So a while back, while my mom and I were moving out of our last place, I may have stowed a bunch of stuff from the attic away in plastic trash bags, as the attic was apparently insulated with asbestos, and I was worried some might’ve gotten into them.
Among these were 2 Australian flag baking aprons and one old fluffy Santa hat.
Now, just a little while ago, I tried putting them in the washer at my apartment, thinking it aught time to finally clean them off. What I didn’t realize at the time was that apparently this can get the asbestos into the washing machine and possibly the water.
I don’t know if I have the money to replace this. I’ve wiped the whole inside of the thing down as much as I can without dissembling it using a wet cloth and stored everything in plastic bags.
Is there any way for me to decontaminate my machine, or flush out the particles?
Note: I haven’t run them through the dryer yet. It’s just the washer that got used.
Note 2: I don’t actually know if there’s any asbestos on the garments, but apparently asbestos attic insulation can break down into asbestos dust via natural wear and tear, so I’m just assuming they are.
Best Answer
I wouldn't worry so much about it. Wipe it down as best you can and then run a few empty cycles to flush the machine. The wastewater goes... well assuming you are in a relatively modern area with relatively modern infrastructure... to a treatment plant along with myriad other nasty stuff.
While it is true that any exposure to friable asbestos should be avoided, data shows that the real risk is chronic (i.e. prolonged) exposure as would occur in industrial or job-specific exposure scenarios.