symbolipoint said:
Acid (like vinegar) and ammonia will neutralize each other. No sense trying to mix them. Counter-productive! Wasted!
Laundry detergents containing ammonia? Maybe; probably NO. Best of memory, no. Not know for absolute sure. Maybe urea in some cheap liquid laundry detergents. Maybe some use of alkyl amines or alkyl ethanolamines in a few industrial laundry products.
You're, right. I re-Googled the mix and it's not a toxic mix, but rather a neutralizing one if you combine vinegar and ammonia.
It was ammonia + bleach that was toxic.
I think I will soak (and maybe even wash entirely and exclusively) my clothes first with the white distilled vinegar to kill the mold in them. Then add detergent and run the regular full wash. I actually did a cycle of clothes this morning with vinegar + detergent. I washed them twice just to be sure (using same combo). In the future, I'll let the clothes soak first in vinegar and maybe even run them through some of the washing cycle before adding detergent.
Is that what you were getting at with this quote?:
Still mixing with an acid would NOT make any sense, unless the purpose were to neutralize alkalinity AFTER usage of the laundry detergent.
You're saying vinegar + detergent (even without ammonia) doesn't work for mold killing?
Tom.G said:
A piece of thin rubber, or several layers of plastic wrap or a plastic bag over the drain hole will do. It just has to be stiff enough that the pressure of the sink contents don't force it down the drain. One of the above used over a poorly fitting stopper would also do the trick.
Good problem-solving idea, Tom. G.
Would vinegar "eat" away the plastic wraps at all? It's really strong stuff.
Some Follow-Ups (for everyone)
1.) We are going to call and schedule a mold inspector appointment with a local company that does independent mold testing tomorrow. We found other contractors who do inspection and remediation, but through talking to my uncle (who is an engineer and more knowledgeable on household things than my deadbeat dad), it's not a good idea to go with a company doing both, as they have conflicts of interest.
Obv., they stand to make more money if your tests come back positive for mold. So, this was a good lesson/tip.
2.) We're all freaked out and going to do a replacement of washer/dryer in the future just to be safe. Gonna see what mold experts have to say about possible mold in the pipes and air vents.
3.) We have several windows with what look like mold in the screen area. Gonna have to get swabbed for a test to be sure. This stuff seems easily spread everywhere, though.
4.) re: really harsh plumbing liquids
This was discussed earlier. Curious why on Earth hardware stores sell these drain uncloggers if they are known to eat through people's pipes? Shouldn't there be a warning on them that they often destroy people's pipes? Seems a lot of people, unfortunately, still use them in their homes.
I came across some YouTube videos of the damage they cause. You can cost yourself thousands of dollars.