6 years in a tent hypersensitive. Built a laundry wash that worked for me — does the US need one too?
Mods, remove if this isn't allowed — disclosure up front: I'm the unwilling founder of an early-stage startup in Australia (I was just trying to solve my own problems) and part of why I'm posting is to gauge whether there's real demand before we look at the US market. I'll keep the pitch minimal and stick to questions.
Quick version of why this exists: I was exposed to mold working on a ship over a 8 year period that cumulated in multiple seizures. I became one of the most hyper sensitive people you can imagine. Ive slept outside in a tent for over six years. I was so hypersensitive I couldn't tolerate being indoors - a tent with clean bedding was my only escape. Anything textile would cross-contaminate from one exposure and I'd be set back for months. I've had something like 30+ major cross-contamination events I can clearly point to. Every detergent, every 'safe' alternative, every soak and rinse protocol still left something that set me off. I tried everything you can think of. I've been at this for long time - if the product comes to market I'll eventually tell my story.
About 8 months ago, working with my PhD co-founder, we finally cracked the laundry piece for me specifically and what we figured out should work for everyone. I've had some long discussion with my mentor who co publishes with shoemaker and he thinks people will be interested in the product. We're entering a university accelerator program here in Australia for startups, and one of the requirements for our entry application is canvasing the market. So I will include this thread as part of our entry application
Rather than guess, I'd rather ask people who've actually lived it:
What have you tried, and what worked vs. didn't — especially for bedding/clothes?
If you didn't have to throw away Mouldy/contaminated/cross contaimined items because the product could effectively remove all biotoxins - would you use it
If something genuinely worked, would it be of value
*(Side note: we're also doing some early work on a new treatment system for mold-affected buildings with some promising results. We have bit more work to do before we pitch for seed funding but its in the works - Different topic, will post separately at some point if there's interest.)*