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Help, How to get mould off clothes???

Hi

Any help, advice, tips etc would be wonderful.

 I was looking in my cupboard-thats-acting as a wardrobe for a black dress for a funeral tomorrow and noticed some were damp. !!!!!! I thought and moved some clothes back and discovered the back corner of my "wardrobe" was dripping with condensation and mould. It didn't look like that at least two months ago when I moved in and set up my clothes! and the clothes, which is mostly dress and long things hide it all. Ahhh.

Currently have my dehumidifier doing it's thing in there. What a nightmare.

 Luckily most of my clothes don't touch the actual wall but mould seems to have spread to my shoes that weren't near it, so I wanted to wash them all to be safe.  Four things were touching the wall and maybe have some slight mould, so I'm planning on nuking them in the washing machine .

Would vinegar help? If I pre soak them? Or just a 40 or 60 wash do the trick? 
I really sensitive to chemicals (and freaking mould 🤦‍♀️) but i don't know what to try.

I really don't want to throw out half my wardrobe, I can't afford to replace them right now. Already writing some of my shoes off 😭
 
HELP?

Comments

  • Frugalista
    Frugalista Posts: 1,747 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Don't throw your shoes out yet!  Recently, someone posted on here about wiping mouldy shoes clean with tea-tree oil.  You can pick it up in some of the pound shops, so, for that price, it has got to be worth a try.  Hope this helps.
    "Men are generally more careful of the breed(ing) of their horses and dogs than of their children" - William Penn 1644-1718

    We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that stupid people won't be offended.
  • Auntycaz
    Auntycaz Posts: 3,278 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    I would pre your clothes in diluted white vinegar and also add a little to the wash. I think I would give the shoes a brush first then give them the tea tree or diluted white vinegar wipe before I resorted to throwing them away. Hope you manage to sort it.

  • Thanks, I'll try the vinegar!
  • Pollycat
    Pollycat Posts: 35,358 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Savvy Shopper!
    A quick Google seems to say that diluted white vinegar is the right choice.
  • If all of those good suggestions fail, try some mould remover. I know you don't like chemicals so do it outdoors. And I know it will say on the bottle not to use on fabrics, but it's worth a try before sending things off to landfill. I rescued a really good coat and some curtains that were almost off to the tip. Sprayed them, left for 10 mins then chucked in the washing machine. Came up with no mould spots to be seen. 
    You've got nothing to lose if you think you may have to bin them anyway. 
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