I know a thing or two about terrible mouldy flats, having been both a student in this country and privately rented. Black mould crawling up the walls is one thing, requiring constant treatment and pleading to a landlord who could not care less if they tried.
But when you hear the words: “Tom, all our shoes and coats are mouldy.” It’s another thing entirely. Was I upset? Yes. Was I surprised? Nope. And with landlords’ best advice being ‘don’t hang up your washing to dry’ (where else is it supposed to dry?), it can be depressing when you are surrounded by smelly and – in the worst case – mouldy clothes. The solution, though, costs under £10: hanging dehumidifiers.
What surprised me most was how effective they were. And they’re so cheap too – a pack of 12 is just £8.99 on Amazon right now from 151 products (4.6 rating out 4,073 reviews), or there’s Nyxi’s pack of six for £9.49 (4.6 out of 4,823 reviews).
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The 151 product holds 500ml, while the Nyxi weighs in at 230g (which equates to 230ml), so you’re likely better off opting for the 151. Since we started using these, our mould problem disappeared; I can’t stress enough how useful they are if you’re battling that mildew smell.
The name says it all: you just hang them up where you need them and the dehydration crystals withdraw moisture into the bag. This makes it ideal for drying your clothes in the wet months and more energy efficient than a standard dehumidifier (they last a fairly long time – about a month each). If you’re having problems with clothes smelling – whether you are a student or just have a home prone to it – I can’t recommend these enough.
Though you can’t have just one weapon in your arsenal – I once lived in a flat with a paddling pool to collect water whenever it rained, so you need a lot to make life bearable. As I mentioned earlier, we live in an unregulated nightmare island. If you need a more heavy-duty solution, a plug-in dehumidifier is the way to go.
This one from Amazon is currently £68.99 and consumes just 40 watts of power, which works out to 1p per hour to run or 24p for a whole day. Due to its size, it’s better for smaller rooms. A more heavy-duty one would be Dunelm’s 12L Electric Dehumidifier, which costs £120. At 185 watts, it costs 99p to run for 24 hours, according to energy calculator sust-it. This will help you dry clothes quicker, meaning you don’t have to spend ages turning them to avoid a smelly result.
Finally, you should really have a solid mould remover spray. These are not for clothes, but essentially for removing from walls and hard-to-reach places and none really beat Dettol Mould and Mildew remover.
You can snag a three-pack on Amazon for £9.99 or a single one at Tesco for £3.50. Be sure to follow the instructions with this one as it contains bleach – all you need to do is spray it on the affected area, wait, and then wipe it off. It’s like magic. The mould disappears instantly and you can breathe properly again.