Preparing for Winter V

wondercollie

CatieE said:

I am Swiss and so used to cold winters. We tend to cope by wearing multiple layers. Even the men are known to wear tights under their trousers  

It's -9C here today.  Husband has the long johns out.

Si_Clist

wondercollie said:

It's -9C here today

  Where is "here"?

MingVase

WC is in Canada

Greenglockenspiel

Does anyone have tips for preventing/treating condensation inside the windows? I think the rooms are adequately ventilated. We have a dehumidifier but I don’t really want to have to lug it between rooms as they are all on slightly different levels (old house).

Laura_Elsewhere

Greenglockenspiel said:

Does anyone have tips for preventing/treating condensation inside the windows? I think the rooms are adequately ventilated. We have a dehumidifier but I don’t really want to have to lug it between rooms as they are all on slightly different levels (old house).

When we moved into our 1990s flat there was a fair bit of mould, and everyone said we'd have to have the heating on lots and run a dehumidifier and so on... being a) cheapskates and b) eco-lefties, we thought we'd try some cheaper and simpler methods, and they have worked completely. 

1. Open windows as wide as they will go, front and back of the building, for at least 3 minutes every single morning (we do this with the bedclothes stripped back to help minimise dust-mites as well). If you keep an eye on the time, 3 mins is enough to "change the air" without cooling down everything indoors; it's surprising how rapidly the temps go back up again once you close the windows. We do this even in blizzard conditions - it's very rare for us not to air the flat. 
2. Be aware of things you do that make the indoors air damp again - drying laundry on radiators is one, obviously, but also using a steam-iron, washing-up, baths and showers, etc. I try and change the air after any morning showers, to get the damp air out while I'm at it. If you can do steamy things (!!!) before changing the air, then it makes sense o do them; not always possible, but it's worth reducing the build-up when you can. 
3. Wipe the mould patches, or spray wth a plant mister, with vinegar. I don't dilute it at all, as you want to create a 'hostile environment' for the mould, and it's never caused any problem with the plaster or anything. I use cheap white vinegar and last time we price-checked, I think Tesco were cheapest. If you loathe the smell of vinegar, you can use neat lemon juice but sieve it first to get any bits of pulp out or they'll go mouldy... 

Good luck and it is possible to do it - keep airing it, keep vinegaring it, and it WILL go away  

Grabs39

I’m a bit paranoid about damp, so we have the bedroom and conservatory windows, and one of the living room windows open a crack on the vent/latch all the time.  I open the bedroom window properly for half an hour each morning.

When we shower we have the window open and the fan on.  Ditto when we cook (and lids on pans).

Laundry goes outside whenever possible, even if only for a couple of hours if it doesn’t dry completely it’s better than going straight from the machine to the clothes horse.  When it has to be hung indoors it goes in the conservatory with the dehumidifier on.

Heating is on at 17 in the mornings and evenings, though I believe if it’s higher it helps a bit with condensation.

Mummy2cheekymonkeys

What would you suggest is the best way to get rid of mould and damp. One wall in my sons bedroom is quite bad and i want to clean it but i dont want it to harm his health. Any suggestions please?

Laura_Elsewhere

@Mummy2cheekymonkeys - see my reply above to Glock - we treated our mould by airing and vinegar and it sorted it out completely, and completely naturally. It isn't instant - but most of the scary chemical things need multiple applications too, so you may as well just accept it took a long time to form and will take a while to kill off, and just keep on thoroughly-airing his room and misting or wiping the mould patches with vinegar... 

maryb

We use a Karcher window vac on the windows first thing.  It's shocking how much water it collects but it makes a big difference in controlling damp and mould

Greenglockenspiel

Thanks @Laura_Elsewhere, I’ll give it a good airing. Just have to make sure OH is out of bed by then otherwise he’ll complain it’s too cold to come out from under the duvet! We haven’t got any mould at the moment but wanted to take action before it got that far - we had mould in our old flat which I did treat with vinegar. We haven’t had the heating on at all yet but were contemplating it once we get into November so that may help too.