Mold Archives

June 24, 2011November 3, 2022

Send Germs and Molds Packing with Antimicrobial Spray

Vital-Oxide is an antimicrobial spray with many household uses.

The bulk of the product we sell is for someone that has had some type of mold contamination and they are looking for a way to safely and effectively clean up the problem. Vital-Oxide is great for that. But as an all-purpose antimicrobial spray, Vital-Oxide does more.

The active ingredient is chlorine dioxide. Now don’t let the word “chlorine” make you think of chlorine bleach like you use in the laundry or put in your swimming pool. The Clorox stuff is sodium hypochlorite, which is totally different. Sodium hypochlorite is a skin and mucous membrane irritant and can damage the respiratory system. It breaks down into trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids.

Chlorine dioxide breaks down into chlorites and sodium chloride (table salt) and is not a metabolic toxin. It reacts with the amino acids in the microbial cells to eliminate bacteria and viruses but is relatively un-reactive to other organic materials.

As a bonus, it also denatures proteins, and proteins are the source of allergic reactions. Vital-Oxide will work on Der f1 and Der p1 (the dust mite allergens) as well as Can d1 and Fel d1 (animal allergens)

Because it works at the microbial level, it will get rid of odors at the source. I have found many uses for the product in my house. We often take advantage of sales on chicken breast. Our local butcher will run a special on chicken breasts that must come from birds the size of Tim Tebow.

These birds would make Loni Anderson and Dolly Parton feel inadequate. They are the largest breasts I have ever seen. They require further butchering and trimming down to become meal size for our household of 2.

Needless to say, after cutting up 10 to 15 pounds of chicken the cutting board, your hands, and the knife is a bit of a mess. I clean up with Vital-Oxide and let the antimicrobial spray go to work killing any salmonella or other germs that may have come home with the chicken.

After someone has had a cold, I like to wipe down door handles, knobs, and remote controls to keep germs in check. When we briefly had a cat that had litter box issues, the odor-eliminating properties of the antimicrobial spray were put to use. Just wipe up the urine, spray the area, then a little squirt in the air and the smell was gone.

We have a family member that is an MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) carrier. We have to be very careful that it does not spread. Vital-Oxide is great for killing this bacteria and we put it to work in the bathroom, wiping down surfaces to take care of any germs that might be left behind. Because it is not a metabolic toxin, it won’t contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. As anyone who deals with MRSA knows, this is an important health issue today.

Of course, Vital-Oxide works well on mold. Because it doesn’t produce chlorine gas, it can be used indoors without fear of respiratory damage. It was EPA approved for use to combat norovirus back in 2007 and has been used to clean up the cruise ships here in Miami.

So whether it is mold, chicken mess, cat pee, bacteria, or viruses, Vital-Oxide is a great all-purpose antimicrobial spray.

Til Next Time!

Cheryl
The Allergy Store

June 22, 2011August 11, 2014

Q-Mask for Gardening

A few days ago, I wrote about our U2 Sports Mask and how popular it is with the ATV crowd. I mentioned that it is made from the same material as our Q-Mask, then I got to thinking that you might not be familiar with the Q-Mask. Wear the Q-Mask for gardening, vacuuming, cleaning, or sorting through old books and papers.

Q-Mask Repels Particles

The Q-Mask is a very lightweight, reusable mask that you can use around the house when you are cleaning, vacuuming, or otherwise stirring up dust. The filtering medium is designed to actually repel particles, so it doesn’t clog up. It also doesn’t restrict your airflow while you breathe and it isn’t hot. It is pleated, so it provides a large filtering surface area in a compact space.

Won’t Fog Up!

Because I wear glasses, I like the way the mask conforms to the nose and cheeks so my glasses won’t fog up. So many masks cause your glasses to fog up when you wear them.

Q-Mask for Mold and Dust

I first used the mask when I was helping hubby out on job sites. As you may know, we owned an indoor environmental company that did air duct cleaning and mold remediation. The Allergy Store started out as a sideline from that business! Anyway, there were times that we needed extra hands to finish a job on-time and I provided those extra hands. Depending on the job, we might be knocking down drywall and cleaning up after a demo necessitated by mold or just performing a routine air duct cleaning. Either way, you need protection against the mold spores and other particles while you work. I previously wore masks made by 3M but they were very hot, made it hard to breathe, and would fog up my glasses. When we first tested the Q-mask, I knew we had a winner.

The Q-mask will stop particles as small as molds and in addition it stops pollens too. Since we sold Absolute Environmental in 2006, I don’t need a mask for work but I still like to garden. When mold and pollen counts are high the Q-Mask stops the particles so I can still be outside without triggering an allergic reaction.

Q-Mask for Cleaning

We used to sell the 3M mask each year to a teacher that would use it to clean up her classroom at the start of each year. I sold her a Q-Mask several years ago and now I don’t see her anymore. The good news for her is that the mask lasts for years and years so she doesn’t need to replace it. The bad news for me is I don’t get to see her every year before school starts. Maybe I shouldn’t be saying these good things about Q-Masks!

Cheryl
The Allergy Store

May 5, 2011August 26, 2014

Cleaning Hidden Mold and Bacteria

You wash your dishes, scrub the toilets and bathtub. Clean the sinks, mop the floors, and dust the furniture and wipe down bathroom and kitchen counters. You think your home is clean. But do you have hidden mold?

kill hidden mold and bacteria with vital oxide

But there are lots of places that can harbor germs, bacteria, and viruses that you might not think about cleaning. Because you don’t think about them, the germs can build up and mold can hide.

Hidden Mold in the Bathroom

When is the last time you cleaned your showerhead? Bacteria and molds can grow on the showerhead. You can inhale these hidden mold spores each time you turn on the water to take a shower. If you spash up a bit of nutrient-rich shampoo or body wash, you feed that hidden mold a little more.

Once a month or so, disinfect and clean your showerhead with a bit of Vital Oxide. This antimicrobial disinfectant spray is highly effective at low concentrations over a wide pH range. Plus, this disinfectant spray contains no VOC’s and is biodegradable.

While you have the bottle of Vital Oxide out, either spray it on the shower curtain or toss the shower curtain in the washing machine with this disinfectant to kill mold spores. Mold can hide in your shower curtain.

Hidden Bacteria in the Kitchen

Don’t forget the door handle, seal, and front of your refrigerator when you clean. Much of the food that comes into our homes is sporting microbial contamination. As we handle the food to put it away, we spread the microbes to the door handle and front of the fridge. Wipe these surfaces down on a regular basis with Vital Oxide Disinfectant to kill these molds, germs, and viruses. This disinfectant is safe to use in the kitchen. The active ingredient is chlorine dioxide and its primary by-product is chlorite, both break down into soddium chloride (which is simple salt…something that is probably already in your kitchen). You can even spray down the kitchen sink that you thought was clean!

Cheryl
The Allergy Store