# Mould on clothes & window blinds



## Darth Vader (31 Oct 2007)

I've moved into a rented house recently and have notice that some of my clothes have mould on them, in the wardrobe. The blinds in some of the rooms have also developed it. There is alot of condensation on the inside of the windows in the mornings and i presume that might have something to do with it. 

Anyway, does anyone know how to stop this?

does anyone have a machine that removes condensation from rooms & did it cost much?


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## Paulone (31 Oct 2007)

You can buy a dehumidifier from Argos or an electrical retailer - they come in different sizes and moisture extraction capacity, but all of them work on the principle of chilling the air (like the surface of your window) getting the water to condense out, and blowing the drier air out. They work quite well and cost in and around the €200 mark.

Make sure you're ventilating the rooms well so as to avoid a buildup of steam from showers, baths or cooking etc. Mould on your clothes in the wardrobe indicates a structural damp problem which is going to be bad news in the long term - I have found that leather and suede shoes or jackets can be particularly vulnerable, but in a seriously damp atmosphere, you're going to find that you need to get bedding dried out regularly to avoid it becoming musty and to stop mould on the walls, carpet etc.

If it's a rented place, kick up a stink with the landlord and get them to give you dehumidifier. If they have given you gas-cylinder heaters or you use these yourself, get rid of them as they produce a serious amount of moisture in burning gas - a real wet heat - use electric heaters instead. Ensure also that there is sufficient heat in the place.

If providing sufficient heat is a problem or you find that you can't get problems solved, then consider a tenant advisory organisation like Threshold to investigate your rights.


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## Caveat (31 Oct 2007)

Paulone said:


> Mould on your clothes in the wardrobe indicates a structural damp problem which is going to be bad news in the long term - I have found that leather and suede shoes or jackets can be particularly vulnerable,


 
Sorry to butt in - but we have this problem in our own place. What is the best way to go about addressing this and what are the likely costs involved?


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## sandyg (31 Oct 2007)

I had similar problems in our mobile home.  I bought a Glen Dimplex dehumidifer in Power City for €120 (i think) and it works brilliantly.  It actually releases warm air out.  Its amazing how much water it fills in no time.  It has solved our problem - we had no more damp/moulded clothes/shoes etc in the wardrobe.


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## Millie2 (31 Oct 2007)

Originally Posted by *Paulone* http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?p=514237#post514237 
_Mould on your clothes in the wardrobe indicates a structural damp problem which is going to be bad news in the long term - I have found that leather and suede shoes or jackets can be particularly vulnerable, _

I'm interested in this too, we have same problem, 5 yr old house, no other room with this problem and wardrobe not on an outside wall. We were blaming the power shower in the ensuite, interested on the structural damp aspect, thanks


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## Carpenter (31 Oct 2007)

Often times problems with mould growth on the walls and ceiling of new builds are incorrectly attributed to "structural problems"- in most cases the mould problems are directly related to the use of the house/ room in question. Living spaces require adequate ventilation and heating to prevent problems with condensation and subsequent mould growth. Minimise the amount of steam and water vapour being released into the internal spaces-use extractor fans/ open windows when cooking or showering, avoid drying clothes indoors and try to ensure that some background ventilation is always available. Very often (especially in apartments) windows remain closed all night and day and water vapour builds up in the internal space, where it will condense on the coldest surfaces within the room, this is usually a north facing wall or the back of a wardrobe (here ventilation is poor/ non- existent). A dehumidifier will remove excess water from the air but if living patterns remain the same the vapour will build up again. 

Condensation and mould were not so much an issue in older properties which were far from airtight and pretty draughty, permitting ready ventilation.  Increased levels of insulation and reduction of unwanted draughts in new builds have increased the risk of condensation in our modern building stock, especially as building usage has altered dramatically (houses are unoccupied and mostly unventilated for the bulk of the day).  Ventilation is the key.  I would monitor usage of the building/ room presenting mould problems and see if simple lifestyle changes can effect an improvement before calling in the surveyor yet!


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## Caveat (31 Oct 2007)

Carpenter said:


> Often times problems with mould growth on the walls and ceiling of new builds are incorrectly attributed to "structural problems"- in most cases the mould problems are directly related to the use of the house/ room in question. Living spaces require adequate ventilation and heating to prevent problems with condensation and subsequent mould growth. Minimise the amount of steam and water vapour being released into the internal spaces-use extractor fans/ open windows when cooking or showering, avoid drying clothes indoors and try to ensure that some background ventilation is always available. Very often (especially in apartments) windows remain closed all night and day and water vapour builds up in the internal space, where it will condense on the coldest surfaces within the room, this is usually a north facing wall or the back of a wardrobe (here ventilation is poor/ non- existent). A dehumidifier will remove excess water from the air but if living patterns remain the same the vapour will build up again. Ventilation is the key.


 
Thanks Carpenter - makes perfect sense given our particular problem.
I suppose a dehumidifier is advisable in our case as house is unoccupied during the day & bedroom windows would be closed all the time.


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## jambr (31 Oct 2007)

My mother had a similar problem in a rented apartment and has taken her three years to get landlord to help. Dampness came from upstairs apartment shower, had been leaking for years. I got on to landlord and was told to buy a dehumidifier but when i pushed him he agreed to buy one. My mother is in her 80s and living with this dampness was not good for her health. She also had to live there while work was being done to replace the celing and this took the best part of two months.


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## musicfan (1 Nov 2007)

I had a similar problem a couple of years ago in a rented apartment.

When I first moved in, I was advised to keep the air conditioning on low for about an hour a day.  When I complained about the damp and the mould, I was told to leave the AC on high and 24 hours a day.  Nothing made any difference.  

My landlord called in the builders (as it was a relatively new build!) who advised the place would stay damp and mouldy unless I left the windows open all day - not great advice in this day and age!  I was also told the fact I had clothes drying in the house was the cause of the problem.

I did everything I was told - AC on full blast, windows open in every room when I was there (even in the middle of winter!), stopped drying clothes inside and the damp problem continued - mould on clothes, shoes, bags - everything.

I eventually had to break my lease as the smell in the house and the smell off my clothes was just disgusting.

Since then, I've lived in older houses etc - doing the same thing i.e. windows closed all day, clothes drying in the house, and apart from a small bit of condensation and a slight bit of mould occassionaly on the windows, it is nothing like what I experienced previously.

I had dehumidfiers and crystals to dry out the place and to this day I am convinced that the cause of the damp was structural but the builder wouldn't even entertain this idea.

In a normal environment, there shouldn't be mould growing on your clothes and unless the landlord is willing to look into the problem, and try and solve it, the only solution may be to move out, like I had to.


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## sparkeee (5 Nov 2007)

I had exactly this problem,i fitted a draught excluder to the bottom of the bathroom door to keep steam in thje bathroom and allow the bathroom extractor to remove the steam and the same with the kitchen as there is no windows in either.i left the windows slightly open in the bedrooms when ever i could,when i was out i left a de humidifier running in alternate damp/mouldy rooms with the windows shut.This eventually sorted out the problem.


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## ney001 (9 Nov 2007)

hey we have this problem in two bedrooms so a couple of questions for the experts if that's okay:

[1] Do you have to keep de-humidifier running all of the time? i.e are we looking at running this for as long as we are in the house?
[2] How long on average would it take for one of these to fill and when  it's full will it spill out or anything - i.e if we are at work and it fills up will it start leaking onto the floors?.
[3]  We live in a very old cottage, I have noticed that there are no vents in any of the rooms, would it solve the problem to install a vent, say above the bedroom door?
[4]  We were putting the problem down to the large number of very high trees surrounding the house, they seem to be causing a lot of moss growth outside the house, presumably because they are blocking the light/heat from the sun - could this be the cause of the mould in our house?.

Just to point out - our bedrooms are nowhere near the bathroom so defo not shower


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## Conshine (9 Nov 2007)

I had a similar problem - got quotes from some people into the thousands to paint some super-duper stuff on the outside of the house etc.

One <honest> guy that came round said that it is because of the shower.

Hot air moves to cold, so when you open the bathroom, the hot air will move straight to the nearest cooler area, most likely a window in an adjacent room.
The solution was to leave the bathroom window open a few milimetres all the time. Mould cleared up within a couple of weeks.


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