Two years ago we bought a 60′s farmhouse.   The house was pretty well beat, but it sat on a gorgeous 7 acres.  So, we set about remodeling it from top to bottom. We didn’t just trash old carpet, ancient appliances and rickety sinks, we ripped open the walls to replace electrical and rotted out framing.  What did we find in there?  Moldy fiberglass insulation.

Obviously, it had to go.  Mold has no place in a healthy home.  But, we didn’t look forward to touching that, literally.  Fiberglass insulation is made up of tiny shards of glass.  They will cut hands, make your skin itchy and irrritate the throat if inhaled.  That’s why you’re supposed to deal with the stuff only when well-covered with clothing, gloves and wearing a dust mask.  No fun in hot summer weather.  To make matters worse, new fiberglass insulation outgasses formaldehyde which pollutes indoor air.  There had to be a better way.

My goodness – there sure was!  Some online research yielded a local source for Ultratouch, a natural cotton fiber insulation.   UltraTouch is made from renewable cotton, has 85% recycled content (mostly used denim), and has no VOCs or harmful irritants. No warning labels even.   It DOES NOT ITCH and is very easy to handle and work with.  As an extra bonus, it provides better soundproofing than typical insulation.  UltraTouch is available in R-13, 19, and 30 and in 16” or 24” widths.

We brought home a truckload of UltraTouch insulation and got to work stapling it in.  The soft bats were actually pleasant to touch.  Kind of cuddly, really.  And, no, it didn’t cost much more than fiberglass insulation!  What a relief to breathe free and clear through the whole installation.

Now I’m proud to say that our walls wear denim.

This is part of the Healthy Child Blog Carnival – an effort by Healthy Child Healthy World to help inspire a movement to protect children from harmful chemicals.

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4. DIY Cleaning with Vinegar
5. Overwhelmed or Inspired – A Reflection

Tags: eco-friendly, healthy home, recycled

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 at 3:59 pm and is filed under Eco-Friendly Living, Healthy Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.