How to prevent mould in winter

[hoomama]

Every year, as soon as we put the heating on mould starts developing on the ceiling and around the windows upstairs.

I open the top windows a tiny bit to let some air in. I also dry some clothing in the house which I know is probably not helping.

The bathroom has a dehumidifier fan and I try to make sure the door of the bathroom stays closed after bathing etc and leave the window wide open.

Am I doing something wrong here?

Windows wider open, heating on more, less washing. We battle the same thing every year! Some houses are just more prone to it than others. Ours is the worst I’ve ever lived in. Never had an issue like this before. We also had air bricks put into the roof which helps with circulation.

Having the windows so open when I’m spending money on heating seems insane but it’s literally the only thing that works!!

I have this same issue. Someone recommended getting a condenser tumble dryer rather than drying clothes indoors. May not be practical if you don't have the space, but the friend who recommended it had one in her cupboard, so perhaps it could be an option?

I find these help in the winter

With pic

Following. We have dehumidifiers in every room. Also air daily. Just awful.

If it’s just mould from condensation it’s fairly simple to solve. Don’t dry any clothing in the house, run the fan in the kitchen when cooking, run the fan in the bathroom for a good 20 mins after showering. Open windows daily for 10 mins. If the windows are single glazed wipe the condensation off every morning. Get a decent dehumidifier. Try not to let he house become cold, if you’ve got a wood burner keep it in as they are good at dring houses out.

Rather than have windows open all day and heating on I wait until the kids are at school then turn off the heating and open the windows wide for about 20 mins. Then close them again and turn the heating back on so it's toasty warm the rest of the day. Also have a dehumidifier that sits on the landing which I put on if I have to dry washing inside. Much kinder to clothes than a tumble dryer.

Bathrooms have extractor fan. You need a proper electric dehumidifier.unfortunately,UK air is very moisture dense.

I don't think it is simple to solve at all. I think options seem to be install expensive powerful ceiling extractor fan or have a dehumidifier on the landing. But neither option seems to solve it.

People think I’m mad. But I miss my storage heaters. We never had this problem in my last house. No mould. No condensation nothing.
Now I’m in my new house I’m wiping my windows everyday and when we moved in there was black mould on the walls. It’s a nightmare.

I agree with the advice to open windows and give the house a thorough cold blast every day for about 20 minutes.
We dry the laundry in one room with a dehumidifier plugged in.
Remove moisture with cloths, karcher window vac and/or dehumidifier in problem rooms and clean problem surfaces with bleach solution.

Bleach isn’t a mould killer. It just turns it white.

You need to spray cheap white vinegar or methylated spirit with a few drops of dish detergent. Spray liberally then wipe off. The worse your infestation the more often you will need to repeat.

But the vinegar or metho will help with your maintenance measures.

@TheSandgroper

Bleach isn’t a mould killer. It just turns it white.

You need to spray cheap white vinegar or methylated spirit with a few drops of dish detergent. Spray liberally then wipe off. The worse your infestation the more often you will need to repeat.

But the vinegar or metho will help with your maintenance measures.

Ooo I'm going to try the vinegar. I had assumed bleach would kill it - surely it does???

Electric dehumidifier and a karcher window vac has reduced ours dramatically.

Sorry to be dim here- but what does a window vac do that just wiping away the condensation with a cloth doesn't?

What do you do with the cloth once you mopped up the windows?

@Ubiquery

What do you do with the cloth once you mopped up the windows?

Ring it out and pop it in the washing machine to wash when the next load needs to go on.

Not much difference then I guess.

(Doesn’t that make your washing machine smell?).

We have the same problem. I've tried all the different suggestions and they don't seem to solve it. It's too cold for the windows to be open too long and the dehumidifier gives us dry throats.

also dry some clothing in the house which I know is probably not helping.

This will be the main culprit. I have a condenser tumble dryer. When I empty the tank it contains several pints of water. Unless you use a dehumidifier or have adequate ventilation there is nowhere for the water to go.

Is the fan in your bathroom the one that was there when you moved in? Most of them are next to useless. We replaced ours with an inline one and it made a massive difference for relatively little expense. Look for one with a high extraction rate. Even with our new extractor fan fitted I religiously open all the bedroom and bathroom windows for a good twenty minutes once we're showered and dressed (I'm obsessed with fresh air!), and then leave them open a trickle for the rest of the day until it gets dark.

Drying clothes indoors will be contributing to the problem more than you might think as well, I bought a condenser dryer recently, and I'm amazed by how much water accumulates in the tank when I empty it. If its not feasible to get one maybe contain your drying laundry to a single room, close the door, and get a proper stand alone extractor in that room only- as a bonus your clothes will dry quicker too!
Also, it might seem like a small thing, but religiously put lids on your kitchen pans when your cooking, put the kitchen extractor fan on, close the kitchen door and open the window a small amount- steam from cooking can add massively to moisture in a house.
Fingers crossed so far all those things combined seem to keep on top of the slight mould problem we had when we first moved in; I suspect houses with a tendency to mould need way more ventilation than we initially think.

@Ubiquery

Not much difference then I guess.

(Doesn’t that make your washing machine smell?).

Not that I've noticed, I use a dr Beckmanns deep clean every few weeks.

Thank you soo much for all of the responses!!

Definitely trying out all of these things! Will have to purchase a good dehumidifier.

Drying my clothes is an absolute nightmare. Unless it's towels, almost everything seems to shrink in my tumble dryer. I put it on the low setting as well. I have 2 kids and a partner and the amount of clothes washing is insane. I can't keep up so I feel like o have to dry some of it in the house but it's obviously causing issues!

Thank you for all of the suggestions.

@Fadette

Rather than have windows open all day and heating on I wait until the kids are at school then turn off the heating and open the windows wide for about 20 mins. Then close them again and turn the heating back on so it's toasty warm the rest of the day. Also have a dehumidifier that sits on the landing which I put on if I have to dry washing inside. Much kinder to clothes than a tumble dryer.

I agree with this. Also wipe down condensation on windows daily.

If you possibly can get a drier, apart from the initial outlay they add about £150 a year to your bill, I'd rather that than a mouldy house. If you see the amount of water that comes out of a condenser drier you'd be horrified, it's like throwing buckets of water at your walls!

We had this until we stopped drying clothes in the house and got a condenser tumble dryer. I have a Bosch and my clothes don’t shrink.. they are mostly cottons