I’m a compassionate person. I hate to see others suffering, even when they bring it upon themselves. But when the suffering person not only asks for it, but actively encourages others to engage in the same behavior and then gets burned in the act, I have to admit letting out an ironic laugh:

Modern Alternative Mama (MAMA) has lost her home to mold.

Why is this funny (in an ironic, “teachable moment” kind of way)? Take a look at one of MAMA’s most recent Facebook posts, linking to her website article on natural cleaning 1:

Bad Advice

In her home-cleaning article 1, MAMA recommends soaking in water, scrubbing with vinegar, baking soda, microfiber cloths, and five other methods that range from dubious to ineffective for cleaning mold. Much better methods exist, but they aren’t “natural”, so MAMA didn’t use them. Only one of her methods — scraping, is recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency 2.

Soaking in water is especially dubious. The EPA recommends water and detergent and — very important — drying things up right away. According to the EPA, mold is usually not a problem indoors, unless

“mold spores land on a wet or damp spot and begin growing”

Vinegar and baking soda have anecdotal support but don’t make the EPA list of what’s recommended and known to work. The EPA article contains a great deal of advice on dealing with mold and the dangers of letting it go untreated. Danger signs that indicate when to call in professionals are clearly pointed out. Never one to let science get in the way of folk remedies, we find this gem on MAMA’s web site:

“but really — they work.” Do they? Let MAMA answer this herself, via her web site:

The Aftermath

One might ask: how are things working out for MAMA and her family, who are reportedly suffering health problems from the mold? Well…

Yes… she’s been handling the problem “the natural way”. If you’ve read past MAMA articles on “detoxing”, you’ll know this involves using natural “pathways” such as pooping, vomiting, and sweating. Oh, and consuming lots of grains and juices.

As Winnie the Pooh famously said: “Oh, bother.”

Normally, my heart would go out to someone who’s just lost their home. But given the amount of dangerous information Modern Alternative Mama dispenses, I have to confess to a (heartless?) smug satisfaction that she’s reaping what she’s sown.

Sometimes, you just have to laugh.

References

(Please note: to prevent increasing search engine exposure to quack web sites, I use the excellent DoNotLink service to obfuscate hyperlinks to such sites).

(1) Top 10 Natural Cleaning Tools I Use (original MAMA article)

http://www.donotlink.com/bx8u

(2) A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home

http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldguide.html#How

Legal Stuff

Images of screen snapshots of Facebook posts in a public forum are used in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, commonly known as “fair use law”. This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge.