Minutus

My roof is leaking and I have a significant mold problem at my house, so I'd like to get some ideas from the group on how to deal with it. Someone recommended using either 10% bleach solution or Zephiran (benzalkonium chloride) to kill the mold, but I don't tolerate synthetic odors very well, and my understanding is that the mold just keeps coming back after using chemicals.

I'm considering using essential oils in a cold air diffuser to kill the mold spores in the air, but I don't want to wreck my homeopathic remedies in the process.

Would it be OK to leave the remedies in the house? Or would it be safer to put them in the garage before starting the essential oil treatment? If storing the remedies elsewhere is the better way to do it, once I'm done fumigating the house, how long should I wait before bringing the remedies back inside?

There are a lot of sites on the internet which talk about using Young Living Thieve's Oil to kill mold, but that has clove oil in it, so it makes me nervous about using Thieve's where my remedies are stored. There's a lot of info out there about using Melaleuca for mold too, but that can also antidote.

I've got Lemon EO (Essential7), Tea Tree oil (Cedar Vale) & Oregano oil (North American Herb & Spice) that I can use. Would any of these oils be incompatible to use where I store my homeopathic remedies? I'm not on a constitutional remedy at the moment, so I'm not concerned about antidoting myself right now, but I'm suffering from brain fog and I'd love to take something to help my cognition cuz thinking is a real chore these days. I also feel like I have a chronic lump in my throat and the sensation extends down into my chest a bit. This happens when I'm exposed to mold spores.

I figure there's not much point in starting on a remedy again though until I get this mold issue under control, and if I choose the essential oil route for eradiating the mold, I may antidote myself during the process no matter which EO I use.

I guess it all boils down to this question:
Will using Essential Oils to kill airborne mold spores affect the potency of bottled remedies?

If anyone has any other ideas on how to get rid of mold in the house, please do share.

Any and all thoughts, opinions & comments are greatly appreciated.

Julie

Hello Julie,
Placing essential oils in a standard cold air diffuser will most likely do no good in your situation. Yes, it is an excellent way of handling those few spores that come in after airing out a room, or day to day growth in a shower –however if you have a growing mold situation, it will be in the walls – simply eliminating the floating spores will not handle the situation.
The normal diffusion technique will not place a heavy volume of EO molecules in your room, so most likely homeopathic remedies stored properly in their bottles will not be affected. My experience has been the real problem comes when someone stores their EOs and remedies in the same box. If you are planning some sort of heavy diffusion technique – you may see neurological damage – so I would suggest both you and your remedies leave – and don’t forget that it could kill any pets.
I use EOs a great deal but since it is off topic for this list – please contact me offline and perhaps I can make some suggestions.
Donna
D C Rona, PhD, ND, DHM

rona@consultant.com
From: minutus@yahoogroups.com [mailto:minutus@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of cinquefoil7
Sent: Friday, October 23, 2009 12:10 PM
To: minutus@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Minutus] Using Essential Oils to Kill Airborne Mold Spores
My roof is leaking and I have a significant mold problem at my house, so I'd like to get some ideas from the group on how to deal with it. Someone recommended using either 10% bleach solution or Zephiran (benzalkonium chloride) to kill the mold, but I don't tolerate synthetic odors very well, and my understanding is that the mold just keeps coming back after using chemicals.

I'm considering using essential oils in a cold air diffuser to kill the mold spores in the air, but I don't want to wreck my homeopathic remedies in the process.

Would it be OK to leave the remedies in the house? Or would it be safer to put them in the garage before starting the essential oil treatment? If storing the remedies elsewhere is the better way to do it, once I'm done fumigating the house, how long should I wait before bringing the remedies back inside?

There are a lot of sites on the internet which talk about using Young Living Thieve's Oil to kill mold, but that has clove oil in it, so it makes me nervous about using Thieve's where my remedies are stored. There's a lot of info out there about using Melaleuca for mold too, but that can also antidote.

I've got Lemon EO (Essential7), Tea Tree oil (Cedar Vale) & Oregano oil (North American Herb & Spice) that I can use. Would any of these oils be incompatible to use where I store my homeopathic remedies? I'm not on a constitutional remedy at the moment, so I'm not concerned about antidoting myself right now, but I'm suffering from brain fog and I'd love to take something to help my cognition cuz thinking is a real chore these days. I also feel like I have a chronic lump in my throat and the sensation extends down into my chest a bit. This happens when I'm exposed to mold spores.

I figure there's not much point in starting on a remedy again though until I get this mold issue under control, and if I choose the essential oil route for eradiating the mold, I may antidote myself during the process no matter which EO I use.

I guess it all boils down to this question:
Will using Essential Oils to kill airborne mold spores affect the potency of bottled remedies?

If anyone has any other ideas on how to get rid of mold in the house, please do share.

Any and all thoughts, opinions & comments are greatly appreciated.

Julie

Hi,
I have been trained in mold testing and remediation. The most obvious first
step is to repair the leak: you will not get rid of mold until you get rid of the water/
moisture source.
That being said, let me say DO NOT USE CHLORINE OR BLEACH OR ANY
OTHER CHLORINE PRODUCT. Even the EPA says not to use due to its toxicity.
I won't go into all the toxic effects of chlorine but you can research it if you like.
Deciding how to approach the clean up, or remediation, depends on how extensive
the mold problem is. For example, is it behind the drywall? Is there an attic that has
insulation that has, or may have been contaminated? Damaged materials should
be removed--very carefully and the framing and sheathing be treated for mold if
this is the case.
Have you had the house tested for mold in the air? Do you know how extensive the
contamination is? You might want to have this done before getting into a cleaning
protocol which could be quite extensive.
Products that I use are hydrogen peroxide based and enzyme based. There is one
product that I give to customers for personal possessions such as cleaning counters
and washing clothing, linens,etc. It is very safe and is made from food grade, natural
ingredients.
For the air, I usually fog the house with a cleaner and a protectorant to prevent mold
from landing and moving in again.
If the house is seriously infected, you should work with a professional remediator.
All the furniture, rugs, and ALL personal possessions will need to be cleaned.
If the house is only minimally infected, you can probably do the cleaning yourself.
I have read up on using YL oils for mold and was not happy with the information.
Articles that I have read speak of very limited use against mold. There are many
kinds of mold and without testing you have no idea what you have. There is no
data on the effectiveness of the YL oils (or any others) on effective mold treatment.
These notes are not to scare you , but to give you some perspective on the problem.
If you would like more discussion, you can post me privately since this is really off topic.
tanya