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[Cristina]

i want sure where to put this but i guess it's best suited here, since it's kind of health related.

My living room was in need of a serious make over, so i decided to throw out my couches and my boy friend moved hs old couches in. the couches look great and all but every time I sit on them they give me massive head aches and my nose starts to get all stuffy and stuff. I don't have any known allergies and have six animals in my house with any problems.

The thing is with the couches they were sitting in an unattached garage for 4 1/2 years and kind of have that "abandoned building' smell.  When I go in to the buildings the mold never really gives me much of a head ache but when I sit on these couches it feel like my brain is swelling up and my nose starts to get all stuffy.

I really think that they have some unvisible mold damage. When I sit on another chair my headache subsides. So i am sure the ouhes are giving me the head aches.

I was just wondering if there is anyway to get rid of the mold and what are the effects of mold. are the couches doomed? I just got them steamed cleaned and we have been dousing them with the ant-allergenic fabreeze. I know that those chemical dont cause the head ache cause i have been exposed to them before.

I know when I go into some abandoned buildings I get kind of the same headache but it doesn't bother me as much. Maybe cause I am not in that close of contact and trying to relax and watch tv. lol.

Are these couhes doomed? They really look nice and I would hate to throw them away.

[Jude]

Are you still getting the same reaction since you had them steam cleaned?

Ma

[AuntMaymeMommy]

It does sound like maybe there is something growing deep inside them that bothers you.  If you steam cleaned them and still get it I would assume that whatever it is is not on the surface.  A few years back I lived in a place where I got bad headaches every day starting shortly after I moved in.  I moved to another apartment and never felt that way again. 

[Cristina]

Yeah, thats what im guessing, that there is something deep down inside of the couches. In the mean time i am not going near th couches.

[Cyber]

Steam cleaning will clean the surface and some of the depths of the couch but it doesn't reach every nook and cranny.  Slip covers and/or reupholstering doesn't always solve the problem, either.  Mold can lurk in the frame itself, not just the cushions and fabric.

Unfortunately, it sounds like you might not have a choice but to find some other furniture and dispose of the moldering stuff. 

[Cyber]

Just don't pick your next furniture from this place.   

[Kim]

try to some other ones if you can't afford new (don't take offence) go. to salvation army, or goodwill. Even better check with family to see if they are getting rid of anything. don't forget the newspaper.

[everyhumandies]

My wife and I know a couple who lived in an apartment complex where, unknown to them, the crawlspace above the 2nd floor ceilings was completely full of toxic mold. After living there for many years, ( 10, I think) and raising their kids there, the whole family ( as well as their neighbors from the rest of the place) had developed serious health issues. Among them were frequent headaches and cold symptoms, but more seriously were lung issues, major (seemingly permanent) allergies, and various depressions and general gloominess.

Once the mold was discovered, it was clear that it was behind the health issues for dozens of the tenants there. The shower vents in every apartment were not vented to the outside, but up into this crawlspace - it had grown into a giant petri-dish of black mold and bacteria, that everyone there was exposed to for years. Before a substantial case against the owners could be put together, all the residents were told to get out and the apartments were torn down fast - an obvious attempt to stay out of trouble, that actually worked. They had no legal recourse and were unable to fight for compensation in court over what was literally years long exposure to poisonous mold due to improper design of the vent systems at this complex.

Just wanted to share a story about mold exposure that might help scare you into getting new furniture! That stuff is NOT good to breathe, so be careful...!

[Patrick]

I would pitch them and sit on the floor, don't mess with your health.

Try Craigs list.com for used furniture, I have found great deals there.


Good luck,

P

[Aussie Paul]

Just out of left field...

They're not stuffed with something like horsehair, are they? I've heard of people having an allergy to that. I know you have other animals in the place, but you never know.