It’s definitely feeling a little tropical in our house at the moment. No, it’s not the palm trees and the lovely music that sends us swaying around the room. It is moderately warm and seriously wet outside, and the humidity is skyrocketing.
Fall has hit in a big way, with darkness coming earlier and rain falling plentifully around our beautiful mountains. With fall comes moisture, and with moisture comes indoor humidity levels that hit the ceiling, literally. We wake in the morning to windows that are dripping, inside and out. Yuck.
To deal with our indoor tropical climate, we’ve recently invested in a dehumidifier. Our bedrooms are on the same floor as the bath, and this makes everything on that floor quite damp, even though the bathroom has a vent. Combine this with the large amount of outdoor humidity and the fact that three people sleep in those rooms, and you have one damp environment.
Now, mushrooms have been known to grow in some of my friends’ bathrooms this time of year, but I am not overly fond of growing that sort of thing indoors. The dehumidifier runs for a few hours in the day time and collects ample water, cups and cups of it, enough to feed all of our household plants if we wish. It’s a little ridiculous, but it’s better than a whole lot of mold and mushrooms.
If your home is feeling equally tropical, what else can you do to prevent mold? Move out the wet and stinky items in your home, wash them, and dry them. Clean up covers regularly. Ensure that areas get regular light and air circulation and check corners and closets regularly. If you do find mold, ensure that it is not coming from a leak and is not an expression of a larger mold problem behind your walls.
Image courtesy of fodor at Stock Exchange.