Mouldy clothes don’t always need to be thrown out; checking one thing first could save you thousands of dollars

As a mould inspector, Jess Ward has watched people throw out thousands of dollars of clothing that could have been saved had they known how. Now, she’s on a mission to change that by sharing the best practice for dealing with contaminated garments.

“How to deal with clothing is one of the most common questions I get. Part of the reason for that is there’s so much conflicting advice online around how to decontaminate clothes that have been exposed to a mouldy environment, like whether to use vinegar, borax, essential oils, mould killing sprays etc,” Ward, the owner and founder of MouldWise, told nine.com.au.

“Clothes that have actual visible mould growth on them should be discarded. That part is easy, because the mould roots grow into the fabric and can’t truly be removed with a washing process. This is for clothes that have been in a bedroom that had visible mould contamination, or maybe no visible mould, but high levels of mould found on an air sample.”

To work out whether the affected items of clothing can be saved or should be thrown out, there is a simple test Ward recommends. It requires a close examination of the fabric using a torch to shine light across it.

“The angled light catches any fuzzy patches, spotting, staining. Can you see actual mould growth? Or did the clothes just sit near mould and pick up drifting spores – no visible mould growth?” she explained in the first of a three-part guide for dealing with mouldy clothes, shared on Instagram.

Any torch can be used, as Ward said the angle you hold it is more important at highlighting signs of mould growth.

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“If you shine it directly onto the item, it might be hard to see anything. But if it’s held low and to the side, so that the light skims across the surface, it’ll be much easier to see any fuzzy-looking growth. It also works best in a dim room, so turn the lights off first ideally,” Ward told nine.com.au. 

If there is visible mould growth, the item must be thrown away, otherwise it can likely be saved through a thorough washing process. The exception to this is thick items, like jackets, where a wash won’t be able to reach deep enough to remove the mould spores.

“For clothing thicker than half an inch, they will be harder to decontaminate. You can think of it like trying to wash a pillow – if you washed it, you could be reasonably sure the outer cover would be cleaned, but not all of the inner filling. The same goes for doonas and thick blankets,” Ward said. 

“Sometimes, provided the area the item was taken from didn’t have excessively high contamination, the owner will try to wash the item a few times and then test their own individual reaction to the item, or otherwise get a mould inspector to test a few items.

“Anything with a heavy musty odour is generally considered difficult to restore to the level needed for someone sensitive to mould or immunocompromised.”

Surprisingly, harsh chemicals aren’t needed to restore clothes that can be saved. Ward said regular laundry detergent used with a hot wash of at least 60 degrees, followed by a cold wash with laundry detergent, and a third cold wash with detergent if you’re sensitive to mould decontaminate clothes.

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“Detergent containing surfactants, which is most of them, low-tox stuff included, helps loosen spores from any of the fibres and then allows them to be rinsed off and washed away,” she said. 

“That’s ultimately all we are trying to do – remove the spores and particles, not kill them, so something harsher than that isn’t required. If you’re removing contamination from a household item, dishwashing detergent gets used, and if it’s clothing then washing detergent gets used.”

For those who don’t have hot water connected to their washing machine or the care instructions for that item advise not to use hot water, a cold wash is OK to do first. However, Ward recommended checking your sensitivity to the item afterwards or getting it tested to make sure the mould has been removed.

“The jury is actually mixed on the importance of the hot wash – so sometimes cold will be enough. Physical removal through the washing/agitating/rinsing process would be most important.”

But this washing process has the potential to recontaminate clothing if your laundry and washing machine are mouldy. So it’s worth cleaning the washing machine with a long hot cycle and checking seals, filters and detergent trays for any signs of mould before starting the clothing decontamination process.

If there are any concerns about your appliance or laundry room, Ward advised finding a laundromat that’s relatively new and looks to be in good condition and using one of its machines to decontaminate your clothes.

Once you’ve followed the washing process, it can be tricky to tell if clothes are no longer contaminated. Ward said people with sensitivities will usually experience symptoms shortly after putting the item on if there is still mould present. Another option is to have a sample of the clothing tested by a mould inspector to be sure.

“People’s reactions to this vary widely depending on their genetic susceptibility, overall health status, age and so on. So some people will need to take this very seriously and ensure it’s done right in order to protect their health, and others can be more flexible,” she said.