Mould in my flat, please help! (Yucky pictures attached)

[CanTheMousePLEASEGoToHell]

I moved into my flat last summer and noticed a little bit of mould on the windowsill in the bedroom. When I mentioned it to the estate agent they just advised to open the windows to allow air in which I’ve done everyday.

Fast forward to now and the mould in the bedroom and on the front door is awful. I live on one of those blocks where you open your front door and you’re already outside on a balcony. So everyday the outside of the door is cold whereas the inside is really warm. There’s always condensation on the windows in the morning and sometimes it’ll still be there by the evening even though the windows have been open for most of the day.

The heating has started to come on in the last month or so meaning I can’t always keep the windows wide open as thay doesn’t make sense. Can anyone advise on what to do? I’ve attached a picture of the mould on the front door and on the wall on top of the window in the bedroom. I’m looking at getting a dehumidifier (will that work?) but what can I use to clean the mould off in the meantime? Thank you

Wipe any condensation away daily with a sponge. Invest in a mould spray, spray it on and wipe it off with kitchen roll. If you wipe it with cloths you re-use, you will spread the mould. If you can open the windows for 10 mins a day while your flat is heated then do. That part is easier said than done during winter.

Oh yes, and dehumidifiers are good but can be very expensive to run. Wiping away condensation is a cheaper way to take excess moisture out of a room. You can also put a small pot of salt on windowsills and the salt will absorb water from the air. Certain plants, such as mother in law's tongue, can help absorb water from the air too.

You can get mould spray in B&am really cheap. Just spray, leave for a few minutes and wipe off.
Could you try using a door curtain to try and separate it being very cold one side and warm the other. Will also help stop draughts and keep the warm in. Wipe condensation in the mornings and air for a few minutes, then close if/when you want the heating on. Again, nice thick window curtains.

Astonish mould and mildew blaster is good, about £1.00 in Wilko. Could you buy a window vac to remove the condensation each morning.

I'd give that a good scrub with bleach water first. Get some of the dehumidifier tubs and dot them about.

Spray it with white wine vingar and wipe it off with kitchen towel. Bag up and bin the kitchen towel straight away. A dehumidifier will help. I had water dripping off my ceiling and mould everywhere. I treated it with vingar and used the dehumidifier and it quickly cleared up.

Wear a mask when your scrubbing OP

Same problems here. Dehumidifier tubs with crystals in. Buy big refill pouches so you can reuse tubs. Clean mould off with bleach. Open windows where you can. A plug in Dehumidifier if you can afford one.

Ask the landlord to paint with anti mould paint

dehumidifier

I can’t always keep the windows wide open as that doesn’t make sense.

Why not ? Keeping them closed doesn't seem to be working very well.

This has worked really well for me Dettol spray

I leave it on for a few hours or overnight and the mould hasn't come back for months

I would gently spray it to stop the spread/release of spores, wipe with tissue/kitchen roll and bin it outside the house/wheel bin, then steam the area to destroy the spores and spray with anti mould stuff. Use the anti mould every day and then after a week use anti mould paint. But either way you need to reduce the humidity on the inside of the windows. So either get a dehumidifier or wipe the glass and window frame wall down every morning the temperature drops below 10c ish .

Thank you all, some really helpful comments posted. I’ll be buying the mould spray tomorrow and will also give the wall a good scrub as it definitely needs it.

In regards to the dehumidifier, is it costly to run? Do I need one for the bedroom and one for the living room or will I just alternate which room it’s in throughout the day? I don’t really know much about them.

@Isleoftights what I meant was, there’s no point putting the heating on and having the window open at the same time. That literally defeats the point of why I’ve put the heating on

You need air circulating in your flat. Open the windows for 10 mins per day at least. I know it will let the cold in but not suggesting all day. The damp has nowhere to escape when you have your windows closed and that is what is causing the mould. And definitely wipe the windows down every day. Don't leave the wet on there.
Depends on the dehumidifier- some of them say they work for a 3 bedroom house so you can just leave the doors open whilst it's on. Also you can check for ones that are cheaper to run. Ours costs 7p an hour when it's on. We don't have it on for a few hours a day.

Because the heating is on.

Which one do you have please?

I've just bought a Meaco 12 litre dehumidifier and it uses a lot less energy than my previous one. It's fabulous and I tend to run it at night as I'm on Economy 7. It also has a sleep mode so it's not too noisy to sleep. If you have a look online, it will tell you how much energy they use. I got mine in Currys but then noticed it's £20 cheaper in John Lewis

We have this dehumidifier, it costs about 7p an hour. We’ve been really impressed with how much water it sucks out of the air- we were having really bad mould issues. We have a 3 bed semi and I just keep it on all day and move it between rooms and the landing upstairs. We got it on an instalment payment plan which works out about £11 a month. Highly recommend it. It does say out of stock but you can enter your email and they’ll let you know when they have more - this is what we did.
ao.com/product/bxeh60004gb-black--decker-dehumidifier-white-89088-147.aspx

The windows are usually opened as wide as possible for a few hours a day! Thank you so much for the rest of the information given. Can I ask which dehumidifier you have?

Thank you!

It's a Meaco one. They are very expensive but I wanted to use it instead of the dryer and it has a laundry function and I haven't used the dryer since.
I bought it through app direct and spread the cost on PayPal which made it easier to stomach! If you look on Which best buy there are some other options though and explains benefits of each.

I'd give one of these a try before buying an electric one.

groceries.asda.com/product/dehumidifiers-moisture-absorbers/asda-single-dehumidifier-original/1000187361247

Don’t bother with damp traps they don’t suck enough moisture out the air for the level of mould you’re experiencing.

I also have the same Meaco dehumidifier and love it.

Bleach doesn’t kill mould, vinegar does - you can buy own-brand white distilled vinegar for like 50p from Sainsburys/Tesco etc. This is much more effective than mould spray. I found mould stay also really irritated my throat and lungs.

Give the affected area a good dousing with the vinegar and rub down with kitchen roll or cotton wool pads which you then dispose of outside. Do this for a few days st first, and then any time it looks like it’s coming back.

To help stop it coming back, wipe up the condensation every morning. I have to every day as I live in an old house and it’s just part of the routine now!

I can remember when I was a child, my mum used to go round the whole house every morning wiping the condensation off the (single glazed) windows and drying them, then opening the windows for half an hour afterwards to air the room.

Prevention is better than cure though, so keep the kitchen door shut and the window open when you are boiling vegetables, shut the bathroom door and open the window after you have had a bath or shower to let the damp air out, and you really need to wipe away any condensation. Treat the mould as other posters say above. It really is mainly good housekeeping, as the old saying has it.

I've just been looking at this, the reviews seem decent enough.

www.screwfix.com/p/blyss-wdh-316db-16ltr-dehumidifier/368gy