We did not need the perfect house after all in order to heal from CIRS. Here’s our journey and what helped us clean our home. The moldy pipes were the biggest problem.
By the time we got diagnosed with CIRS we had moved out of the CIRS inducing moldy house. We live in a 10-year old rental house though, not ideal but in good condition. From onset of diagnosis with CIRS, my husband and I continually asked ourselves whether we could stay in our current house. The house itself had 10 years of dust and grime, no major water damage but lots of small stuff like moldy pipes and a slightly moldy bathroom shower.
Here are a few big things we learned in the process of cleaning and healing from CIRS.
We started feeling healthier in our house after beginning to use EC3 mold solution concentrate to clean our house. What’s awesome is you can wipe down surfaces using one cloth and kill mold spores, mycotoxins, and bacteria along the way. It simplifies cleaning and it’s nontoxic for kids and animals and there is no strong odor to it. We clean our house and cars using it. EC3 is a game changer when it comes to cleaning and getting healthy from CIRS. You can fog rooms with it also and minimize your work.
PIPES!!! Our pipes were moldy! 10 years of use covered the pipes with loads of gunk and mold. How did we figure out the pipes were a HUGE problem? As we started recovering from CIRS for example, I noticed funky smells and felt weird after washing dishes. I couldn’t figure out why until we realized the kitchen pipes and garbage disposal were VERY moldy. We cleaned out all the sink traps including kitchen sink, garbage disposal, even laundry machine drain pipe and used a brush to scrub out top down of each drain. Boy, our house smelled so much better after doing that. It was at that point I started to become biotoxin negative on my VCS score. Our house had become healthy for us!
It’s important to get rid of old couches, rugs, chairs, etc. As we started down the journey towards cleaning and healing we realized our stuff was super dusty. Our couch for example was 15 years old and looked beautiful but held loads of dust. When we removed it from our house, it started smelling more neutral. The same happened when we got rid of upholstered reading chairs, rugs, etc. My new favorite sofa is the Knopparp from Ikea. It has a washable cover and it’s made of all metal and doesn’t off gas.
De-cluttering our house and sorting through old dusty stuff is important for recovery too. We originally had photos everywhere as I love photography and pictures of our kids. Those photos though held years of dust and also made it very tough to keep things clean when I had so little energy. We took down all the photos and it was one thing which led our house to be more neutral smelling. For now, we laminated photo collages and placed them on our kitchen table so we can enjoy photos and have them be washable and healing for us.
We love books but we realized we must get rid of old books, which store loads of dust. Our plan is to scan those books with a book scanner so we can eventually read them. For now, our kids have a new selection of their favorite books but we just keep them in plastic bins to cut down on dust and they have made a new routine of it.
We made our rooms a healing respite. We took out our pictures and clutter which needs to be cleaned and dusted regularly. We still have wood dressers but not much else besides a few books held in plastic bins. Our closet holds stuff in plastic bins to keep dust down and help decrease the need to clean as regularly.
A few other suggestions I will follow up with in additional posts like How we do it: What helps keep our house healthy here and now?.
Cleaning our clothes with EC3 laundry additive and PureWash by Greentech, an ozone water producing machine is important because it kills off all mold spores and mycotoxins on clothes and keeps spores from following you everywhere. We set up our Purewash with a water hose also to make buckets of ozone water to put down drains and keep them mold free. Read my post How to Clean Your Clothes of Mold After Living in a Moldy House for more information on using EC3 laundry additive and the Purewash.
A Molekule air purifier has helped us keep our air clean and healthy too. My kids and I can be in the same room as the Molekule and we have no sensitivities. Prior to the Molekule, we tried the Air Oasis, but I returned it because it could only be running while I was out of the room. I was sensitive to the ozone I believe. What we like about the Molekule, we can have guests with unique smells in our house to visit and our house can stay neutral smelling with clean fresh air. Here’s my latest review of our Molekules after 11 months of use and in multiple environments. Do I Like the Molekule Air Purifier?
I wrote this blog about 6 months into our journey after diagnosis with CIRS. At the time, I didn’t realize how much our environment beyond mold, affected our health. I now realize, 1 1/2 years into CIRS treatment that a perfect house and toxin free environment is not absolutely necessary, but it sure helps with healing. I wrote Environmental Impacts on Healing from CIRS and Lyme Disease.
My Kids Healing Journey from CIRS and Lyme 
Hi, thanks for creating this blog. I rent and the drains are very moldy. I use a lot of vinegar and baking soda to combat it but I don’t think its enough. Do you think a Molekule would be a good option? You mention ozone seems problematic for you but you don’t react to the Molekule. My lease is up in a few months but I have not been able to heal in this apartment. Thanks!
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Hi, Drains take time to clear of mold, but it can be done with the right products. We’ve lived in 10 and 20-year old homes, both having had moldy drains requiring cleaning. Cleaning out the sink trap under sinks is the most important part. We removed traps, scrubbed them out and then bleached them before reinstalling them. Ensure you are careful to reinstall correctly if you try this at home. We then poured ozone water down drains every week or so to kill off the last of the mold until clean.
Molekule’s have their plus’ and minus’ in my opinion. Our journey post diagnosis with CIRS and then Lyme disease has been almost 3 years now. The first year, I relied on the Molekule. It was easy to take with for hotel stays. It was not too bulky or loud. It appeared to work well. It was convenient and easy.
Then, we moved and I realized the Molekule was problematic for me in an off gassing new house. We tried an IQ Air GC Multigas too. Both, I found appeared to help the house at first but over time, both caused me more fatigue challenges. Having CIRS and Lyme, my body is more sensitive to whatever mechanism is used for cleaning the air I found.
What I’ve learned. I no longer use any air purifier. Natural air is the best solution for me. I open my windows as much as possible now.
In my opinion air purifiers all have a tolerance limit, where they stop doing their job. If air purifiers soak up too much mold or chemicals, they start spewing them out. Also, in my opinion, air purifiers do change the air and some people may be more sensitive to the subtle changes than others.
An air purifier may be worth it for you, if it’s financially feasible. A plus about Molekule, is their customer service; it’s excellent. There was a time, when the Molekule for example gave me peace of mind at home. For you, if you try out an air purifier, for example, buy one with a generous return policy. Test the air purifier on and off for a set time, and see how you feel.
I will say. Not everyone has the luxury to just open windows. Live in the healthiest environment you can afford, to help encourage healing. Find joy in the little things as much as possible. Live outside as much as possible. Our family has always felt best out in the fresh air, even now.
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