Heat and sun are also effective against mold. *Be mindful of high humidity.
**Remember that mold requires 50% air moisture levels to grow.
Decontaminate Your Washing Machine of Mold:
Run a second cycle with hot water small load with 1 cup baking soda (NOT baking powder).
Repeat weekly for maintenance.
DO NOT GET A FRONT LOADING WASHING MACHINE. They still have a problem with mold. If you own a front loader, check on the Internet to see if you have the make and model number involved in a class action lawsuit regarding the mold issues.
LEAVE THE LID OF THE MACHINE OPEN WHEN NOT IN USE. This is very important in preventing re-growth of fungal spores.
Bedding & Fabric Furniture Mold Decontamination:
If your pets sleep with you (which we do not recommend but realize that people do love their pets!) It is a good idea to wash your sheets more frequently and use EC3 Laundry Additive to remove spores that your pet carries in from the outdoors. Weekly, spray covers on both sides with EC3 Mold Concentrate and allow to dry. You can alternate days and flip the cover and turn on the ceiling fan to help with drying time.