Preparedness - the continuation thread

maryb

I hadn't noticed that before Ivyleaf. I will now! I suppose it must be something to do with ice crystals forming. A bit like cheese always going crumbly

maryb

csarina I think Grey Queen keeps quite a lot of water in store, just stored in two litre drinks bottles if I remember rightly. It keeps fine for about three months then she empties it into the bath instead of running the cold tap and refills.

If you want to keep it for longer you can add a drop of Milton sterilising fluid. again I think Grey Queen worked out how much to use, hopefully she'll be along later

pawprintz

Hello All,

You have gotten me thinking about my food stores.

At the moment, the cupboards are full. But so full that we are having to start eating through it as we can't jam any more in there.
This is where I know I need to assess my storage space/try and make some more storage space!
I often shift around my cupboards, and each time I do it I free up a little more space/manage to pack things in more effectively. I think the issue is: I simply need more cupboards. Or racks. Or something. But what?

What do people do when they live in a small house, with lack of storage space? I could build some of my own - but the issue is: where?! My house is a two bedroom terraced house circa 1910. My kitchen is small. I have a small cupboard type room off of my kitchen but this isn't really useful for storing food. I have indoor cats and their litter tray is in there. The shelves are used for storing shoes and we have some hooks for coats. Also in there is the cat basket and the hoover - spare cat litters that I stock up on when they're on offer etc etc. I don't think I can move these as they have nowhere to go.

I have no under the bed storage. Our spare room houses a bookcase, computers (old desktop styles - no tablets in this house!), chairs, fitness equipment and the like. It also has a unit which houses my OH's clothes - mine are all stored in our bedroom.

My bedroom is another problem in itself. I can't store the units (or anything else for that matter) against the "outside wall" (that being the wall that has the window in it) as I have, yep, you guessed it, a mould issue! If anything is store against it, it goes mouldy. Even with nothing against it we still get some mould recurring. Does anybody else have this problem? How do you remedy it? I use mould cleaner when I clean it - the special stinky stuff that takes your breath away. When I redecorated (last September), I stripped all of the wallpaper off, gave the wall a damn good cleaning (with mould cleaner), put a damp seal on, put anti mould paint on, and then left it painted. No wallpaper to get moist from condensation and then grow mould - nothing. Yet still it happens. Particularly down the bottom of the wall, in the corner. This is an upstairs room, FYI.

A similar thing happens on the "outside walls" of my living room.

I'm at a loss. Any advice greatly appreciated!

Anyway, enough rambling - off to do some work. :eek:

Back soonish I'm sure.

Pawz.

maryb

Pawz I sympathise about the mould, we had that problem on an outside wall that never got any sun. I can't offer an easy solution - but we found that once plaster gets wet, it seems to change its character. It's as if it crystallises some salt which then attracts any moisture in the atmosphere.

We only finally solved the problem when we had all the plaster hacked off, some insulation fixed to the wall and then replastered

pawprintz

Thanks Mary,

I twas my suspicion that one day we might need to get the plaster replaced - more expense - eek! That shall have to wait a while. Just have to try to keep on top of it for now I 'spose.

maryb

we bought a dehumidifier for that room which kept it down considerably. Modern dehumidifiers don't seem to cost too much to run but throw out a reasonable amount of heat as well as keeping the air dry. Laundry used to dry much more quickly

pawprintz

I'll have to try to save for a dehumidifier. I'm assuming an electric one would be more effective than the crystal type ones!

maryb

Pawprintz im on phone atm computer having a hissy fit but I'll try and find the details of the one we bought

culpepper

Regarding the need for storage space, what about on a thin bookcase behind a sofa? Alternatively, under the plinths in a kitchen if you have that sort of kitchen unit or maybe even a shelf above a door. We have found those ottoman type seats very useful in our living room recently, they hold my craft/tinkering stuff and the sewing machines and can be used as chair or table.

jk0

I used to have a mould problem.

I got rid of it a number of ways:

• By getting a washing line, and never drying stuff indoors.
• If anything is airing in the utility room I open the window a crack.
• Similar for cooking, as burning gas creates water vapour.
• I open the bedroom windows & doors for at least an hour every day.
• Bathroom window is open a crack most of the time.