# Well, I tracked black mold all over my apartment.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [May 13, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947 "2015-05-13T15:48:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/1 "2015-05-13T15:48:12Z")
So, guess who stepped on black mold and tracked it all over the apartment and carpet, etc. And from there, onto blankets, floors, clothes, etc.
Yup, me.
I’m not even sure what to do now, for all practical purposes it’s everywhere.
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### Author:  [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/2 "2015-05-13T16:05:27Z")
This being the Dope, you do realize that the only possible answer involves nukes, and being in orbit, right?
What was the source of the mold? Was it in your apartment to begin with, or did you track it in from outside?
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### Author:  [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/3 "2015-05-13T16:05:44Z")
Dump bleach on it.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/4 "2015-05-13T16:07:37Z")
Just clean it up and keep the place dry.
I’m kind of curious how you didn’t notice it before it got everywhere.
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/5 "2015-05-13T16:52:08Z")
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> Just clean it up
That’s the thing; it’s in too many places to clean now.
> [@TriPolar](#):
>
> I’m kind of curious how you didn’t notice it before it got everywhere.
I noticed, but in the course of going to the kitchen to get cleaning supplies, unavoidably ended up tracking it over a dozen new places.
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### Author:  [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/6 "2015-05-13T20:19:26Z")
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> So, guess who stepped on black mold and tracked it all over the apartment and carpet, etc. And from there, onto blankets, floors, clothes, etc.
>
> Yup, me.
>
> I’m not even sure what to do now, for all practical purposes it’s everywhere.
You trod all over blankets and clothes?😕
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### Author:  [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/7 "2015-05-13T20:45:21Z")
> [@mascaroni](#):
>
> You trod all over blankets and clothes?😕
Only when masturbating!
**Velocity,** here’s what you do: Despite appearances, clean everything.
Besides, does black mold really track all over everything like it’s mayonnaise? How much of this stuff could you have possibly gotten on you?
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2015, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/8 "2015-05-13T22:57:42Z")
It won’t hurt you, unless you have a severe allergy to it, which could cause the usual symptoms. Vacuum well and clean as best you can.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/9 "2015-05-13T23:01:00Z")
\ FIRE! And lots of it! \
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [May 13, 2015, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/10 "2015-05-13T23:45:45Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> It won’t hurt you, unless you have a severe allergy to it, which could cause the usual symptoms. Vacuum well and clean as best you can.
I had thought it was a lot worse than that. Is this website raising the black-mold alarm a bit too much?
> **[Black Mold Symptoms & Health Effects, Toxic Stachybotrys](https://moldpedia.com/black-mold-symptoms)**
>
> The symptoms in humans of exposure to toxic black mold (Stachybotrys) & its mycotoxins. Also allergic symptoms & health effects caused by all molds.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/11 "2015-05-14T00:03:43Z")
If you noticed you stepped in it, why didn’t you take off your shoes first?
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/12 "2015-05-14T00:29:55Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#):
>
> If you noticed you stepped in it, why didn’t you take off your shoes first?
I didn’t have shoes on.
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### Author:  [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2015, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/13 "2015-05-14T01:05:56Z")
Relax, dude. There are many kinds of black molds that aren’t Black Mold.
The big scary Black Mold of Doooooom is Stachybotrys chartarum (atra). But it’s not a common household mold and its presence isn’t automatically Certain Death, anyway.
[https://www.nmsu.edu/safety/faq/IAQ/Mold-stachybotrys.htm](https://www.nmsu.edu/safety/faq/IAQ/Mold-stachybotrys.htm)
From the link:
> [@](#):
>
> Mold Stachybotrys chartarum, a type of greenish-black mold that\*\* requires significant water damage in order to grow\*\*
>
> …
>
> There are about 15 different species that of Stachybotrys worldwide. The mold lives on moist and water logged wood and paper. In homes it can grow in wallpaper, thermal insulation, fiberboard, dry wall, and gypsum board. The mold does not like to grow on plastic, vinyl, or shower tiles.\*\* The mold is relatively slow growing and other rapidly growing fungi can displace it.\*\*
>
> …
>
> At present there is no test that proves an association between Stachybotrys chartarum (Stachybotrys atra) and particular health symptoms.
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### Author:  [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/14 "2015-05-14T20:40:09Z")
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> I didn’t have shoes on.
Didn’t you notice that you stepped in something when you stepped in it?
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### Author:  [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/15 "2015-05-14T20:49:02Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#):
>
> Didn’t you notice that you stepped in something when you stepped in it?
I did, but, again, in the course of fetching cleaning supplies to clean the mold off, unavoidably tracked it over many other places. I had to walk somewhere.
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### Author:  [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/16 "2015-05-14T21:06:00Z")
Still not sure how BLANKETS (plural?) got involved in the whole tracking/cleanup debacle but they, like the clothes, can be tossed into a washing machine set on Hot. Add bleach if you’re really worried and the fabric can tolerate it. (Or if you don’t care about bleach stains.)
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [May 14, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-i-tracked-black-mold-all-over-my-apartment/719947/17 "2015-05-14T21:30:21Z")
> [@Velocity](#):
>
> I had thought it was a lot worse than that. Is this website raising the black-mold alarm a bit too much?
>
> [http://blackmold.awardspace.com/black-mold-toxic-stachybotrys-mycotoxins.html](http://blackmold.awardspace.com/black-mold-toxic-stachybotrys-mycotoxins.html)
Since the website has no claim to science or research and just baldly states “facts” while repeatedly using the modifier “toxic”, I’d say yes, it’s too much. It reads like a list a lawyer would come up with. I knew mold experts who would actually _taste_ the stuff to see what it was. Like I said, if you have a mold allergy, which are quite common, you’ll have the usual allergy symptoms from exposure.