Why does mould follow us from house to house?

[Abubu]

Hi,

I am totally confused about what it is about us that means wherever we live we get mould. I once read that mould problems tend to be associated with the home owners rather than the home and it is unfortuately completely true of us.

DH and I are now in our 3rd home since living together and every one has had mould develop after around 6 months.

This time round I make sure I dry and open the windows every day - windows open for about half an hour in this weather, longer when it is warmer.

Heating on in the afternoon in winter for about 4 hours and 2 hours in the middle of the night.

We dry very little washing inside - we use a tumble drier whenever possible which has a vent going out of the cat flap so no chance of humidity floating around the kitchen.

I open the window after my shower for about an hour to air the bathroom.

As far as I am concerned we are doing everything we are supposed to - so why the mould? Its in the window frames of every room!

My parents have terrible central heating, sigle glazed windows and dry all their washing insde - and they don't have it. I just don't get it?!?!

watching with interest ...

me too. OP, are you me?

Are you sure its mould and not just dirt getting in from the street? Depending on where you live, if there is a lot of traffic, you're going to get black build-up every week. Maybe its a just case of washing the windows?

single glazed windows let in drafts which ventilates the house, which is why your parents don't get it. Have you looked at getting a dehumidifier - they do work

I can sympathise with you. I have mould all over my bathroom walls. I keep both windows open all the time but doesn't seem to have helped.

You need more ventilation. Half an our per day isn't really much, better have them open a tiny bit for much longer I think?

Ventilation is very important for preventing mould, but so is cleaning. Do you regularly clean your window frames/bathroom walls with a mould prevention cleaner? Do you mop up heavy condensation around windows every morning?

Hi,

Yes I mop up condensation every day. I air the rooms every day but maybe not for long enough.

We do have a dehumidifier but last time I used it, it was on for several hours and not much water was collected in it so I'm a bit at a loss about what we're doing wrong.

dehumidifier should be left on all the time I think, you are just meant to let them run

For window condensation we use this scoop
www.csdesignnet.co.uk/scoopy.htm

It's fab because you poor the water away down the sink rather than wringing out a cloth which then has to dry and release more water back into the house atmosphere.....

They've stopped making them think I got it from betterware or similar catalogue.

If you are living in houses that don't have cavity walls they are much worse than those that do.

We used to have a little trough with a grill on top of it that was filled with moisture absorbing crystals. It did the trick brilliantly.
I have no idea how they were environmentally or how safe they would be for dcs as it was pre children and pre environmental consciousness.
They certainly worked though. I will see if I can find them anywhere and link them.

these

a dehumdifier needs to run for 24hrs a day for approx 2 weeks before you will see the benefit of it, along with consistent heating and ventilation try here for more info on condensation prevention www.ceredigion.gov.uk/utilities/action/act_download.cfm?mediaid=5420