# Mould In Bedroom Clothes Cupboard - Help!



## Silver

Hi all

This is not a vaping topic, but hopefully if I explain my experience, someone may be able to offer some advice or help. I am really upset and quite panicked. I don't know who to turn to, so will ask my fellow forumites. Please guys, if any of you have any experience on this, I will be helluva grateful.

Today, my wife spotted *green mould growing on the wall at the back of the built-in cupboard in our bedroom.* It was quite a lot of mould and she keeps her clothes in this cupboard. She actually uses the bedroom cupboard exclusively for her clothes, I use a cupboard in another room. The affected cupboard spans the length of the room. The mouldy part was on one side only.

The clothes are all out now and I have investigated the cupboard very carefully. The walls themselves do not feel wet to the touch at all, neither does the ceiling. I also removed the bottom pieces of the cupboard and checked the concrete floor and its bone dry. However *two or three bars of soap we have in the cupboard do have some droplets on them. *Some of her *hanging clothes feel slightly damp. *I have checked and felt every nook and cranny in the cupboard. There are no leaks or any visible water anywhere.

I feel so bad for her since she is very upset about this.

We are in a townhouse unit on the first floor. Our clothes cupboard back wall is the exterior wall of the complex building. It is a brick wall. Painted outside and white paint/plaster on the inside. The cupboards are those normal Sembel-it chipboard type cupboards. Our room is *not *well ventilated and we sleep with the windows and doors closed. Sometimes in the mornings in winter, our windows will steam up a bit (I suspect from the heat from us in the room and the limited ventilation). We have been here for 5 years and never had this problem of mould on the back wall of the cupboard.

*Do you think the excessive rains for the past 2 weeks in Joburg could have raised the general humidity in the room and caused this? Or do you think there is another more serious problem? *My wife thinks that the water is coming through the back cupboard wall. She says the brick wall is porous and water comes in even though you can't see it. She says that the cupboard I use in the other room doesn't have this problem because its back wall is an internal wall, not an external wall. I really don't know.

We don't know of any leaks externally on the wall - neither are there any water pipes in the walls anywhere near the cupboard.

I really don't know what to do. I suppose one has to call in the damp experts and get them to check but I am scared that they will suggest a solution that costs mega bucks that may not be the real problem. *Aren't there some chemicals one can put in the cupboard in the meantime until we find a solution that will "suck" up the humidity in the cupboard?*

Just wondering if any fellow forumites have had a similar problem and may be able to offer some advice on
on *either what could be causing this or how to go about solving it.*

Sorry for the lengthy post, but I thought its best to describe it in detail...

Please help


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## johan

@Silver , the first thing to do is use hypo chlorite (in SA ordinary Jik) - wipe the contaminated walls / area with a cloth damped in Jik (please use any plastic gloves). It will immediately kill off any mold spores. Some molds can be toxic and affect human resperatory systems. I've only experience that in Ireland and that is what the local people over there advised me to do. Next thing is to place a lot of bicarbonate of soda (+/1 500g) on the floor space or ordinary fresh cat litter to absorb the moist / dampness.

I think we South Africans are starting to experiencing the effect of humidity as never before due to the abnormal rains we had the past couple of weeks.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 2 | Informative 1


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## Silver

Wow, @johanct, many thanks!!!

Didn't know about the JIK or the bicarb of soda. Thanks a mill.

So you think it may just be the heavy rains in JHB? I am hoping so and that it subsides over time with your recommended treatment.


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## Rex_Bael

Vinegar will also work to kill off the mold if you don't have JIK.

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 1


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## mbera

Nova 31 Mould Killer http://www.novacoatings.co.za/index.php/widgetkit/complimentary-products/item/nova-31-mould-killer

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Reactions: Informative 1


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## Silver

Many thanks @Rex_Bael - have checked, we have JIK 
Will do the JIKking with plastic gloves tomorrow.

And thanks @mbera - very useful suggestion 

By the way, I have shown my wife the comments from you guys and she is feeling a lot better already. Just knowing that we can try something that is suggested from peeps with experience has helped. Thanks!

I suppose once we have Jikked and Bicarbed - then we monitor - if the problem persists then its something else other than just general humidity. I hope my logic is right.


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## johan

Definitely due to the amount of rain - never experienced so much rain in Pretoria.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Gazzacpt

Hey sorry to hear about the issues @Silver.
@johanct is spot on with the jik we wash our bathroom ceiling with it to kill the mould before painting. Then we mix the product @mbera linked to in the paint to keep the mould away.


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## Silver

Thank you - am hoping so.

Will report back in a few days with result.


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## Silver

Thanks @Gazzacpt 

Really appreciate your input. We are going to try all these suggestions in due course... 

I think my wife will only be happy when things are dry and mould free. 


And a happy wife equals a happy life....

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 3


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## Derick

@Silver , something stood out in your post - you said that her clothes felt damp. We used to have a maid that would not dry our clothes completely and hang them damp in the cupboard(so that she can leave early), by the next day they would be dry, but it started causing mold problems as well. Don't know what your situation is, but check that the clothes are dry before it goes in.

But yeah, go with the other suggestions about getting rid of the mold and if you absolutely have to hang damp clothes in the cupboard, leave the doors open till they are dry


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## Silver

Thanks @Derick, good point

Although my wife is quite pedantic about her clothes being very dry. She insists on hanging them out in the sun until they are really really dry. 

But maybe with no sun the past two weeks they werent properly dry and that could have either caused the problem or made it worse. I will check that carefully. Thanks so much for the point.


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## Rob Fisher

Silver said:


> *Aren't there some chemicals one can put in the cupboard in the meantime until we find a solution that will "suck" up the humidity in the cupboard?*



Living in the upper highway area of Durbs we suffer the same problem... and yes there are tablets you can buy that go into little plastic containers that suck the moisture out of the air... we used to go through them at a rate of knots... and they are a pain because you have to watch them and empty them out because you can't believe the amount of water that collects in the plastic goodies... we eventually gave up on them and had heaters (little ones made for cupboards) fitted in all out cupboards!


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## Rowan Francis

You can also try a product at pick n pay . It was a little plastic ball thing that said moisture remover / humidity remover . That would also help 

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## Rowan Francis

Oh and another thought to add if you could find a device to vaporise propylene glycol in the cupboard it would starve the mould of moisture to stay alive . I wonder if you could find such a device .. !! 

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Reactions: Funny 2


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## Silver

Thanks for that @Rob Fisher - wow, installing heaters in the cupboards. That is something I have never heard of before. 

And thanks @Rowan Francis for your suggestions

We have tried the bicarb of soda for now - and will see how that goes first.


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## Rob Fisher

@Silver here are those things I was talking about! Saw them at Builders Warehouse when buying my Coil tools!


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## johan

Be careful, that stuff can steal e-juice

Reactions: Funny 3


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## Silver

Many thanks Rob!

Will check it out and may try it soon.

So far, things are much better with our cupboard.
We have JIKKED it and have put the bicarb of soda in tinfoil containers at several locations in the cupboard.
We have also opened the windows as much as possible

My wife is smiling and says that the cupboard is much better already.

Strangely, I havent seen much moisture collection in the bicarb of soda. When I touch it, its not wet at all.

Who knows, but things are much better. Will monitor for a few more days and hopefully it was just a bout of big humidity from all the rains.

Thanks to all you guys for your help and suggestions. It really helped a lot.

Reactions: Like 2


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## johan

Glad you guys got sorted.


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## BhavZ

johanct said:


> Glad you guys got sorted.



Me too

Reactions: Like 1


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## Rex_Bael

The bicarb will absorb a heck of a lot of moisture before visibly becoming moist. Added bonus is that it will also absorb any odours from the mold

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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