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Question from Susan P.

Dear Debra,

A freakish accident which happened during a move caused my clothes and my husband’s clothes and all our linens to become permeated with mold spores, to which I am highly allergic. (I have MCS.) I have washed and rewashed various loads of clothing using Ivory detergent, but the mold remains. I run a bleach cycle between each washing to kill off any mold that might be inside my washing machine.

Do you have any suggestions about how to get rid of the mold spores in our clothing? Am I going to have to throw it all away? The only things I can wear are ones I have just bought and, after wearing, wash by hand.

I have a Maytag Neptune washing machine — front loading — which never actually fills with water. Rather it drips water on the clothes from above. You can open the door of the machine at any time in the wash cycle.

I don’t know if my problem is the design of my washing machine or the lack of some agent added to the wash to kill or remove the mold. I have heard people advise bleach or borax, and I have tried both, but since I have MCS I can’t tell if my allergic reaction is to these chemicals or to mold still clinging to the fabric after washing.

I haven’t dared to use my dryer, for fear of contaminating it forever with mold spores, and the summer will soon be over, so I fear I literally will be unable to dry my clothing for much longer.

Debra’s Answer

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