# need mildew-ey futon advice. bleck.



## swebster (Dec 7, 2004)

We've had a full and a twin futon side by side on the floor since dd learned to crawl and it's been great for us. We've recently moved to a new home with our bedroom on the ground floor above the unheated basement (from our old place where the bedroom was on the third floor). We were all making the beds this evening and I was gushing about how I loved having a huge room full of luxurious and cozy floor-bed. Then I decided to flip the mattress and ick! a small patch of mildew on the bottom of the futon! It's been on a thin chennille type rug and grippy floor pad to keep it slipping on the hardwood floors.

I'm assuming that this is because we are above the dank basement, is there anything we can do? First to kill the mildew (vinigar and water?) and second to keep our floor-bed situation?

thanks!


----------



## formerluddite (Nov 16, 2006)

tricky, because mold/mildew is hard to kill, and very bad for the respiratory system. can you afford a new one?

you might look into if your nighttime perspiration is also contributing to the moisture. you could use a couple of layers between the futon and you, like a sheepskin pad under a regular mattress pad, and maybe a waterproof layer between the mattress and floor.

and maybe a dehumidifier for the room.


----------



## tinuviel_k (Apr 29, 2004)

I had the same problem...twice. We had to throw away our first bed completely, and I caught the second one as the mold was still only on the removable cover. These happened in two different houses, one over hardwood, one on carpet.

i finally came to the realization that in some homes a natural cotton bed just cannot be on the floor. It is not just the floor moisture, it is that the futon absorbs body moisture and it has no way to evaporate. On our bed we developed three moldy patches on the bottom: one very small one where Denali slept, one medium one where I slept, and a huge one where Aaron slept (he sweats a LOT).

We got a new bed and built a nice, low platform bed. You can buy them, too.
Something like this one is very inexpensive and simple, and you can cut off the legs so that it is only an inch or two off the ground, if you like the "low to the ground" look (I do!). There is no box spring, so you truely are right close to the ground. The bottom of the platform bed is made with wooden slats an inch or two apart, which allows stability and breathablilty. As long as there is a little air circulation under the mattress or futon there should be no mold.
http://www.platformbeds.com/index.ph...000054&l2=true


----------



## alliteration (Dec 10, 2006)

Same problem, had to chuck the futon and buy a new one.
Even the low platform we built for our son is prone to moisture problems.


----------



## swebster (Dec 7, 2004)

ugh...

I REALLY don't want to buy a new bed! We splurged when I was pregnant and got the fancy futon with foam and springs, definitely not doable with our current single income.

The patch doesn't seem to be where dd or I lay, I think it's definitely related to the basement...we slept on it for many months without troubles at our old home. blech.

formerrluddite, do you know more about the health issues specifically? I've heard of the whole "toxic mold" phenom. is this that serious, or only if we're inhaling live spores? How much of a problem would this really pose if I gave it a good scrub with vinigar and tea tree? and of course moved our beds up off the floor...

When I was an art student living in San Francisco I had actual MUSHROOMS growing under a shelf in the kitchen! The mold in our closet was so out of control that a pair of leather boots looked like a pair of fur boots after a week! Ack! But WTH? I'm in Massachusetts in January....it's not a typically moist and warm environment...I don't get it.








:


----------



## formerluddite (Nov 16, 2006)

it's the "inhaling spores" issue.

is the mold really just on the surface? if it's inside the bedding material, it will be hard to kill the part deep down, and hard to dry it out after using whatever you used to clean it.

you might try sort of sealing the mold in (after you get it really dry) with a waterproof mattress cover over the mattress, then extra padding on top so you're not right on the plastic. say, a 1" latex mattress topper (costs about $100 for queen size here in the bay area), then a sheepskin pad, then a cloth quilted pad, then a sheet. maybe the sheepskin and cloth would be enough to disguise the plasticky part.

it does sound like it's basement humidity, rather than sweat. have you checked the carpeting? moisture may be seeping up from saturated ground through poorly sealed concrete, and may be something you (or your landlord if you rent) needs to address. look for dampness in other areas, like under other pieces of furniture like shelves, smell the carpet/padding in other areas. if it's seeping in, and you rent, you may be able to hold the lanlord liable for a replacement mattress.

and maybe get a dehumidifer.


----------

