Taking A Vacation From Mold

The One Sure Way To Know If You Are Reacting To Mold

If you think you might be reacting to mold in your place of work, school or home, take a vacation from the environment. As long as you find a non-moldy place to vacation in, this will give you immediate feedback.

Where Will You Go

If it is work or school that is the issue, you can simply take time off from these places, but if it's your home that is suspect, this becomes a little more complicated. The issue is finding a place to stay that is not moldy.

A Safe Place To Heal

The best method is to take a vacation and use a place that other mold avoiders have found worked for them to get well in the past. Here is a list of places that other mold avoiders have used in the past and found to be safe.

Camping

You could go camping in the woods, but make sure you do it in a remote location away from other toxins and people with toxic campers. Make sure you have a non-moldy tent or camper. Most campers are moldy and/or toxic chemical dump sites on wheels. An easy way to go, is to camp rustically, and then you just need to make sure the tent or tarp (use a new one) you use is not moldy and keep it in the sun as much as possible. If you can take some sort of a platform to sleep on, to keep your belongings off the moist ground, that will also be helpful. Yes, things mold in a damp environment like the forest floor, and you don't want to be sleeping in a moldy sleeping bag.

Some people have cars they can camp in for a few weeks and that is okay as long as the car is not moldy. Most people with a moldy home also have a moldy car.

Friends Or Relatives Home

If staying in someone's house or a hotel, you need to vet all possible places you will be staying. Ask friends and family you will be visiting if they have had any water leaks in the house, any musty odors, lots of antiques (they are often moldy, especially wooden things). All houses are suspect and many are moldy. The older ones had longer to get water-damaged, while the newer ones are built with such poor materials and bad building practices that they get moldy quickly. For an idea of what types of houses are less likely to be moldy check out this article on buying a mold free house. It will give you ideas of what indicators are likely to exist in a mold free home.

Hotels

When looking for a hotel room, try to use one that someone else has been to in the past and can tell you is not moldy. Hopefully, someone with a good olfactory system that can really tell if there is mold there. This is really your best choice in the beginning as many people who are reacting to mold are not able to smell mold until they get well again. If you can't smell mold, you can't vet a place for yourself and this can lead to your staying in a moldy hotel. I simply don't suggest you take the chance as you need a known safe place to vacate in. This is the only way to know if mold is causing your health issues.

Other Sensitivities

An additional thing to take into account is other sensitivities. If you are also sensitive to chemicals and or electromagnetic fields (EMFs), this also needs to be taken into account when looking for a place to stay. If you have a chemical sensitivity and forget to ask about cleaning products at the hotel, you might be in for a rude awakening.

Check The Bedding

Check the bedding in the place you are staying, as a moldy washer will give you moldy bedding. Those front load washers are a major mold source. Some people take their own bedding with them as a solution to this issue. If you are in a situation where you can wash the bedding in a non-moldy washer, I suggest using Country Save Oxygen Powerd Bleach (it is hydrogen peroxide) and I use 3 scoops to a washer in warm to hot water. If it is really bad, let it set for 20 minutes. Turn the machine off and just let it set there. Then let it go through it's cycle. You can rewash again if necessary. I have been told non-scented Downy can also remove mycotoxins, but I have not tried it since I get good results with Country Save. I usually use the Country Save detergent at the same time that I use the Oxygenated Bleach.

Taking Your Stuff With You

This is a major area where people make a big mistake. They don't realize that the clothing, and objects they are taking with them on vacation that came from their moldy house are also moldy. Whoops... Don't do that. Make sure all clothing is clean that you bring. Make sure your phone, your books, bags of food etc are all free of mold and mold smells. For ideas on cleaning your personal stuff, check out the article "Cleaning Mold & Odors Off Your Stuff".

Feeling Better

Most people will feel better after a week on a mold vacation, but some can take longer. Give yourself a few weeks if you can. This is your health we are talking about. Some people will get well with simple avoidance, while others need to use binders and often need to use methods that support their bodies detox/biotransformation system. Usually everyone will feel a little better, or a lot better from being out of the moldy environment. If you feel better but then can't get all the way well, consider that you may need to use additional methods.