damp living -- a lament from Wales

[uk elephant]

To all of you out there who live in particularly damp parts of the world, how do you cope?! And particularly if you live in a place where houses are especially badly built? Wales is damp. It rains a lot. Even when it's sunny, it's damp. Houses are damp. Mould likes damp, cool conditions. Ideal if you are a mould spore looking for a new home, not so ideal if you want a healthy, clean house! How do you keep the mould out? How do you get rid of it once its there? Is there anything at all I can do??? I knew we had a few patches of mould here and there (outside walls, ceiling, around windows and drafty doors), but last night we discovered that the underside of our mattress and the wooden slats of the bed are mouldy! No wonder BF seems unable to shake that cold! So what can we do? Is there any way to keep the mould from re-growing once we give the bed and room a good scrub down (and what can we use to scrub it down to get rid of the current crop of mould)? Any ideas???

[Blueberry]

Clorox to get rid of the mold. Sounds like you have a challenge in keeping it out. Do you have central heating and air? That can make a huge difference. Even my 1912 house (very old for the US) doesn't have significant mold problems - I'm sure because of the central heating and cooling. And we're a bit drier, I expect. Can you use a dehumidifier?

[tulip]

Straight white vinegar kills most molds. Stubborn ones succomb to tea tree oil. All of it will be stinky.

Dehumidifier would really help, as well as increasing air circulation. Probably going to have to trash that mattress, though.

Surely there are Welsh solutions to this common Welsh problem. What do your neighbors do?

[sfa]

We used bleach to get rid of a mold problem in a closet in our house and it hasn't come back. We just used a bucket of bleach water and scrubbed and scrubbed until it was gone. There are still some stains on the walls, but it's not too bad. That would take care of the mold on hard surfaces, but I think it's harder to get rid of it on soft surfaces like your mattress. I have no idea how to get rid of that.

These days we make liberal use of a dehumidifier to keep the rooms from developing any new problems. We don't have central air conditioning, so summers can be bad, but the dehumidifier helps a lot. In the winter we always need to remember to open the closets and leave them open from time to time--they are uninsulated so when the dampness and coolness combine, we could develop new mold easily. Just keeping them open every once in a while seems to dry them out enough to prevent it.

Good luck!

Sarah

[bmccasland]

cholorine bleach + water and wipe down all surfaces.
A dehumidifier? Maybe for your bedroom.

Here's a link to the FEMA mold remediation information - maybe more information than you need http://www.fema.gov/government/grant/pa/9580_100.shtm. This is more for recovery from floods.

And here's a link to the Environmental Protection Agency's Mold/indoor air quality http://www.epa.gov/mold/index.html which has lots of helpful information. Or maybe more information than you wanted to know.
or try this one: http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldguide.html

Our mold is the kind that likes warm moist environments. But after Hurricane Katrina, most of us had "Katrina cough" - an upper respiratory congestion that was hard to get rid of - partly due to the increase in mold that was growing in all the flooded out homes.

[uk elephant]

The house is not built well, with think walls and stupid storage heaters rather than any proper heating system. We don't have a de-humidifier, but put out several humidity-aborbing boxes (basically a plastic tub with vents at the top and a thick layer of silica crystals inside) and they quickly filled up with water some some humidity was removed. I may have to look into a de-humidifier soon (ironic as when I lived in Illinois I had a humidifier to deal with the incredibly dry air in winter!) Air circulation doesn't seem to help. Even my bike, stored in a draughty shed with plenty of circulation was covered in mould after the winter. and the biggest patches of mould are around droughty doors and windows which will have plenty of circulation. Plan is a deep-clean week-end once the weather permits hanging things outside to dry, but the mould always seems to come back despite the use of bleach. The cleaning only gets stuff off the surface and the mould is still there under the layer of paint and plaster on the walls. BF who grew up in this part of the world just thinks mould is part of the deal when you live here but I am determined to attack it if there is any way! I'll check those links out later when I next need a break from work....there must be some way of keeping even a badly built house somewhat healthy!

[OakLeaf]

Anything that traps moisture (bedding, carpet, curtains, unfinished wood floors under carpeting) is a breeding ground for mold.

A 10% solution of bleach is usually recommended on floors, etc. It seemed to do the job adequately after Hurricanes Charley/Frances/Jeanne. Use a sprayer, scrub with a brush, let it stand 10 minutes, mop or sponge up any excess moisture, let it dry thoroughly.

There are mattress and pillow covers designed for allergy sufferers that aren't as loud or uncomfortable (or as potentially toxic) as the old vinyl covers. If your mattress actually has visible mold, though, I agree with Tulip, it's done.

If you have carpet and can't or don't want to replace it with hard floor covering right now, keeping the air circulating will help keep the mold down.

Dehumidifiers are expensive and loud, but sometimes necessary. You could run one only when you're not home.


ETA: Yes, it will come back, because the spores are in the air, but you can clean off the large visible colonies that are breeding in your house, and that will cut down on the number of spores you're exposed to. Air filters can be helpful too (not the ionization kind, just regular filtration), but again, potentially loud and expensive. If there are actual colonies living in your drywall, you'll need to rip out the walls. :( Decontamination of a seriously infested house is a big deal.

[KnottedYet]

I live in a basement apartment in a soggy dip in the ground in Seattle.

Mold and mildew are a part of my life, sigh. I clean it off surfaces with Simple Green spray every week or so, and rub baking soda into my mattress where it grows each time I flip the mattress. You may need to flip your mattress fairly often if it seems to get moldy quickly. I throw away shower curtains and bath mats when they get grody, as cleaning them seems to be hopeless. I usually keep closet doors open so drier air will circulate. (the back of the closets are against the underground wall.)

When it is sunny I rush to open windows and lay things out on my porch in the direct light.

I've never used bleach in the house, because the smell of bleach makes me pukey.

I need to get the algae off my car one of these days, too.

Ahh, the joy of damp climates! :D

[shootingstar]

Are you renting this house? If yes, any hope to move elsewhere with less problems?

It sounds quite serious and could impact your BF's health long term, depending on the nature of his cold and how long he has had it.

Would look into a dehumifier, ear plugs to sleep. A central heating would help but not possible for your place right now.

It sounds the house needs to be properly constructed/retrofitted with insulation, air pocket barrier for ventilation within the wall construction,etc. If you're pals with licensed engineer, architect they could give you simple explanation of the problem.

For certain, if you have wall to wall carpeting, have it removed.

We could not live in a place like that. My partner is allergic to mould. He can't go into even a greenhouse before he starts getting a huge headache, swollen eyes, etc. Heck, just having one indoor flowering plant to water is enough. He's afraid of mould from the soil indoors if we have too many indoor plants. I'm not kiddin'.

[Cataboo]

Try boric acid solution instead of your bleach solution:

http://www.ehow.com/way_5598167_do-mold-remediation-boric-acid.html

http://www.moldetect.com/mold-cleaning.htm

[uk elephant]

We are just renting the house, so any structural changes or carpet removal is not an option at the moment. And moving to another house won't help as most houses here seem to be equally poorly constructed! I have scheduled heavy cleaning for the week-end (fingers crossed the weather will be good) and am trying to talk BF into buying a dehumidifier but electricity isn't cheap here so he's sceptical. Somehow comforting to know it's not just me.....although I wouldn't wish damp living on anyone! One day....one day...maybe...if we find the money....we can build our own house, one that is constructed well and built to deal with the prevailing climate in the region!