How do I clean the smell of mold and mildew from my laundry room?
by
Judi Sobol
+2
My husband had a stroke 3 years ago and has yet to make any progress (by his own choice.) We have an aide to care for him 8 hours p/d. Once the aide leaves, then I’m forced to be his caregiver. Seeing that he refuses to leave his hospital bed and I’m disabled myself and unable to do anything, he permitted the substitute aide to use our washer and dryer. Of course she had no knowledge on how to use the machine, and left the front loading door opened and flooded my small laundry room. I had the machine checked out and it seems to work fine, but the smell of mold and mildew fills my home and my homeowners insurance has a $1,000 deductible. We both are unable to work and so therefore there’s no income coming into the house. I’ve noticed mildew under the washer, so I have to get someone in to give me an estimate. Though I’m too sick to clean under the machine, is there anyway that I could get the odor out of my house? I did try bleach to clean up the mess as much as possible but the odor still keeps coming back and I’m just too weak to handle this job myself. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.Thanks for any advice,Judi
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Hello Judi. I'm sorry for the situation that you are in. The mold and mildew will only get worse if left unattended. Could the home aid possibly clean it up for you? Advice for killing mold and mildew: Mix one cup of bleach for every gallon of warm water. Use a scrub brush and this solution to clean it. Be sure to dry the surface as much as possible and use fans if you have one. Judi, perhaps people from a local church could help you. It's worth a phone call. I'm sending warm wishes your way. Good luck.
Sorry to hear things are so tough. I wonder whether a humidifier would help with the odour and mold. Here in the UK you can rent them from tool places so it might worth checking if its the same over there if you don't know anyone who has one.
Bleach really isn't a lasting solution. You can buy Mould Killer sprays (HG does one) from hardware stores or Amazon - it's not expensive and it really does work. It's easy to apply - spray, leave, rinse. I had 'fluffy' mould in my (new) kitchen after a house fire (all that darn water from the hoses) and used the HG Mould Killer spray, and am now following up with a de-humidifier. After a (relatively) small leak like yours, renting one may work out cost-effective but, over here (UK) it worked out MUCH cheaper to buy one...
Hi Judi - I'm so sorry to hear about everything that happened. Please check in your community or local churches for additional aids/resources that can help your family (maybe even for free). There are several ways to get rid of mold, but most importantly, you need to address the root cause to keep it from returning. This article focuses on the bathroom, but is an overall great article that covers methods of how to remove mold, if bleach is safe to use, and how to prevent it from coming back. Hope this helps! Hugs, Holly
https://pinkfortitude.com/mold-in-the-shower/
PS - We have a FREE eBook with recipes for all of my homemade and all-natural cleaners. You can download it here --> https://pinkfortitude.com/thank#GreenClean
I'm so sorry about your situation! There are some ideas here on removing mold and mildew:
https://www.hometalk.com/search/posts?filter=remove%20mold%20and%20mildew
Also, if you are on a community page for your neighborhood, you can always reach out and ask for help. There are lots of disabled and/or elderly people who ask for help on our neighborhood page and people are always willing to donate time to help, free of charge. Of course, you'll want to be careful when doing this and always have someone around who you trust, but you may be able to find help if you just ask.