What is the fluffy stuff in my attic and is it safe?
First-time homeowners often cannot identify unknown building materials like old loft insulation or mystery foam, leaving them unsure if the space is safe to touch or use for storage. This lack of clarity prevents them from using their attic for storage out of fear of disturbing potentially hazardous materials.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Asking online communities for identification and safety advice
- 2Checking online guides and links about insulation materials
- 3Vacuuming what you can and trying not to think about it
- 4Storing for vet advice
- 5Asking online communities for general perspective
- 6guessing the material by visual inspection
- 7asking online forums for opinions on photos
- 8shim to make even with regular drywall
- 9Removing the metal protrusion if it is identified as a leftover form nail
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“hi there, an 18 year old F here who's never lived alone before this, nevermind gone up to an attic lol. What's all this fluffy stuff, and is it safe? I wanted to use the loft for storage but not sure if i'm meant to, sorry if this all sounds silly!”source ↗
“I would love to get rid of the ugly carpeting and put down vinyl flooring or something. But I do not know what I'm dealing with under the carpeting.”source ↗
“I haven't tried to get under the green layer because I don't know if it's safe to do. Under the green it looks like plywood?”source ↗
“We're currently getting our vent hood replaced and have found a metal box we'd like help identifying.”source ↗
“What's the purpose of this box, and would it be safe to cut a new hole in it for installing a new vent hood?”source ↗
“when i cut out the drywall it appears to be something different than what is currently used in market and big stores. My house is 1975 made, any idea what type of drywall is this and is it possible to buy the same?”source ↗
“noticed this metal bit coming out of the corner of my foundation. Is this a concern to any of y'all?”source ↗
“It looks like someone used expanding foam like caulk and some of it got on the trim.”source ↗
“Just moved into my new apartment and this is what the corner of my room looks like. How do I get rid of it?”source ↗
“I've got some of those on my 65 year old house, never knew what they were for”source ↗
“Noticed the paint was kind of soft and squishy next to a and behind a command hook adhesive. Pulled the adhesive off and the paint came with. This exposed some odd looking material behind the paint.”source ↗
“Expanding foam would turn that color brown?”source ↗
“Found this in the sink this morning”source ↗