Mold: The least sexy allergen?

[RedVelvetHeart]

So we discovered a slow plumbing leak that has apparently been going on FOREVER inside our walls. Opening it up has caused the whole place to smell of mold. Unlike grass pollen, which makes me sneeze, mold tends to give me a stuffy nose and a headache, sometimes a scratchy throat too. Very few sneezes! Same with my husband. So I put it to you: is mold is the least sexy allergen or what? Smells terrible, unpleasant symptoms and not enough sneezing. What do you think? Also, any tips on mold remediation?

 

 

[Chanel_no5]

5 minutes ago, superimmunegirl said:

So I put it to you: is mold is the least sexy allergen or what?

YES! Mold and dust mites. 

Also, it can be dangerous even if you're not allergic to it, depending on which type of mold it is, so be careful, and try to get rid of it as quick as possible. Unfortunately I don't have any tips for the how. Leaks suck! (well, no, they leak, but... ) We had one in the apartment building last year, a sewer pipe leak. It smelled like shit (literally) for God knows how long. 

 

[•.*°•☆. Q .☆•°*.•]

Mold remediation is a REAL pain i tell ya what bc the mold produces spores, so even if you get it scrubbed REAL clean, those spores floating around will latch right back on and grow back. Unfortch, usually with mold growing inside of your wall like that, you wind up having to remove the whole section of wall that's got mold eating it & replacing it. Even still, you're gonna wanna spray the insides of the remaining walls in the area with bleach solution & let em dry fully before you patch it up again. And you're definitely gonna wanna get a dehumidifier in there while all this is going on. try getting one with a built in air filter to help with your air quality in the home. and also of course you gotta get the leak fixed first bc otherwise the problem will just come back in a few months. my advice is honestly find an independent contractor-- one you can trust, read lots of reviews and shop around for someone with integrity --and let them assess the damage and the necessary steps to recovering this part of your home. 

as far as mold sexiness goes... yeah it's on the low end i think. i mean i hate to call any allergen unsexy, but mold makes it real hard. i think it's second to least sexy, right above gnat allergy which is apparently a real thing some people have. 

someone i know did write a really sexy mold allergy fic once tho, i don't know how she managed to pull it off. hats off i guess, skilled writing.

[NoV]

One of my all time favourite sneezefics involves an allergy to mildew - it is called 'Countess Trouble' by Wild Rose and can be found on the Serotica website  

[Blah!?]

For me I think it would really depend on the scenario. Be it in a story or some situation in real life, somebody going into an unfamiliar place with mold (like an old, dilapidated building or something), that's kind of fun and adventurous and what have you. Somebody dealing with mold in their own home, though? I'd probably feel bad for them first and foremost.

On a somewhat-related note, the idea of bad smells causing sneezing is something of a random turn-off for me. I don't mind things like flowers and perfumes, I guess because those generally aren't supposed to be gross, but otherwise, I'm just not really into it.

[RedVelvetHeart]

13 hours ago, Chanel_no5 said:

YES! Mold and dust mites. 

Also, it can be dangerous even if you're not allergic to it, depending on which type of mold it is, so be careful, and try to get rid of it as quick as possible. 

 

 

7 hours ago, •.*°•☆. Q .☆•°*.• said:

Mold remediation is a REAL pain i tell ya what bc the mold produces spores, so even if you get it scrubbed REAL clean, those spores floating around will latch right back on and grow back. Unfortch, usually with mold growing inside of your wall like that, you wind up having to remove the whole section of wall that's got mold eating it & replacing it. Even still, you're gonna wanna spray the insides of the remaining walls in the area with bleach solution & let em dry fully before you patch it up again.

Thanks for the advice - I'm on it! I have a temporary fix for the leak and finally have the ventilation right so it is pulling the mold smell out of the house. When it's fixed for real (should be late next week) will do some more wall removal to get rid of anything still moldy. And on a positive note, the horsehair plaster dust has been more effective at making me sneeze! Yes I'm wearing a mask but you have to take it off sometimes....

7 hours ago, •.*°•☆. Q .☆•°*.• said:

as far as mold sexiness goes... yeah it's on the low end i think. i mean i hate to call any allergen unsexy, but mold makes it real hard. i think it's second to least sexy, right above gnat allergy which is apparently a real thing some people have. 

Gnat allergy is a new one on me!

7 hours ago, NoV said:

One of my all time favourite sneezefics involves an allergy to mildew - it is called 'Countess Trouble' by Wild Rose and can be found on the Serotica website  

Will look that one up!

6 hours ago, Blah!? said:

For me I think it would really depend on the scenario. Be it in a story or some situation in real life, somebody going into an unfamiliar place with mold (like an old, dilapidated building or something), that's kind of fun and adventurous and what have you. Somebody dealing with mold in their own home, though? I'd probably feel bad for them first and foremost.

Yeah, I could see that, as a part of an adventure, exploration fic....

 

[Oolia]

15 hours ago, Chanel_no5 said:

Mold and dust mites

That's pretty funny because according to my allergy scratch test, those are the ONLY two things I'm allergic to  My body was like "Hmmm what are the least sexy allergies I can come up with.. OH I KNOW!"

 

[Chanel_no5]

4 hours ago, Oolia said:

That's pretty funny because according to my allergy scratch test, those are the ONLY two things I'm allergic to  My body was like "Hmmm what are the least sexy allergies I can come up with.. OH I KNOW!"

 

Hahaha! Oops, I feel like I involuntarily insulted your sex appeal. My deepest apologies.   But seriously though, it's probably better to be allergic to stuff you wouldn't want to be around either way. Your body was at least kind enough to pick allergies to stuff that actually AREN'T healthy. You know, as opposed to a fresh spring breeze or the cuddles of a  friendly, purring kitten…  

7 hours ago, superimmunegirl said:

And on a positive note, the horsehair plaster dust has been more effective at making me sneeze!

That, on the other hand, actually sounds a bit intriguing, unhealthy as it probably is...  

 

[HarleyQuinnSFF]

mold makes me super Sneezy! but I also agree it's the least favorite allergen

[RedVelvetHeart]

On 9/23/2018 at 5:33 AM, Chanel_no5 said:

That, on the other hand, actually sounds a bit intriguing, unhealthy as it probably is...  

 

That night I woke up with a huge sneeze in the middle of the night! Just sneezed myself awake, blew my nose and went back to sleep. 

I finally got the ventilation right so it's really dried out and doesn't smell anywhere near as much. We have a temporary fix on the leak, the big (expensive 😭) fix will come later this week or on the weekend. Then complete mild remediation. 

 

[Oolia]

On 9/23/2018 at 2:33 AM, Chanel_no5 said:

Hahaha! Oops, I feel like I involuntarily insulted your sex appeal. My deepest apologies. 

:lol: Oh no don't worry, I didn't take offense at all; I completely agree that they are the least sexy allergies 😂

Edited September 26, 2018 by Oolia

[Pixieflower]

I’ve never even thought about mold as a possible allergen! And to be honest, I probably won’t think about it in that way very much in the future either 😅

I completely agree with you though, mold is definitely not the most attractive allergen compared to other things, especially if there’s so little sneezing involved. 

[Shay]

As someone else said, I think it depends on the scenario for me. I wouldn't find what you're describing all that appealing, both the situation and the symptoms. But there are people that will sneeze quite a bit from mold and some situations where it's not quite as disgusting. There was one RP scenario I did in which one of the characters had an allergy to the mold that grows on christmas trees and I had a lot of fun with that one. And I guess because neither me or my RP partner mind it that much as an allergen, we'll be using it again very soon in a house hunting scenario, which will probably be a sort of mold in a humid basement type deal possibly. Of course, there is definitely a difference between fiction and real life and not everything I find appealing in fiction is going to be desirable in real life.

[SneezyKateM]

Mold definitely makes me very dneezy too, and it dosent have to be just the kind that can be noticed/smelled either.

I never heard of a gnat allergy either...that might be something im actually not allergic to, yay!