I found out it’s made from recycled plastic bottles. I’m just breathing in plastic fibers all day now, that can’t be safe. And my husband says it’s too expensive to replace. I’m losing it, I sleep in there
Here is a suggestion when finances are a little better , look for sales around upcoming holidays and replace it at that time . In the meantime hang in there . Personally I feel you have some legitimate concerns unrelated to OCD . You prefer safe healthy items in your residence that you come in regular contact with . There is substantial information available that supports your concerns as very valid .
@777Q Do you think if i get a cotton couch cover that will help?
@itsmehi17 Good thinking, if it was me I would look for a cotton couch cover that is washable and I would start using it at my earliest opportunity. Personally I think that would help with your situation to a certain degree, enough to make a positive impact to do it .
@777Q Do you think that’ll reduce my risk of microplastic exposure??
@itsmehi17 Like I have mentioned I am no expert on anything. But I feel that it would be of help I would personally get the cotton cover until I could acquire a more environmentally friendly option to have with a different couch .
@777Q Thank you, I’m just so scared
@itsmehi17 And my rug is also polyester and I want that gone too
Here is further take on all this , it is about making better choices it is not 100% all or nothing with most things .To the extent possible I try to make improved gradual changes with most things in life . I figure I don’t smoke or vape at all and the best that I can I avoid second hand smoke. This I feel is huge as far as having a better chance to be healthier.
@777Q I know but I just googled and even my mattress is bad for me. I feel terrified
@777Q Just googled my couch is oeko tex
@itsmehi17 That is good . If it was me I would still shop around for a reasonable cotton couch cover anyway .
@777Q I found one!! But I’m still so nervous. What about my rug and mattress?
@itsmehi17 Do you think I should throw more out
This is just my personal observations over many years . I do the best I can within reason . I don’t want to go too far , where would it all end . So I try to imagine someone squared away like a doctor, what would his or her preference be at home with their family. Leaving financial aspects out of it . So me personally with my mattress I make sure I am not directly on the mattress ever , I use a sealed mattress cover over the mattress first and then a decent quality fitted sheet over that . For the rugs I try use ventilation with open windows at times and normally I am not laying directly on the carpet, so I am further away of some of the minimal toxic elements of the carpet with my nose and mouth a good distance away from the floor normally, unless I am playing with the cat on the floor, LOL ! Trying to let you laugh a bit. Try not to worry and just do the best you can . I will say this when the microwave is running I try to be 6 feet or more from it as a precaution.
@777Q I’m never on it directly and I use all cotton bedding. My mattress is also certifipur thankfully. We also have wood flooring throughout
@itsmehi17 I also bought an air purifier to use as we can’t really open our windows
@777Q I also think the cotton cover is very thick and should help with fiber shedding
@itsmehi17 But is it still dangerous?
@777Q I’m sorry for bothering you
@itsmehi17 Not at all it is helpful to exchange ideas 💡 😊.Ask anything that you like if I have some ideas as to a good answer I will answer , some things are hard to answer though , there are so many variables with different people . Here is something that comes to mind , growing up the old timers some of them would mention a person that smoked 4 packs a day and drank living to 90 and yet someone else dies at 40 that basically lived a clean life passed on for other reasons .
@777Q Yeah I know it’s so tough to know! But I just want to stop being afraid. What do you think about the microplastics if covered in cotton and with an air purifier? My husband does not want to give up the couch, we spent a lot on it
I understand your concerns . Try to check the couch for different certifications, for example there is one that starts with OEKO they can appear on a tag for recycled materials that are considered generally safe , there are others also , take a closer look at the tags if there are any on it .
@777Q They aren’t OEKO certified which is freaking me out
You mentioned it had the label on the couch oeko tex and you have the cotton cover , so if it was me in a average day my time would be split up only spending so many hours on the couch , so the average person is only spending so many hours on it unless they are bed written from a significant illness . Me personally with that situation I wouldn’t be too concerned. Also the air purifier situation can be a little hit or miss personally I feel , I myself would not use it because of the couch situation specifically that’s just me though .
@777Q Will the air purifier make it worse?
Just an educated guess I don’t really know. But I don’t think it would make it better or worse particularly, just no influence one way or the other. I could be wrong. Sometimes with certain things I try to make better and resolve occasionally I actually make things worse instead, everything is about balance. For example there are many straightforward things people miss that the average person doesn’t even think about, just one example I have many though , not sleeping with a smartphone that is on within 6 feet of your head and body . I know many people that could care less about that , they are literally curled up with their phone sleeping, LOL ! To each their own .
@777Q Oh no I’m afraid of smartphones too☹️
There’s always going to be uncertainty in life. We have to learn to be comfortable and embrace this uncertainty. How many couches have killed people? There’s a slim chance but it’s very very unlikely. You could get hit by a car the second you step out of the house but you can’t let that stop you from going outside! Sit with it!!
@PF20 But it’s just sitting in my home chipping off chemicals and causing harm
@itsmehi17 What harm has it caused to you?
@itsmehi17 If worse comes to worse you can use Facebook and Facebook marketplace to post it and get the most for it you want, and go all organic. Trust me I’ve made the switch to lots of organic things for my long term health. But realistically, everyone already has microplastics and such in their bodies from birth. It’s the reality we live in, but you are not going to die
@itsmehi17 So sit with the uncertainty, and make a plan to eventually upgrade. You are not going to die, nobody is hurt. You are OK. If people live homeless almost their entire lives they are at much higher risk then we will ever be , give yourself grace
Panicking cause there’s people doing construction outside my house and there cutting in the ground it’s like black concrete and garden patio tiles and I’m now panicking about it releasing asbestos into the air and gone into my house through my window and now gone all over my room
sorry if im putting to much detail in here I can take it down if it is too much and makes people uncomfy. Last night was watching some ex*pl*cit content while lying on the rug in the room in my house I spend most of my time and where my family usually goes into and it caused a physical reaction. I went to the bathroom to clean up and then sprayed the shower done and put bleach on the floor but I wiped the floor with a towel to kinda clean it but idk if I put enough bleach to clean it and if I got it in the areas that mattered and I sprayed Lysol on the bathroom counter to make sure no germs of my earlier reaction got any where but I ran out of Lysol after spraying everything but I made sure to spray the rug with some Lysol before I ran out but idk if I got everything I mean I focused on the rug but I didn’t spray all of it and I didn’t spray all the stuff that was in the room. And to make things worse after my reaction earlier I put my devices and charger on the floor of my room before washing my hands or my devices so I had to clean the floor in my room I used bleach but I didn’t put it everywhere on the floor which makes me anxious and idk if I cleaned my devices or charger well enough and I’m scared they are still infected. But back to the rug i sprayed it down with odoban it says disinfectant on it but I think it’s only for hard surfaces it disinfects but I still sprayed it around on the rug but I don’t know if it actually disinfected anything. And of course to make matters worse my baby cousins toys were in the room so I sprayed them with what little Lysol I had left but idk if I cleaned it well enough but I already put them with their other toys so idk what to do. After I thought I cleaned everything I put my devices on my mattress I don’t have my blankets on my mattress yet cause I washed them like a week or 2 ago and they are just laying on my bed but not put on my mattress so I’m scared my mattress if infected since I’m laying on my mattress with my feet on my chair and my devices are on my mattress. And idk I don’t want people getting those bad germs in them and I,worry about this a lot and Ik a lot of people will say that it isn’t that huge of a deal and I want to,believe them and it helps but my mind is always telling me that even if that’s true I have a responsibility to make sure everything is clean so people don’t get hurt and it doesn’t help that I’ve been so,itchy and idk why and my little brother is also itchy idk if it’s because I don’t clean well enough and it’s my germs or not but I’m tired do I need,to clean my mattress and covers again and reclean the rug I think I do but I’m trying to go against that thinking but it’s hard because I feel like a bad persons. And today I’m scared to leave my room i feel like I’m filthy and that the rug in the other room is contaminated and it doesn’t help I need to go to the doctor today when I’m feeling like anyone I’m around im infecting
Just need to vent about a new thing my contamination theme is obsessing over, and maybe get advice if anyone has any. I had a major obsession for a couple months about fiber glass in mattresses (still have it but now I’m focused on something else). I was convinced my mattress had fiber glass in it because I was seeing sparkles on my bed frame, my mattress is old, and it has a tear. I finally checked the tag and it doesn’t say fiberglass in the materials. This has been my main obsession and I’ve been able to mostly ignore my other worries. Since checking the tag I haven’t been getting intrusive thoughts about the mattress but now my contamination ocd has moved on to a completely new thing almost instantly after checking. Literally this is now the only thing I can think about and it feels horrible. I accidentally spilled an alcoholic drink a while back in my room. I have carpeted floors. After spilling I set a towel on it to soak up the drink but to be honest I didn’t clean it that well, and I’ve never thought too deeply into spilling things because I never cared (never thought about anything bad that could happen from it, never occurred to me). I left my house for a couple months to stay somewhere else and when I came back I noticed the area I spilled the drink has a scent. I can’t tell if it’s just a scent from spilling a drink with alcohol or if it’s a problem. The first night sleeping at my house again (I spilled it next to my bed) I kept coughing. It’s been about a week and I’m still coughing. I’ve been researching mold like crazy, which I know is bad because I’m looking for reassurance, but I think there is a chance there is mold from the moisture of me not cleaning the drink properly. My carpet has discoloration but it’s not obvious, I can’t see if there’s mold or not. I bought vinegar and I’m going to clean it properly. But the problem is I can’t tell if my worries are realistic or not. My main intrusive thoughts are: - This happened next to an air vent, and I’m worried the air spread mold all over my room. I have a lot of possessions that are important to me and now I’m scared they’re contaminated. - I watched a video a while back where someone was looking around their house and there was mold on everything they owned. I’m worried that’s going to be me. - I’m worried that since I’ve been around where I think the mold is (literally right next to my bed) I have mold (not visible mold, I’m worrying about mold spores that I can’t see and them spreading to others) stuck to me/my clothes/my sheets/my phone. I’m getting a new kitten today and I’m scared to pet it because of the thought of mold on my hands. I don’t know if I should wash my hands/clean my phone before touching the cat. - I’m now thinking about all the times I spilled something in that room as a child, and didn’t clean it properly, and if there’s tons of mold I don’t know about. - I’m scared it has spread to other parts of my floor and now I’m tracking it to other parts of the house. I know mold doesn’t work this way but this is stuck in my head. I’ve been in this bedroom since I was a kid so at least 9 years. As a kid I didn’t care about this sort of thing so there’s been lots of messes over the years. I just want to move and get a fresh start. Living this way is so exhausting and I feel crazy writing this out lol. I don’t know if what I’m feeling is valid or not, and I’m scared to research further because I know it’s probably for reassurance but I genuinely don’t know how to deal with this or what’s normal. My ocd usually centers around other people, like I don’t care if I’m affected by the mold or if it harms me, I’m just worried about being contaminated and bringing it around others. I’ve been thinking about actually going to therapy but I have horrible social anxiety and can’t talk to people very well. It feels like a catch 22, that my social anxiety is preventing me from getting therapy that would help my social anxiety and ocd.
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