To ask how you keep mould away?

[Rudolphrum]

For those of you mumsnetters who live in older houses how the hell do you keep mould in the windows at bay?

We recently moved into a rental where all of the upstairs rooms are not double glazed. Every morning we wake up to a pool of water on each window which we try to wipe off. We now have mould on all the upstairs windows which I've been bleaching tonight.

This can't go on - surely there's a trick I am missing? A friend told me to sleep with Windows open but it's fucking freezing!!!!!

I have two at the moment

Are they recent models that you can warn people away from as they don't sound effective? Ours is a few years old but it's a very good Mitsubishi with a very helpful laundry function. More recently, we've bought a Which? Best Buy Meaco for MiL and it completely changed her house.

Do you recall which Meaco model it was, @arranbubonicplague?

We bought this one - smaller and larger ones are available:

Meaco 20L

Meaco range that highlights their Which? Best Buy awards: www.meaco.com/dehumidifier/home-dehumidifiers

There are various deals on an assortment of sites at present.

Milton is good for getting rid of mould. I use it in the bathroom when the sealant goes a bit mouldy. Squirt it on and leave it a bit then rinse off. Smells better than bleach to me.
Had a window vacuum in previous house as we got tons of condensation. It's fine in this house, even though it's older than the last one. Not sure why!

for longer term solutions we used www.envirovent.com/specifier/
overnight solved serious damp mould condensation problem

not cheap but life changing!

The best solution is a powerful extractor fan with a humidistat built in, essentially as soon as humidity builds the extractor starts and runs until the humidity level has gone right down.....very inexpensive to run.

There needs to be one in the bathroom, and one in the kitchen.

I realise this is only possible if the LL is willing to put one in....I am a LL and l have these in all bathrooms and kitchens, and they just run automatically as needed, (my tenants have washer dryers but often dry laundry in the hall ) and there are no wet windows, or mould.

Otherwise invest in a heavy duty dehumidifier, or ask your LL to pay for one. l have a basement flat, (old victorian property) and keep a dehumidifier there for the tenants use should they need it in addition to the extractor.

Can anyone recommend any good humidifiers that don't cost the earth?

Assuming you mean a dehumidifier, the Ebac ones certainly work well but I don't have a wide ranging experience with different brands, I just bought one because they were well reviewed.

And is it really necessary to have the ones that collect 20 litres etc or are the smaller ones fine if you just empty them more often?

There's two volumes for dehumidifiers: the tank volume (which you can indeed just empty more often if you opt for a smaller one) and the litres per day they can pull from the air (imagine trying to drain a swimming pool that's being filled by a dripping tap with a drinking straw). The latter is very important if you're trying to dehumidify a room of any significant size.

I live on the nosiest cul-de-sac in the world. I leave my upstairs windows open.

Thanks, @arranbubonicplague.

We had to have cavity wall insulation removed as it was taking the wet from the outside to the inside when the foam was removed it was soaking wet.

Hi ok, I haven't read through the whole thread but I have the same problem in my house. I have black mould in the corner of 2 out of 3 bedrooms and in the kitchen and bathroom, it drives me mad! I've started leaving every single window slightly ajar at all times and tbh that does make a massive difference. And then I clean it off with Astonish mould and mildew cleaner, you can buy it from poundland. The only room it doesn't appear to affect is the small bedroom which has the boiler in it, which is going to be my baby girls room in a month or so luckily

3 ways to reduce condensation: ventilation, heating, circulation.
Ventilation - open windows regularly.
Heating - maintain a constant temperature throughout the property. Circulation - ensure air can circulate, move furniture from walls, get rid of you have too much stuff.

Also, don’t dry washing indoors and use lids on pans when cooking, to reduce amount of water in the air.

Still got the problem? Dehumidifier.

We live in a 1950s house with no double glazing. We have a heat pump condenser dryer, so it's very energy efficient and isn't venting moisture into the air - all the water goes into a tank that you empty. We also have a ventilation system.

This is so reassuring!

We tend to get a lot of mould in our spare bedrooms and were quite down about it. It’s a Georgian, so to be expected.

Feel better knowing lots of people tackling this and it’s just something we need to clean away regularly and open windows for and not expect to ever be “fixed”.

Brand new double glazing here. Still mould. Not happy.

@gigglebrain please don't think I'm being rude.

New houses need time to air, they need to be heated and ventilated properly for about 18 months after being built.

I'm not surprised you have a damp problem. Opening the windows 'a crack' for a few hours each day will not do anything for a house that hasn't just been built let alone a new build.

You need to have the bathroom window open at least 80% of the time. Bedroom windows open. Slightly all night. Open all upstairs windows fully to air for at least 1 hour. And warm the house. Don't dry washing in doors.

Once you have mould you have to kill it as it will grow.

We solved this in 3 ways. Heating on constantly. Set to 16 overnight, 18 day and 21 morning and evening. I open all windows for an hour a day. I run a dehumidifier constantly. I do dry my clothes indoors but in front of the dehumidifier.

We get this even in our double glazed 70s-ish semi. Dehumidifiers (as others have said) just suck the water right out of those clothes which is good for the walls but also means they dry quicker!

As above!

Clean all areas with an anti-mould spray

Heating on 24h a day - on low at night
works out a lot cheaper than switching it off and blasting it in the morning anyway

Dehumidifier

Windows opened - the ones in my bathrooms are left opened all day, only close them at night.

No laundry inside, or a tumble dryer.

@Lilyhatesjaz Cani ask how you knew you needed removed ?

Our current Victorian house is amazingly mould/condensation free. More so than anywhere else I’ve ever lived.

I’ve come to the conclusion that a huge factor is the position of the radiators. They are, without exception, positioned on internal walls. I’d never go back to having them on an external wall and underneath the window (which seems to be the default in U.K. houses).

Double glazed units actually contribute - they seal the rooms up and the moisture in.
It’s more expensive to heat damp air than dry, so even the initial purchase may seem costly a decent dehumidifier will pay for itself

We live in a ground floor flat in a 250 year old building. It’s been beautifully restored. But has the old wooden frame, sash windows. No problems with condensation when it’s raining or warmer.

We have a tumble dryer.

This current cold, dry weather means condensation every morning - but to varying degrees. If I run the dehumidifier overnight in the living room there is still a little condensation in the morning. I didn’t run it last night and barely anything this morning but the bedroom window is very damp today.🤷🏻‍♀️

I normally open the windows and wipe them down in the mornings. Then close them and run the dehumidifier. But often I can see the windows mist up as I’m sitting there watching!

No other damp or mould. The windows are getting a bit black so I’m using Waitrose anti mould spray. They are HUGE windows so I can’t reach the top pane unless I get a ladder.

They are a bit drafty anyway - shouldn’t the cold air the windows let in be stopping the condensation?!

Window open on the latch in each bedroom, landing and bathroom all year round (unless away). Velux windows in kitchen also open slightly. Condenser dryer, 2nd spin on washing machine to take out as much moisture as possible before airing clothes. Extractor fan while cooking.

We used to have a mouldy house (before we moved), once you get mould spores multiplying it's SO hard to remove. We used to use a Mold and Mildew spray (dettol?)

All of the above. Plus there are systems one I think called RemCon that extract moisture through the loft. Cheap to run. You must open windows, no washing drying indoors and shower with extractor fan. Each morning wipe away the water using a weak bleach solution on the cloth.