The following strategies are used by those sensitive to chemicals to sequester, encase and block offgassing. They are more or less in order from the least effective to the most effective, though it depends on the thickness of some of the products.
You can use them to seal up an item that is offgassing VOCs, a bed and other furniture that are fragranced or sprayed with pesticides, and smaller items that are contaminated or toxic.
You could also use them for the opposite purpose, to keep items clean from contamination from chemicals that bother you.
I have also used them to sequester moldy items, the same rules would apply.
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1. Plastic Sheeting
I have used different types and thicknesses of plastic (polyethylene) sheeting to block offgassing.
The thinnest type that could be used for this application is 3 mil poly.
A handy form of 3 mil poly is Uhaul covers. These are made in various shapes to cover couches, mattresses, and other furniture like chairs, making them very convenient. You can double them up. I have found that these are unscented when I bought them from Uhaul stores.
TuTuff is a popular plastic VOC barrier for chemically sensitive folks. This is a 4 mil plastic.
I also use 6 mil plastic in many situations, to cover and block offgassing from beds for instance, I have purchased it in rolls from Amazon and from the hardware store.
If you don’t do well with polyethylene you could try using an EVA plastic shower liner.
2. Activated Carbon Fabric
Activated charcoal fabric or blankets are made from fabric infused with charcoal, this helps absorb odors when you encase something that is offgassing.
This is the only item on this list that I haven’t tried myself but many folks have reported it working well.
It would be good for folks who can’t or don’t want to use plastic. You could also use this in areas where plastic or foil would not work, like to cover a carpet that is scented or offgassing.
You could double this up, putting this layer down first and then using plastic over it, or the other way around.
Activated Charcoal.com sells charcoal fabric and has been very popular with chemically sensitive folks.
3. Mylar (Foil and Plastic)
I have used these 5-gallon Mylar/foil bags to contain many smaller items that were contaminated or to prevent cross-contamination.
It would also be possible to cut them open and tape them onto larger objects to sequester offgassing if you didn’t have the other options around.
I found they worked quite well to sequester smaller items. I used to throw my clothes in them when coming home, before washing them. I also used them when traveling to pack items before putting them in my suitcase.
4. Aluminized Tarps
This is the exact tarp that I have used many many times. I have used it to sequester offgassing (mostly in beds and camping mats).
I often travel with these and if I encounter a bed that is too toxic for me I have these ready. I have also used it on brand new beds that have polyurethane foam that is offgassing too much for me.
You could also use this on sofas, wood furniture, and many other medium to large sized items.
These are not odorless right from the get-go. They have a plasticky odor and so the extremely sensitive may need to offgas them first or may not be able to use them.
The aluminum does rub off if you are applying pressure or moving it a lot (like when it’s used on a mattress that you are sleeping on). They are also thick and therefore make a crinkly noise when you sleep on them.
5. Radiant Barrier Foil
Radiant Barrier foil is the thickest product on this list and is the best block of VOCs, fragrance, pesticides, and other toxins.
It is a foil that is much thicker than Mylar, aluminized tarps or heavy-duty aluminum foil.
I do use heavy-duty aluminum foil for small items, but it rips easily so it would be hard to use that on anything large or soft. You can wrap hard or boxed items in heavy-duty aluminum foil, you can also paste foil to walls with gum arabic as a “foil wallpaper block”.
If radiant barrier is used in construction in your area then you can likely buy this locally.
You might have to do a bit of digging to find one that is nor perforated. It’s often backed with plastic. I used this plastic backed foil from Amazon.ca.
Sometimes it’s backed in Kraft paper like the brand Denny Foil which has long been popular amongst the chemically sensitive.
Related posts:
Mitigating Offgassing Post – for sealants to seal in offgassing and for other ways (apart from sealing/sequestering) to mitigate and speed up offgassing.
Mitigating Fragrance and Smoke Post – for ways to remove and mitigate fragrance and smoke contamination on items and in homes.
Corinne Segura is a Building Biologist Practitioner with 7 years of experience helping others create healthy homes.
Jessie says
Hi, thank you for this website. I have read through the article on mattresses, pillows, and this one but I’m still curious about a fabric zipped waterproof mattress encapsulators vs waterproof mattress protectors with the bottom exposed? I was sure mattress encapsulation would be best to keep out any moisture but read in one place you shouldn’t do that to prevent mold.
Ps We are moving into a new finished camper that will be temperature controlled with a dehumidifier, hepa, and will have a slotted bed frame. This will be a brand new mattress that I’d like to encapsulate first thing if that is the best way to go to keep mold and mycotoxins out. Thanks.
Ally says
Do you have a tape recommendations? Going to wrap some emergency blankets around a cot. : )
Corinne says
The best tape I found was SIGA RISSAN. It’s pricy though.
Sara Flores says
if you are truly very ill, as Dr Rea often told me strict avoidance so moldy stuff needs to go or be remediated. You cannot partition off or save these things.
Corinne says
It depends on how sick someone is, how sick they are from mold, how bad the mold was, and was it the original mold that took someone down, how extreme is that person willing and able to go etc…. I do believe in putting things into storage and coming back to them if they are leaving a moldy house. Small items can definitely be washed and if needed sequestered.
Though this post wasn’t aimed at stuff coming from a moldy house. Items that were cross-contaminated can be sequestered until they can be washed or thrown out.
Sherry says
Corinne, you have a great site and have spent time and energy creating it and I appreciate that. However, I agree with Sara Flores and Dr. Rea, and many others in that the spores are so ubiquitous and until they start growing hard to spot (even then – ie under sinks so on) why risk the possibility of reinfecting a place, esp since most with MCS EI (not good for anyone really) can not use the professional “mold killers”. Even bleach is toxic. Mold, mildew, fungi all in the same family
I am sorry but some aspects of your sentences do not even make sense such as “how bad the mold was” and “was it the original mode that “””TOOK” someone down” and “how extreme that person willing and able to go etc????) Mold spores are ubiquitous and NO amount is safe in that they can live forever and wait until the opportunity presents itself. That can even be a mild cold when the immune system is not at its strongest and once they invade our systems it can become a nightmare.
………………………
H2O2 at a higher grade can be used on both a nonporous item and in the wash (where as I mentioned on another thread of yours – 33% or higher strength H2O2 can easily kill mold or fungus if one can find it (now online) (and I had medical food-grade done by doctor Ali when it was in my bloodstream) also (one can soak one’s feet for “nail or foot fungus” so on). It can be used in the wash but soaking first for a while before very hot water is best.
Environmental mold and fungus are extremely important (but that is another story, lol) There are many types of mold – one link. (again I lived in an old NYC bld where it had not been pointed (ie sealed properly from the outside) so that when it rained water would seep through the cinder block structure and there was mold growing behind about 20 layers of paint (It was cracking off near my bed so I took a sculptures knife and started peeling- UGH black mold (and other colors as well) under these layers!!!
Layers upon layers – maintenance just painted over it and of course, many molds eat cellulose and other such things – it thrived in this dark humid environment – some sites even state it “eats paint”. Ditto for the bathroom. And I wondered why I and even my cat got sick in the bedroom!!! I suspect that is how it entered my bloodstream, and I was very, very sick by then and ended up on very low SSDI.
“”Research has found hydrogen peroxide has the potential to kill bacteria, viruses, fungi, and mold spores. When applied to these microorganisms, hydrogen peroxide kills them by breaking down their essential components like their proteins and DNA “””
https://www.healthline.com/health/mold-in-house#mold-causes
“Mold roots can be hard to see, with roots (mycelium, or thread-like filaments) that run deep. Invisible bacteria may also be present. Throw out anything with mold growth, and carefully clean or dispose of containers.”
And for washing it is commonly suggested to use bleach which many can not do so as it has it’s own toxicity for those chemically injured. As well bleach is a liquid and back to square one. (and as I mentioned prior there are many forms of mold and black mold is nasty!) By the time one notices “mold or fungus” it is already “embedded”.
It is the reason I always leave my windows open a crack to allow moisture (even from doing the dishes) to “escape”.
And the idea (as cited on various websites) that “vinegar” can kill up to 80% (been there done that) LOL. which leaves 20% to start the vicious cycle all over again. (or the white vinegar and baking soda – again been there done that and found it useless). VERY hot water though can often do the trick along with these products but I would suggest soaking in food grade medical strength 35% Hydrogen Peroxide first!
The problem is that many of the products that can wipe out mold are highly toxic and esp dangerous for those with any amount of MCS – IE as it is all accumulative.
(Sherry Rogers, Dr. Majid Ali who did my oxygen therapies in NYC when Live Cell blood tests showed it in my blood (and that means it invades all other tissues – I was quite at an end-stage and finding doctors at the time who use Oxygen therapies (and infusions of nutrients) was very hard to do), and others such as Dr. Grace Ziem who was targeted by the Rx industry for using natural therapies. Her husband and she served in Vietnam where they started inquiring about the sickness from exposures of the populations and Agent Orange – still used in part in some of our common household products. )
(and many others even Max Gerson PhD from the 190s who mentions this in his books ie “mold toxicity” and whose therapies I have done). Many of these pioneering geniuses (MHO) are of course targetted by the Rx industry (my pre Masters so I know both sides
(My background was in the sciences (biology) and research background in legal and medical research but I used natural and alternative since I was of age – mother in traditional Medicine). I also raised aquairum fish since a young age where mold or fungi was a problem if one did not know how to balance “things” (ie let the aquarium and it’s inhabitants – bio microorganisms “mature”)