Clothes Mold: Removing Mold from Clothing

Q. We have left our home because of mold. We have Aspergillus/Penicillium (in the basement at 278,878 Air-o-cell) and HVACs between 10,773 and 4,000 as well as other air-o cells in other rooms at 13,000. We have stachybotrys mold in a tape sample also in the basement (3,417) as well as HVAC (1500-2300). We had just moved into this home, which is a very old home. My question is our possessions. We have 6 children ages 3 weeks  to 12. We sorted and had most of the kids clothes on the old carpet (probably 15-20 years old). We are getting conflicting reports as to how to clean our clothes, shoes, jackets etc. We've been told to just wash them normally in the house (or have them dry cleaned) and then take them out or that everything needs to be decontaminated professionally. Which is it? While the high # of the Asperillus/Penicillius is a concern, it's really the Stachybotrys I an worried about. [Oct. 9, 2003]

A. Sorry for the great mold problems your family is facing. You were very wise to move out in view of the serious mold health threat to your family members. Stachybotrys, Aspergillus, and Penicillium are the three most dangerous molds, in the order written [Stachy being the worst]. Your infant child and other young children can quickly be permanently harmed medically by living in mold infestation. You are also wise in not moving any personal possessions without first doing mold decontamination of such items to prevent mold cross-contamination of where you move to. Washable clothes should be washed at least twice with Borax laundry detergent, a natural mold cleaner, in warm water.\. Dry cleaning clothes is usually but not always effective in killing and remove mold spores from the items dry cleaned. Please read the in-depth section about mold cleaning each and every different type of personal property in the in-depth ebook Do-It-Yourself Mold Prevention, Inspection, Testing, and Remediation Guide.