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!!

@AngeloMysterioso

We do go to a launderette if we can’t hang things outside, but it’s £1 for 10 minutes drying time so it’s costing us a fortune, even with drying 2 or 3 loads at once. We don’t have space for a tumble drier and from experience I’ve found most washer-driers to be ineffective at both and prone to breaking down. Hence buying the heated airer.

We’ve got a little electric dehumidifier which had a lot of use over the winter but stuff has continued to go mouldy even over the summer when we’ve been mostly drying laundry outside.

We currently don’t have an extractor in the bathroom- a previous owner had installed it through the same wiring as the electric shower and it was a huge safety risk so we had it disconnected- but we open the bathroom window every time we have a shower.

Gosh OP in that case I’m not surprised everything is going mouldy. You really need to tackle this to stop you all getting ill. Do you have any savings you can use to sort the problem out? Get a proper extractor fan installed, buy a top quality washer dryer that won’t break, buy a decent dehumidifier.

We had the same issue in an Edwardian ground floor flat. Everything in drawers/under the bed/one the shoe rack was covered in mould. Also had no space for a tumble dryer. Also had slugs! We had a dehumidifier running all the time, and tried to keep the windows open, but to be honest it was a big factor in why we decided to move in the end.

We’ve only lived here just shy of 2 years, there no possibility of moving any time soon. We can’t afford a washer-dryer, hence buying the heated airer- even that was an extravagance for us.

We got a Meaco whole house dehumidifier and it has been worth its price over and over, its a workhorse and gets rid of so much water every day from the atmosphere. Otherwise moisture from drying clothes, showers and cooking just gathers on the coldest surfaces in the house. Heat well, extract moisture and ventilate.

Honestly, beg or steal to buy a tumble dryer. You're going to make your baby ill unless you get this sorted and you're going to have a lot more laundry with a baby. You also need an electric dehumidifier running day and night and to leave the windows open as much as you possibly can.

This is not about annoyance, this is about your baby's health.

Buy the most powerful dehumidifiers you can afford. Think mine was about 150 on amazon. Windows open as much as possible. Leave gaps between walls and furniture.

Get the gutters cleaned out.

Don't just open the window immediately after you shower, leave it open all day. I have most windows in my house open at least a crack all day every day except in Dec/Jan. And even then I open them every day for at least half an hour.

You absolutely have to stop crying your clothes indoors too, that will be exacerbating things.

Get the damp proof course checked in case it has failed and you have rising damp. Don't put any cupboards wardrobes or drawers against an external wall. When any furniture is near an outside wall make sure you have a big enough gap between it and the wall to allow air circulation.

Buy a proper dehumidifier. Meaco is a good brand.

Beg family for a loan if you have to. It’s really important- more important than the tumble dryer, even.

Do you have garden that you could put a shed in to house a dryer?

I assume you own not rent?

We really have nowhere to put a tumble drier. Nowhere. If we had the space we’d have got one, I don’t actually enjoy having damp laundry hanging up in my sitting room. The best compromise we could manage was the airer, which takes up a big chunk of floor space whilst in use but we can fold it up and tuck it next to the dining table the rest of the time.

There's two kid of issues here, the actual condensation issue and your items. You need to consider how best to store things and prevent damp and mould developing, so things such as these:

www.lakeland.co.uk/around-the-home/clothes-and-shoe-care-and-storage/clothes-storage-bags-and-boxes/

There is some advice on here, it may be worth arranging a survey with a damp specialist.

www.envirovent.com/

We had this in a rental flat. A good sized and quality dehumidifier completely solved the problem. We ran it non stop. Whenever the humidity ever got to the desired level then it clicked off and then back on again when it got too humid.

Have a look at Envirovent - they fit ventilation systems that enable better air flow

Cross post with @Whitefire!

Do you keep your windows open?

If you don’t/can’t, a couple of heavy duty dehumidifiers might help.

Do you own the flat? We live in an Edwardian house and do t have this problem. If it’s rented, talk to the landlord. If you own it, maybe consider instructing a surveyor who should be able to identify what’s causing the problem.

You have a two bedroom flat. There's I assume two people living in it at the moment? Put it in the nursery.

The issue started when you disconnected the bathroom extractor fan and started drying laundry in the flat right? So you have to stop doing those things or you're never going to resolve this problem.

mouldpro.co.uk/ read this website, there is loads of information on causes/ prevention of mould.
You need to create a flow of air so just opening the bathroom window won't work, all windows and internal doors opened for 15 minutes a day.

I don't know whereabouts you are in the country but I am selling a 12 month old rear vented tumble drier which I would happily give you for free if you were local. I am in Kent. But it needs an outside wall and space which you may not have?
Otherwise a dehumidifier worked wonders when we lived in an old property (you can pick them up on eBay) plus the crystal ones in cupboards. Get an extractor fan fitted ASAP.

Second the others saying get a decent dehumidifier. A small one won't cut it, they should specify what size room they are suitable for. If possible, get one which is for a larger size than your flat. We've also had Meaco and it worked well.

I had this in a flat I rented. Never had drying laundry as I didn’t have a washing machine so everything went to the launderette. Cost me £30 a time as they charged £15 for the wash but also £15 for collection/delivery, even though they were a 3-minute walk ☹️. Couldn’t drop/collect myself as they only opened weekdays 9-5 and I had to get the 6 am train.

I couldn’t have the windows open if I wasn’t in, as they were the old ones with the hinged handles with holes and so it was obvious if they were open and I was also ground floor. All the air bricks had been cemented/painted over. I only had storage heaters, which were worse than useless, you really need proper radiators and GCH to get enough heat going. The only place I didn’t have problems was in the wardrobe that shared a wall with the fridge, as the heat from the motor kept mould away. You really need to move.

Why have you not answered the own/rent question @AngeloMysterioso? If you rent your landlord needs to be helping you out and if you own then you need to either get a tumble fryer SOMEHOW or get a home loan to carry out improvements to try prevent the moisture...have you checked out the guttering on the building? Are they leaking down the side of building and causing damp to build?Etc etc...

Double glazing I'm afraid will make it worse. It's more alright, so less ventilation.

I'm sorry to say the electric clothes airer was a waste of money, so far as condensation is concerned. You are still dumping the moisture from you damp clothes into the air in your flat. You're just doing in faster!

Can you give the model of your current dehumidifier? A decent one should easily sort out a flat on its own. You need one that contains a compressor rather than any other sort of mechanism.

@wedwewerpink

Why have you not answered the own/rent question *@AngeloMysterioso*? If you rent your landlord needs to be helping you out and if you own then you need to either get a tumble fryer SOMEHOW or get a home loan to carry out improvements to try prevent the moisture...have you checked out the guttering on the building? Are they leaking down the side of building and causing damp to build?Etc etc...

If you rent your landlord needs to be helping you out

It's really not the landlord's business how the tenant lives their life! If anything the landlord will just be billing the tenant for any damage which the condensation is causing.