How to keep damp out of your home (without turning the heating on)

If you’re toughing it out to save on energy bills, follow these expert tips to avoid mould and spores

Living in a shared house can be an adjustment for many students, especially when it comes to saving on energy bills. According to Ofgem, recent energy increases for households mean that typical annual bills will remain around £400 higher than three years ago. No wonder it stings to ramp up that heating dial. But toughing it out when the temperature plummets and opting to burrow yourself under a pile of blankets rather than wafting through a toasty warm room can have consequences.

Last December, when my own energy bill for that month hit an eye-watering £700, I declared that henceforth, usage would be slashed. By February, I noticed mildew spreading across the back of my bedroom curtains, black gunge creeping into the grout around the bathroom tiles, and a tangy earthy aroma lurking in the hallway. Horrible! Even more upsetting, it’s widely known that living in a mouldy property can cause respiratory illnesses, allergies and asthma as the fungus spores are released in their thousands into the atmosphere.

So, if you make the decision to rarely ramp up your heating, you might need expert insight into winning the battle against omnipresent damp!

Ventilate, ventilate, ventilate

Condensation is the culprit. When warm humid air hits a cold surface (like windows or walls) moisture forms as droplets, creating a damp atmosphere or mould. This can occur when we cook, dry clothes indoors, take a long hot shower, or breathe while asleep (two sleeping adults can create up to half a litre of water).

Don’t drape damp clothes over radiators, as the moisture will evaporate into the air. The best option is to hang them in the bathroom with the extractor fan going, or a window open and the door closed.

Ventilation really helps, so increase airflow by opening a window or the trickle vents in modern windows, or introduce an extractor fan or a dehumidifier to eliminate vapour.

Shutting your drying rack in the bathroom with an open window helps to prevent the spread of moisture

Remove all evidence

In 2020, two-year-old Awaab Ishak hit the news after he died as a result of the mould in his home in Rochdale. When it manifests, damp is dangerous for our health. It’s important to get rid of it immediately, whether that’s with a hardcore product like Astonish Mould & Mildew Blaster, or a more environmental paste mix of white vinegar and baking soda.

If the silicone around your bath or sink has embedded mould, you could try twisting a length of kitchen roll into a sausage shape, dousing it in bleach (wear rubber gloves), pressing it along the silicone and leaving overnight. Magic! There have also been murmurings in cleaning circles that an ethanol-based clear mouthwash is an effective product for banishing mildew (after all, it kills the bacteria in your mouth). Create a mixture with one-part mouthwash to three-parts water and spray it onto the affected area.

For walls and ceilings, TV’s Queen of Clean, Lynsey Crombie recommends, “Use a flat-headed wall cleaning mop with a long handle (Amazon) to dampen the wall, then add bicarbonate of soda and scrub!  Leave it to sit for a minimum of 15 minutes to break down the mould spores, then rinse off with cold water. Always dry the walls with a small towel afterwards.” And for windows that are dripping with condensation every morning, try the Leifheit window vacuum cleaner. It does what it says: literally sucks up the water from your glass in seconds.

Get into the hidden corners

Damp loves crevices. This tends to be where the air sits still, so moisture soon accumulates. You might notice mould building up in the corners of a room, or along the frames of your windows. In her cleaning tips book, Hinch Yourself Happy, Mrs Hinch (Sophie Hinchliffe) shares her love of the SonicScrubber cleaning tool, saying, “It is like an electric toothbrush and comes with several detachable heads… It gets into the hard-to-reach places or tricky gaps.”  Alternatively, a basic interspace toothbrush is expert at digging out the gunk from tight corners.

Double glazed windows have a thermal barrier of an air gap between the two panes of glass .  uPVC windows can be damaged as mould seeps into the seal, causing deterioration and loss of insulating power. It’s crucial to regularly remove any excess water to avoid the destruction of mould build-up.

Keep things moving

Anything that remains static over a long period, tends to get stale. Move beds, sofas, cupboards and wardrobes away from cold walls and leave a 5cm gap to allow air circulation.

Heating experts say that setting your heating too high or too low creates more humidity than opting for a constant mid-level temperature. Shutting doors, especially in bathrooms, kitchens and conservatories, will prevent moist air filtering throughout your home. It even helps to add a lid to your saucepan while cooking to reduce steam.

Purdy Rubin, co-founder of all-natural cleaning business Purdy & Figg, says: “If you do have a musty mouldy smell in a cupboard, you can get a jar with a nice open mouth, like a jam jar, and fill it with bicarbonate, as it absorbs the smell and moisture. Give it a stir every few weeks and it’ll last at least a month.”

Stop spores before they multiply

Prevention is better than cure.

Without the right ventilation, you can get a build-up of humidity because you’re not pushing that damp air out anywhere; it’s just sitting in your room.  If that hot, damp air is not expelled, with things like trickle vents or windows open, you’ll get mould-prone areas.