3 Common Mistakes That Can Lead To Mold In Your Home, From A Functional MD

Here's the thing about mold: It can sneak up in unexpected places, and even small exposures can become problematic over time. "A little bit of serious mold can make some people sick very quickly," says functional medicine doctor and mold toxicity expert Ann Shippy, M.D., on this episode of the mindbodygreen podcast. 

Shippy knows firsthand just how scary a toxic mold exposure can be. She personally dealt with chaetomium mold (a highly dangerous species) in her home and experienced some rather debilitating symptoms. "I started getting more and more tired… My hair was falling out all over the place, and I had so much generalized pain in my body that it was hard for my kids to even hug me. Then the scariest thing was that I started to lose the strength in my right arm; even [when I would] hold a glass to drink, sometimes it would slip out of my hand," she shares. 

Considering how steamy your bathroom gets with every shower, it can be easy for moisture to become trapped behind the adorned walls—over time, this can lead to mold, as mold thrives in a moist and dark environment. And because of the pretty paper shielding it from view, it can take a while before you notice anything has gone awry. 

"One mistake a lot of people make is they put a porous material in their shower, like limestone," Shippy says. Again, your bathroom can get pretty steamy, and that moisture can easily absorb into the soft stone's pores and lead to mold. Not to mention, your shower materials are directly exposed to the spray, which can make this process happen faster. "Use the actual tiles rather than things like limestone," she adds. 

"The other thing that's really notorious for molding are front-loading washers," says Shippy (aka, washers that have a door on the front of the machine, as opposed to top-loading washers, which have a door on top). "I will never, ever have one again." 

See, front-loading washers typically have a rubber gasket around the door, in order to create an airtight seal during the rinse cycle. However, that also means any lingering moisture post-wash becomes trapped inside with no air circulation—and that moist, humid environment is perfect for mold, particularly around that rubber door seal.