Two types of old insulation that are dangerous to your health are urea formaldehyde foam which is usually gray or yellow and brittle and asbestos.
Dark gray insulation in old attic.
In general it looks like shredded gray paper.
Consider the key characteristics another way to determine what type of insulation you have in your home is to look at the insulation itself.
Formaldehyde off gasing is a concern so this product is no longer on the market.
On 2018 11 01 by melisa.
Please review the photo examples of types of insulation above on this page and let me know if you have more questions.
If you see insulation that looks like this there s definitely a big problem.
In this case there s a bathtub just sitting behind the insulation with no air or moisture barrier to prevent the bathroom air from leaking into the attic.
For example if the insulation is loose fill grey soft and without a shine you probably have cellulose insulation.
This is the blown insulation in my attic.
Sheep wool insulation optimal is a range of grey coloured sheep s wool insulation rolls offering high thermal and acoustic.
If it s gray and you can under magnifying glass find occasionally tiny bits of paper it s cellulose loose fill or blown in insulation.
Cellulose insulation is a perfectly safe type of insulation that is commonly blown into attics.
Optimal rolls are suitable for use in floor and ceiling level applications and are available in a variety of convenient dimensions.
If you have loose fill insulation that is gray soft and without a shine it is probably cellulose insulation.
Pull back the insulation to see what s going on behind it.
Cellulose contains a high percentage of recycled paper and does not contain minerals.