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sentient white mold
Mai-Kero
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So, I was storing some wax cubes and fragrance oil that goes with a candle set I bought a long time ago in the medicine cabinet above my sink. I opened it today to look for something, and discovered that there was this weird spongy veiny-looking white stuff under the wax cubes (which are sealed in plastic.) It's very springy, and bounced back when I prodded it.
I'm guessing this is some kind of mold. It's attached to the shelf, which is wood, I think, with white paint on it.
Is this probably dangerous? Have I already breathed in too much?
What's the safe way to remove it?
I'm guessing this is some kind of mold. It's attached to the shelf, which is wood, I think, with white paint on it.
Is this probably dangerous? Have I already breathed in too much?
What's the safe way to remove it?
Mai-Kero on
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Don't sweat it too much. Toss the cubes, clean the shelf with diluted bleach and you'll be fine. Watch the shelf for the next few days and if it comes back you may need to remove the infected area.
Secret Satan
They are usually mostly harmless. Definitely take a picture (for science!) though, you never know if you might have found a new genus/species.
Never take that attitude with mold. Ever. If I had attitude at work I could fucking have an early death.
There are types of white mold (any mold really) that when breathed in can settle in your lungs and continue to grow. The only way to get rid of it is to remove parts your fucking lungs. It can also get in your ear canal and give you a brain infection (think something along the lines of Meningitis).
Use coke on it to remove it. Then put some coke on a sponge and scrub it clean. Should clean the entire cabinet to be sure. Make sure it completely dry when you are done. Also wear a particulate respirator (aka dust mask). N95 rating should be fine.
Oh jesus now I'm terrified. I shower in that room every day. Should I go have x-rays taken? Does mold show up on x-rays?
Though I'd like to see a picture if you could provide one. This stuff sounds cool.
IOS Game Center ID: Isotope-X
Mmm. What?
Yeah. Many black molds are poisonous and allergenic. White molds can destroy your face, brain and lungs. Zygomycotic infections are rare and you generally need to have an underlying infection/malignancy or a compromised immune system to be susceptible to them, but it does seem prudent to avoid contact with molds and their spores.
Because ants use scented candles too!
You should be fine. Just put a mask on and clean it with some Coca-Cola Classic.
like the kind on bread
You guys have me terrified of mold now.
Kill it with bleach! Significantly better than Coca-cola at killing mould.
Probably not, but you'd get a stomach ache.
Depends on how moldy the bread is...
And I second Bowen, this is horrific information.
guy did an experiment. guy ate progressively moldier things to prove they were harmless. he toasted month-old moldy bread, and said it tasted fine. guy was ok. i don't have the source.
not all molds are deadly. similarly, some molds will fuck you up. it depends.
The shelf is made of wood? Depending on how it was sealed, you may have to remove the part that had the mold, as the porous nature of wood makes it more likely to still have spores. Also, I think white mold in the home is actually usually growing on wood (so it's not the cubes fault).
Is the mold under the cubes but inside the bag, or do you mean it was growing under the cubes so you didn't notice it? If it's inside the bag, it's probably the wax melting and doing weird things.
If it IS mold, it shouldn't have just been growing for no reason in there. Is the area damp most of the time? If so, you should figure out why. Maybe something is leaking. If it's just the humidity from your showers you should find a way to better ventilate.
When we moved into our new house as a kid, the back porch constantly got more green and white when it got humid. Mom bleached that porch until the very dark wood was stark white.
now people are going to start putting bleach in their tubs
and/or take coca cola baths
Uh, I hightly suggest he takes the advice of myself and Doc, a few posts above. No need to freak out, just clean it up.
And to back my opinion up I'm going to pull out the fact that I am not only a microbiologist but I also diagnose mold species for a living.
Secret Satan
Toss some bleach on the area, let it sit for a while, repeat a few times if you're paranoid, and chances of there being enough viable spores left to cause health problems are really, really low. I do not support the use of cola as a fungicide - it would be fungistatic, at best.
Be sure to have them send us pictures of the mold colonies in your lungs.
it will be easy to take the pictures because your lungs will be sitting on the operating table next to you
Oh and post pictures for science!
In any event, I did two things. One: took these pictures.
Two, prodded at it with a Q-Tip. It seems to be like a solid sheet. It came away when I tugged a bit, and it really looks like a sort of latexy-type-thing that you get when cheap paint peels away. Except more wet.
I can't tell if it's really mold now, or just the oil from the bottle that was sitting on its side (and some definitely leaked out) mixing with the weird paint and doing stuff.
I'm pretty much entirely sure it's the latter though, since the weird stuff seems to be continuous with the shelf, and now, you know, growing out of it as I would expect mold to look like. Also, the underside of the little bag the wax cubes are in is pretty much completely clean, except for an open corner where it looks like the wax mixed with the oil.
so be careful