What can I do? Everything in my home going mouldy

[AngeloMysterioso]

I live in a 2 bed flat on the ground floor of an Edwardian house. We’ve had problems with condensation for a while- we only have single glazed windows (double glazing going in this week after a 6 month wait) and we don’t have a tumble drier so until now, unless the weather has been nice enough to hang laundry outside we’ve had to dry it indoors.

We first noticed a problem when I realised that some of my shoes and boots which are kept on shoe shelves in the bottom of my wardrobe were going mouldy. Then it was the clothes which I keep in the drawers under my bed. I’m 6 months pregnant and DH and I have just checked the pram bassinet which was in its travel case under the changing table in DS’s room- mouldy. A cooler bag in the cupboard under the stairs- mouldy. Clothes of mine in a drawer in another wardrobe- mouldy. Stuff I’ve already washed once when it got mouldy has gone mouldy again.

I’m at my wits end. My shoes all stink because I’ve had to spray them with white vinegar. There’s piles of shoes and clean laundry everywhere because I’ve got the mould out of them but I’m too scared to put them away in case they go mouldy again (which they will, it’s already happened once). We’ve bought a bunch of those little disposable dehumidifiers that you put in drawers and on shelves which appear to have made no difference at all. I’ve bought a heated airer with a cover and plan to use that to dry clothes (with a small electric dehumidifier turned on underneath) but with things like the bassinet, I can’t put that in the washing machine so will have to find some other way of cleaning it.

What else can I do? We hoped that the new windows would help solve the problem but we spoke to our neighbour in the other downstairs flat the other day and it’s a big problem for her too, and she already has double glazing. I’m terrified that when I get out our next 2 me cot from under DS’s cir or the old baby clothes from his wardrobe that they’ll all be mouldy as well. Clothes can be washed, but how do I deal with the things that can’t? We can’t afford to replace everything.

Help!!

Hey OP,
Sounds like a really stressful situation. We had similar and now keep the bathroom windows open and in the morning open the others for 30 mins to let the air flow.

Biggest thing we did was to get a good dehumidifier (about £150) from Amazon. We chose the one we liked and waiting ages for it come down in price! Black Friday may be useful there.

The washing goes on a clothes aired next to the dehumidifier and is dry by the morning if left overnight. Smaller, lighter clothes dry much more quickly and I move those so there is more airflow.

There are 4 of us and it appears to have solved the problem.

I still wash towels and bedding every time there is a warm or blowy day!

Just thought as well, my dehumidifier is on wheels and I tend to drag it to the bathroom doorway after a shower if it's really steamy in there.

Also whatever @pigletjohn says is completely the right thing to do. Have had lots of advice and it has never failed me!

I hope you don't mind me tagging you @PigletJohn. I have a question that probably loads of people would benefit from knowing a good answer too.

Sometimes, for whatever reason, people have to dry their laundry indoors. For those without the space or money or other resource to have a tumble dryer what do you recommend doing to avoid the worst impacts of indoor drying?

I never dry on radiators (and for this reason I don't have a heated airer)
I always do a double spin of my laundry
I try to ventilate the room where it is drying
I chase the sun for solar gain
I use a dehumidifier as a last resort
I plan my washing like a military operation based on weather and what needs washed, when

Is there anything else that those who have to dry indoors can do to mitigate the worst affects please?

It's never ideal but sometimes it has to be done.

Aside from the steps I take with washing I regularly air the house to "change the air over" (my own ridiculous saying! ) and we have installed a special fan in the bathroom that's always on but boosts for showers/baths and anytime we press the boost button.

@SciFiScream

if you must dry washing indoors, put it in the bathroom, with the door and window closed, and the extractor fan on.

Sorry to piggyback - I need to dry indoors and it's really causing a problem.

There is no space in the bathroom, and even if there was we have 3-4 people making it steamy every day, and the extractor fan is pretty useless. We have space in the bedrooms. We have a lot of washing as we have a baby, toddler and teenager.

I am planning to get a tumble drier but it's not really top of the budget urgency list right now, and even when we do get one, would prefer not to use it every time for cost reasons. Would a dehumidifier be better in the short term? We currently keep a window open in the drying room but perhaps this isn't enough.

Also if the dehumidifier costs just as much to run as a tumble drier I could potentially bump the TD up the list!

@BertieBotts have you consider a spin dryer? They spin the water out of clothes. I had thought about it but decided against it as makes the washing really creased.

Still need to hang it but a spin dryer can drastically reduce drying time.

Do you double spin in your machine?

I leave it in a room next to an open window and chase the sun. No space in my bathroom either.

I think a dehumidifier is a good purchase - mine has a laundry setting on it.

If you have to dry laundry inside (as I do Oct - Feb) then make sure to air the whole home as often as you can.

@BertieBotts "the extractor fan is pretty useless"

So get one that works.

That sounds annoying as I don't iron anything. I could do an extra spin cycle after it finishes but I can't set it to do that by itself and TBH I don't think adding an extra step I need to wait 20 minutes for is realistic. I'm too forgetful and there is not enough time in the day for me to miss my chance to hang up!

Better extractor fan in the bathroom (with humidity sensor so it kicks in above a certain level) and a pull-out indoor clothes line above the bath.
www.brabantia.com/uk/pull-out-clothes-line-22-metres-white/

But fixing the extractor fan will not cause the bathroom to magically expand? The airer still will not fit. Perhaps the smaller one opened half way. But I need to dry more than one load at a time.

Get a humidity sensor for each room - doubles as a temperature monitor and even a clock - around £6 and at a glance you can see the humidity levels and effects of opening windows etc.

If you go away for the weekend or longer leave indoor doors open, even wardrobe doors for air to circulate

If no room for a tumble dryer, can you upgrade washer to include a tumble dryer function? A laundry load holds too much water to evaporate.

Kitchen - oven extractor fan on when cooking, lids on, window open if possible. Bathroom - humidity sensor extractor fans - they are cheap enough at £30-40. Wardrobes - hanging dehumidifiers off Amazon. Don't overpack.

Keep doors and windows open often. Invest in a good dehumidifier for whole apartment if you can't afford a PIV system.

Furniture all away from walls. Completely clean areas with mould remover. If you can, redecorate by painting walls with good quality bathroom paint such as Dulux. Makes a difference!

My second spin only takes 13 minutes and it is SO worth it. I really notice when I haven't done a second spin.

The nerd in me was researching this today. Key things I've learned? Smaller more frequent loads and careful use of airer. Don't bunch up, don't overload and turn clothes often. If a heavy/big item use two rows of the airer.

Can't install stuff like that as we have a rented flat with solid concrete walls. Totally impossible to get anything into them!

Oh well.

I will probably see if I can hurry up the tumble drier plans.

Smaller loads is probably doable - I find they are faster to hang up too!

Get one of these
www.sonicdirect.co.uk/prod/Dryers/Indesit-NISDG428-4kg-Spin-Dryer-in-White-with-Gravity-Drain?utm_source=googlemerchant&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=googlemerchant&gclid=CjwKCAjw4qCKBhAVEiwAkTYsPBC8cIpYd4Oj-VfQcTBxjt_Cc62DrUUuLKzk_Qt-BemmOrNL8_qF0BoCj5MQAvD_BwE
Mine spins at 2800rpm twice that if the washer. Spin all the clothes from the washer again, then peg them outside and finish them off in the drier. Spin driers and tumble driers can be found fairly cheap second hand.
Before you spend a fortune on damp cures just stop drying the washing inside.
Mould spores are not good for us and damp isn’t much better.
Fan on in the kitchen when boiling food and fan on in the bathroom to extract the damp air.
Air house thoroughly daily.
I’ve purchased some fairly damp houses and cured the problems. If your water supply hasn’t been replaced with plastic piping that’s probably leaking and there are bound to be disused drains that are leaking. If you share sewage pipes with your neighbors the water board are responsible for the shared bits and if there’s a blockage they will usually do a camera survey.

@BertieBotts

Can't install stuff like that as we have a rented flat with solid concrete walls. Totally impossible to get anything into them!

Oh well.

I will probably see if I can hurry up the tumble drier plans.

if you already have an extractor fan that isn't much good, I bet it can be replaced with a better one.

Possibly, but I wouldn't know where to start with it and I always worry about replacing things when I don't know whether they're our responsibility or the landlords.

It would be good to replace the fan since it's noisy and doesn't work effectively. We clean it from dust every so often, that helped, I don't think the previous tenants ever did, but I think it might just be worn out.

But it doesn't solve the issue of the bathroom being too small and being used multiple times a day for showers and baths. I can't see how we'd dry anything in there. It's only about 150x230cm. Even if we could put an over bath thing in there is a large water heater on one wall over the bath taking up the whole space.

If you want to have a go at the fan, post a pic please.

So for the last few days now I’ve had the windows open for at least several hours, and then running the dehumidifier from at least early evening, overnight, and turning it off in the morning before opening the windows again. Yesterday I had it on from 12-ish in the afternoon until about half 6 this morning, in one room or another, but it was only down to 68% by the time I turned it off.

When I turn it on the humidity is usually in the 70’s, it goes down to the 60’s but hasn’t really got lower than that yet. What should
I do? Have the windows open less and the dehumidifier on more?

Keep your windows open! Not opening them has caused most of this problem and double glazing won't fix air flow in your house.

Look into getting under floor insulation, this will probably also help a lot.

Move the dehumidifier around the different rooms.

@Lemonlemon88

Keep your windows open! Not opening them has caused most of this problem and double glazing won't fix air flow in your house.

Look into getting under floor insulation, this will probably also help a lot.

Move the dehumidifier around the different rooms.

I’ve had it in different rooms throughout the afternoon/evening/overnight but the humidity level just seems to go back up to around 70 when I put it back on after having the windows open and it feels like I’m not getting anywhere.

Are you still drying washing inside? Have you got the extractor sorted? I saw your other thread, have you ruled out a leaking pipe etc?

If you have resolved all of the above, keep at it, but it's going to take some time as it's been building up for a long time.

I reckon you have an actual damp problem that no amount of glazing and dehumidifiers will fix. Leashold is barely better than renting in terms of getting that fixed if the owner can't be arsed.

That said, do you have or can you make any outside space that's under cover? That'd be good for drying, keeps the rain showers away.

I've often wondered about getting a wall fixed airer and then attaching a golf umbrella to it somehow!

I actually have a cover for my whirligig so I do put washing out when it rains.

Wind plus rain is the worst as cover doesn't work then.