Question from YH

Most houses around where I live have carpet. It is really hard to find houses that have hardwood floor. I am looking for a 4-month sublet, and was wondering if it is worth it to remove carpet for 4 months and then put it back. Can I do it all by myself? How much time does it take to pull out the carpet, and then put it back? If it is cement underneath, will it get very cold in the winter? I live in Michigan. Will the carpet be damaged while I do that? I want to preserve it so that I can install it back.

My current lease in a house that has carpet even in the bathroom and kitchen end in 2 months. Do you think it is worth it to put carpet seal just to use the carpet for 2 more months? It says on the website that I have to use carpet shampoo before using the carpet seal, and I thought that it is a lot of work, so I didn’t buy the carpet seal. Also, there are lots of things on the floor in my room. I didn’t want to move anything to put the carpet seal on. Or can I just put the seal on areas where I am not putting anything on?

If I move to a house that has hardwood floor, would it be safer to put a layer of natural linoleum on top to make sure that it is less toxic? If you recommend so, I will do that.

Debra’s Answer

I wouldn’t remove a carpet from a sublet or short term lease and expect to reinstall it. I did remove carpet from a rental once, but it was an old carpet, I had a 2 year lease and I promised to pay for the reinstallation. When we moved out, however, the landlord didn’t charge me anything because he decided to install a new carpet.

I advise you to use the AFM Carpet Seal on any of these carpets. But you need to move everything out of the room and apply it to the whole carpet.

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Question from CJStewart

Before I get started let me just say that yes, I know that if I was a tough girl I would just put my compost in the corner and turn it with a pitchfork. Yeah, that’s just not going to happen right now. 😉 That being said, I really need some input on the composting options available. We want one that we can add to continuously. We tried the NatureMill Pro, but we’re not going to keep using it. Long tiring story… We need one that we can use for kitchen scraps, etc. We want it to be outside and making mulch year-round. Suggestions?

Debra’s Answer

We just put our kitchen scraps out under the banana trees, but we used to have a worm compost box, which I loved.

Readers, your suggestions and experience with composting?

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Question from YH

Do they outgass some kind of chemicals? I don’t really know what they are made of. Is latex a toxic plastic? Buying latex matress is an easy way to get rid of dust mites.

Debra’s Answer

Dust mite pillow and mattress covers made from polyethylene are not harmful to health, however, polyethylene is a nonrenewable, nonbiodegradable plastic.

Latex is not toxic, however, some latex does contain some toxic chemicals. Some people are allergic to latex, and some people cannot tolerate the natural odor of latex.

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Question from Marcia

Here is an excellent article on what cars are more toxic than others – regarding the various materials they used in different cars that are rated: it’s Toxic Cars: Is your car making you sick?.

Marcia California USA

Debra’s Answer

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Question from Donna

Hi! I’m not sure if my previous post of this question made it through (computer glitches here lately). I saw a borosilicate glass tea kettle for sale in the Lehmans catalog. Do you think this is safe? Is this just regular glass, or something different? What kind of tea kettle is the safest for my family?Thanks so much!

Debra’s Answer

This is a tempered glass. It is nontoxic.

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Question from Bud

My wife and I are shopping for a new stove, we are trying to find the best interior, does anyone make a manual clean oven with out non-stick interior. I may be ok with ths self cleaning models that use steam (Samsung) but was still wondering about the toxicity of non-stick interior. I hope this has not been too obtuse, we just want the best non-toxic stove without paying an arm and a leg.

Debra’s Answer

I haven’t looked at new stoves recently. The Tappan self-cleaning oven that came with my house has a regular enamel interior. You might want to consider a used stove if you can’t find a new one you like.

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Question from jenbooks

Debra, many MCSers are sensitive to mold–or got that way because of mold. Can you post this info about detergents incl. Seventh Generation?

I was reacting to it and didn’t know why (I’m sensitive to mold).

This explains why I was “reacting” to some of my clothing. Felt like moldish but wasn’t mold. I think I am going to demand a refund from the company.

Debra’s Answer

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Question from Dalia

My neighbor wants to seal our fence saying that arsenic can leach from treated wood chemicals .Is this a problem ? And the chemicals from the sealing the wood?

Thank you so much

I love your site.

dalia

Debra’s Answer

Actually, your fence may not have any arsenic in the preservative. How old is it?

Wood used to be preserved with Chromated Copper Arsenate (CCA), which contained arsenic. As of December 31, 2003, wood with this preservative was no longer allowed by the EPA for residential applications, and is no longer sold (However, see entry 10/24/08 at Q&A: Safety of ACQ Pressure-Treated Wood). Today, wood is generally treated with Alkaline Copper Quaternary (ACQ), which is considered much safer (but not entirely safe — see Safe Handling Information at http://www.ufpi.com/literature/acqsafe-59.pdf)

ACQ IS safer than CCA, however, there is such a thing as copper toxicity. If you have high copper in your body, it can cause a wide variety of problems. So keep in mind that this is a source of copper, and you should minimize your exposure to it for that reason.

US Forest Service: Forest Products Laboratory has some good background material on wood preservatives.

If your neighbor wants to seal the fence, they should use at least a water-based sealant, and preferably one that contains few or no VOCs.

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Question from Dalia

Moringa is a a bottle made of red ceramic that holds and keeps the water cool through the summer months and gives a nice , rain water and earthy taste to it. I am afraid of contaminants leaching into the water. Do you know anything about it?

Thank you.

Debra’s Answer

I’ve never heard of this.

In general, with ceramic pieces, you want to make sure it is not finished with a glaze that contains lead. The most suspect of leaded ceramics are imported pieces that are brightly colored.

Where do you get a MORINGA?

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Question from Ben Jones

Hello Debra,

I was thinking of buying a metal shed for the garden. All of the commericaly available ones are painted with polyester enamel paint? Would this paint be likely to offgas much after purchase? Would this be suitable for a person with moderate chemical sensitivity?

Id appreciate any advice you could give me, Many thanks in advance.

Debra’s Answer

This should be fine for you.

One thing to understand about plastics is that they come in many different forms. An “enamel” actually is pretty toxic during application, but when it dries, it is quite inert. Enamel paints are heat-cured to metal surfaces, which takes care of most of the outgassing.

I say “most” because enamel paint applied to a heater, for example, will continue to outgass when exposed to the heat of the heater. It actually takes a year or two of use for it to completely dry. Therefore, this shed will probably be fine, except if the sun is shining on it on a very hot day, there may be additional emissions from the heat.

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