Removing mould from kitchen items?

zippychick

ive merged this with a thread on removing mould from kitchen items to see if it helps

ZIP

its_smee

Hi, long time lurker first time poster in here! DH and I bought a house with a damp problem, and first job was to get the builders in and full damp proof course and plastering throughout. During this time with no heating on mould set in, we are now fighting it in the kitchen units (which I'm accepting we will have to replace fairly soon :mad:) in the dining room on wood skirtings and in the bathroom and landing plaster. Does anyone have any damp and mould removal tips they would be so kind to share?

Last time I think only a bit of damp that's for sure...

[Deleted User]

My flat was damp when i moved in and it was due to condensation. I had to strip the carpets, skirting and repaint the first 6ins around the flat with damp proof paint. Maybe a different situation from yours but i used a dehumidifier and also aired the place out to dry affected areas. I have a north facing wall right along one side of my groundfloor flat. I found that anti bac wipes worked well on the black mould if its in a small area. If the damp keeps returning then you may have other problems. I managed to keep mine at bay with ventilation.

*miaomiao*

This won't help with long standing issues (ie., structural faults allowing damp, etc), but we have found a dehumidifier invaluable for avoiding and minimising the problem of damp. It's even useful for laundry and the cooking and shower water vapour. And yes, open your windows often.

If you can, also check out some insulation measures.

p.s. It is possible to hire industrial dehumidifiers as well!

art_for_arts_sake

its_smee wrote: »

Hi, long time lurker first time poster in here! DH and I bought a house with a damp problem, and first job was to get the builders in and full damp proof course and plastering throughout. During this time with no heating on mould set in, we are now fighting it in the kitchen units (which I'm accepting we will have to replace fairly soon :mad:) in the dining room on wood skirtings and in the bathroom and landing plaster. Does anyone have any damp and mould removal tips they would be so kind to share?

Last time I think only a bit of damp that's for sure...

We live in an old house which was relatively dry when we bought it, but since the installation of uPVC windows we've noticed more damp which indicates the circulation of air has been disrupted by the changes.

Plastering, unless it's a thin skim on plasterboard, creates huge amounts of moisture which takes a long time to dry out, and having no heating won't have helped, but throw your windows open every chance you get, it will help hugely.

If wooden floors have been replaced by concrete the underfloor ventilation the house was built with will have been lost, and the concrete as a cold surface will collect moisture too. Mould and fusty smells in your kitchen cabinets can be removed with either dilute bleach or sterilising tablets dissolved in hot water. Damp patches on walls can be treated with fungicide but unless you remove the source of moisture will reappear. It's surprising how much moisture can collect from living in a house. Even the simple act of breathing will generate significant levels of moisture, and kitchens and bathrooms benefit from having an extractor fan if you don't have them already. Until you've eliminated as many of the possible internal causes of damp you can't be sure where it's coming from unless there is a clear physical cause.

I'm not a huge fan of dampproofing as I'm not convinced of its effectiveness (though no doubt someone will be along to correct me ), but check all airbricks are free from obstructions and external walls are sound, and if any mortar is loose get the affected areas repointed. It sounds like you have an older house which may not have a cavity wall but there is also the potential for the gap between the outer and inner wall to have been breached, which can cause cold spots and damp.

Last, but not least, chimneys and roofs should be checked, particularly that flashings are intact and that water isn't being blown into the roof space. Older chimneys which have been used for coal fires may be subject to sulphate attack which means hygroscopic salts in the brickwork continually escape through to the plaster, attracting moisture in the air, giving the impression of "damp".

its_smee

Thanks for your replies everyone. I probably should mention I'm in construction myself, and was speeding over the damp issue, as I'm confident its been irradicated with all the corrective measures I've installed, including tanking and a new roof and guttering, its been a dear one!

The issue is the mould which was left as a result, and what to use to get rid of the black mould that lingers on the back of the kitchen units etc and when I say damp I mean it drying out the corrective works. I had considered hireing a dehumidifyer, still to look into that further just the cost of it puts me off and wondered if there was a cheaper way of drying it out! I've gone off to work with heating on full blast and heaters in kitchen cupboards, plus open windows, but the tight wad in me shudders at the thought of the cost of the electricity on that!

Our house is also not suitable for cavity inuslation, so sadly we don't get the benefit of that.

OrkneyStar

We also noticed more black spot damp in the upstairs ceilings after installation of uPVC windows. Our house is 1970's build and I air regularily, any suggestions to help this? Thanks

HariboJunkie

Do you have an extractor fan in the kitcchen? That would help with the cupboards.

If you dry clothes indoors, ventilate well and to remove mould I used a thin bleach solution then painted over the areas with a specialist anti mould emulsion. A dehumidifier is really useful if it's a major problem.

art_for_arts_sake

OrkneyStar wrote: »

We also noticed more black spot damp in the upstairs ceilings after installation of uPVC windows. Our house is 1970's build and I air regularily, any suggestions to help this? Thanks

I wish I could help, but I'm still battling it myself despite the replacement windows being vented. My theory is the warmer double glazing means the condensation has to find somewhere else to settle. Cold spots on the walls or ceilings can be very hard to solve. At one time polystyrene veneer used to be applied to the wall before papering or ceilings would have polystyrene tiles, but being a fire hazard and also very unfashionable it isn't recommended nowadays. Foam backed plasterboard has helped where I could use it, but it's not a cheap job. Unless you can reduce the condensation by using a humidifier it does seem to be an uphill battle. I have to live with it to a certain extent because sudden changes in humidity could damage my collection of musical instruments.

sophlowe45

same problem, battling with mould, my onions went mouldy which were kept in the kitchen, not in the fridge after only a few days.

I have a single glazed old window and it gets a lot of condensation, I try to keep the window open even when I am freezing.

I leave the bathroom door open all the time and put the clothes airer next to the window.

I used astonish mould and mildew cleaner from the 99p store, on the window which has helped. But only on two thirds of the window as cannot reach the rest.

how much electricity do dehumidifiers use?