HELP HOW DO I REMOVE MOLD & WET MOISTURE FROM THE CLOSET?

[Sugar100]

I live in a studio & I have no windows just a sliding glass door covered in curtains. I never open it for fresh air until today & yesterday 30 min. I don’t open it due to owners family or handyman outside daily. He’s handyman is nosy & will be staring at me inside with my robe on. Her dogs are out so they will enter my studio & pee. Ever since it became winter my studio is cold due to wood floor. I put on heater one hour since 3 days but before that never used heater as owenr can get high bill. My closet has no air vent. My clothes hung up feel wet & I don't know how to stop wet feeling. It’s cold daily raining. I had a furntire close to the corner wall & I now see the wall is flimsy & wet. Do I put the furntire to the middle or throw it out? I have a moisture elimintor I just put today as shown in pic. There’s. No wall plug for dehumidifier. I had 2 fabric storage bins filled with mold so I threw it in trash. I reas id u store stuff in plastic containers it won’t cause mold. I plan move out April or may so I have no interest buy anything expensive to fix this.

Updates

+1 y

Supposivly owner fixed a leak issue under her house 2 wks ago. Who knows if it was completly fixed or what happened. Why do all people have homes and don’t get mold locked up in winter? at last studio I lived at I had carpet and house was new never had mold. Room was warm cozy toasty during winter zero wet moisture. Now I have wood floor. No sun when it’s warm. Last place did has a lot of sun and I opened the door often for air.

Updates

+1 y

In old place I didn’t have walk in closet only a big master closet with doors but never had wet clothes. NEVER

[matchrestore]

Talk to your landlord. There may be a leak somewhere. You might also just need a dehumidifier to get the moisture down. In many places mold remediation is the landlords responsibility, and attempting to fix it yourself can make you liable for all of the mold damage, even if you didn't cause it.

[Sugar100]

Owner 2 wks ago Gad fixed a leakage issue under her house?

[Sugar100]

Had**

[Sugar100]

I will mention the issue to her and see what she says. The studio is clean tho as I cleaned everything with a mold bleach spray. But I’m worried as studio still feels wet cold & worry it’ll grow back. I want know what she says for this issue

[Sugar100]

I can’t afford a dehumidifier anytime soon I’m broke

[matchrestore]

Your landlord might provide one to protect her investment.

[Sugar100]

In embarassed tell her I can’t afford buy one lol I was even short $50 today on rent

[matchrestore]

Especially if you say "I'd really like to get a dehumidifier running in there to keep it dry but I just can't afford one right now. Do you have one we (and use the royal we to put yourself on the same "team") can use until it dries out fully"

[Sugar100]

My job. Last 2 wks deckeber cancelled work and we had vacation but I have no savings. I planned work dailythose last 2 weeks December to have $1000 saved by new year. But work got cancelled lol. I’m so sad. We return to work tomrow if work is busy and there’s enough work for everyone

[Sugar100]

So I read online my heater and thingy can kinda be used as dehumidifier, I have to set it on dry mode to suck up moisture

[Sparkie460]

If there aren't any leaks in the pipes then you need to turn up the heat or plu in a dehumidifier in your apartment to remove the moisture.

[Sugar100]

Supposivly 2 wks ago owner fixed a leak under her house?

[Sugar100]

The plumbing guys were fixing it next to my studio. Next to my studio there’s a water house and mini gate think there’s the water plumbing there right next to me.

[Sugar100]

I can’t put a dehumidifier in the closet there’s no connection

[Sugar100]

How long do I need put on the heater wen I’m not at work? I don’t want owners bill be high having heater on 24/7.

[Andres77]

Extension cord

[Sparkie460]

You can put the dehumidifier anywhere in your place. It will remove the moisture from your whole apartment. It will pull the dampness out and make it warmer

[Sparkie460]

@Andres77 they should never be ran with an extension cord.

[Andres77]

Not even 6'? Why is that? Does it have that big a pull? What about a heavy extension cord? I'm not saying you're wrong, I just never heard that before.

[Sparkie460]

No extension cord at all on any appliances. It's in the national electric code. I'm a licensed electrician so I'm fully knowledgeable about it

[Sparkie460]

A dehumidifier pulls about 8 to 10 amps

[Andres77]

I never knew that. Thanks for sharing the information

[Sugar100]

I’m broke rn can’t afford a mini dehumidifier anytime soon.

[Sugar100]

Even stuff in drawers r getting mold. I’m worried. The studio looks clean but I’m worried more and more mold will grow again.

[Sparkie460]

@Andres77 glad I could help you learn something new and hopefully made your home safer.

[Andres77]

There are sprays for mold. Some you can even make yourself. If it prone to mold open it up. Put newspaper on the bottom of the drawers. Replace it as needed. Leave the drawers open s bit and don't pack a lot of clothing into each drawer. Leave space for air to circulate

[Sparkie460]

@ sugar 100 if you can't afford a dehumidifier get a bunch of those damp rid containers and put them all in your closet. It will take longer to get rid of the moisture but it will work.

[Sugar100]

I already bought one didn’t u see the photo? It’s a different brand tho. Also how many do I need buy for the closet? Is one not enough? I only put one

[Sparkie460]

If you're getting mold I'd get 3 more and put all of them in your closet. You'll see, they will fill up pretty quickly.

[Sparkie460]

Put a few charcoal briquettes in a sock. Loosely tie the sock. Put 1 in each drawer. The charcoal will draw the moisture into the sock and make the charcoal damp. Change the charcoal once a month

[Sugar100]

I can’t afford buy more rn, I have $8 left but will use that for gas or $2 lunch for work lol.

[Sparkie460]

You should not be having all these issues. Talk to your landlord. Save all your receipts for stuff that you buy because of the moisture problem

[Sugar100]

I got those at the $1 store & read good reviews of them. I bought a $5 one yesteday & I dropped it and broke it lol

[Sugar100]

So do I tell landlord of the issue tomrow or stay quiet and wait what happens this week? see if the studio is okay or more mold appears?

[Sugar100]

I checked the little tub tonight and there’s no water yet lol. Still see the beads

[Sparkie460]

You should definitely tell and show your landlord everything you are dealing with. Mold is not healthy to breathe in. It can and most likely will make you sick.

[Sugar100]

I have a question. Why do people stay locked up cozy during winter in their home and they don’t get mold or wet feeling in home? Y I’m getting it? Cuz I have no windows or cuz her house is old?

[Sugar100]

Yea but I told u the mold is gone I cleaned everything with bleach. If u enter my sfudio it’s super clean. U won’t see any mold. Any tiny thing that has mold in throwing it in the trash. But the studio is squeaky clean rn. I jsut am worried Studio the studio feels wet and Super cold that new mold will grow again.

[Sparkie460]

Moisture is coming from somewhere. If it's found and fixed you shouldn't have any more problems.

Is the rent really cheap for your studio?

[Sparkie460]

What do you have the heat set aton your thermostat

[Sugar100]

$1k, it says set temp 72.

[Sugar100]

I have a split system ac heater on the wall. And remote. It says fan? I don’t hav it on rn but I don't know it says fan

[Sparkie460]

It should be on auto. When the temperature goes below what you have it set on it will automatically turn the heat on

[Sugar100]

What does fan do?

[Sugar100]

Is 72 ok?

[Sugar100]

Ok do it says dry heat cool, do I set it on dry?

[Sparkie460]

The rent is about average. I don't know what state or county you live in but it's average for where I am

[Sugar100]

Ok it says mode, auto dry cool heat , which one do I presss? Dry?

[Sparkie460]

72 is pretty hot. It should be set on heat

[Sugar100]

So heat will heat up the walls? Lol

[Sugar100]

Under 71 it says tan & auto but it’s on fan and I don't know how to change it to auto. But on the side mode I put it to heat.

[Sugar100]

If 72 is hot then y my studio has cold moisture n mold?

[Sugar100]

I’m stupid it’s on heat cuz wen I press on it’ll turn on the heater LOL

[Sparkie460]

Do you feel the air coming out is hot

[Sugar100]

Wen I turn on the heater u mean? Sorta not super strong.

[Sugar100]

Rn I’m cold. Studio is freezing

[Sparkie460]

If the mold comes back you need to show the landlord. They will have to get someone in there to remediate the problem.

[Sparkie460]

Do you know what the temperature is in there

[Sugar100]

I told u it says set temp 71. I don’t have the heater on rn. I’m cold hiding under my blanket

[Sparkie460]

Mold thrives in cold damp places. I think it's going to come back. You're doing everything you can to get rid of it

[Sparkie460]

It's set for 71 but it's probably less than that.

[Sparkie460]

You should have the heat on

[Sugar100]

So what number do I set it on? I had the heater on. Today for 2 hours already. I don’t want put heater on again as owner will
Have super high bill

[Sparkie460]

She can not stop you from having heat on. It's cold out. You need heat. If it's too cold your water pipes will freeze and break

[Sparkie460]

You should be able to keep it on 70

[Sugar100]

But u said y it’s cold if temp is set to 71?

[Sparkie460]

It's set for 71 but you have it turned off. You have to set it to auto so it will turn on by itself

[Sugar100]

Ong the clothes inside my drawers feel super cold n damp 😞 I don't know what to do. It’s super cold here. I don't know wen it’ll be hot outside again.

[Sugar100]

First u said put it on heat now ur saying put it on auto? there’s another corner that says fan and auto but it’s on fan. I don't know how to change it to fan. But the other side of the screen says mode, I press mode and u can put dry heat cool or auto or fan. U said put it on heat

[Sparkie460]

However you turned the heat on earlier for 2 hours, do it again. You need to talk to your landlord tomorrow. Tell her about the mold and dampness and ask her to show you how to operate the remote for the heat.

[Sugar100]

Now my hamper where I store my blankets has mold!!! Everything has mold in tired!!!😞😞😞

[Sugar100]

Soon all my clothes hung up will have mold!!! 😞 I’m scared about my shoes. They will be covered in mold any day now

[Sugar100]

I want to cry 😞😞 more n more things r getting mold in the closet!

[Sugar100]

So I read online my heater and thingy can kinda be used as dehumidifier, I have to set it on dry mode.

[Sparkie460]

Document everything that you lose and buy to try to fix the problem. Talk to your landlord today and the mold problem. You should not have to live in those conditions. They have to do something to fix it.

[Sugar100]

I have a dehumidifier in my ac heater system. I will use that few days n see what happens. If I see more mold then I’ll tell my landlord.

[Sparkie460]

You will have to run the dehumidifier constantly to get rid of the moisture that is causing the mold

[Sugar100]

How long how many hours? Why is the air coming out cold , is that normal with. A dehumidifier?

[Sparkie460]

You should run it 8 to 10 hours a day. All the dehumidifiers I've had blew out warm air

[Andres77]

There might be a leaking pipe behind the wall.

[Sugar100]

The owner had a leak under her house but supposivly it’s fixed 2 wks ago?

[Andres77]

There might have been moisture that got in the walls. Leave the door open if you can and put a fan in the closet, on low for a few days. That will help move the air and draw out some of the moisture stuck in an enclosed space.

[Sugar100]

I have a ceiling fan in the living room, I can’t just use that? My studio is small so the walk in closet is in a separate room but close to the living room.

[Sugar100]

How long do I leave door open? I can’t. Leave it open all day as I go to work 5pm to 2-3am. Then sometimes owners dogs r outside & I have to close the door or her family or handyman r outside so they will see me if I leave the sliding glass door open.

[Sugar100]

My ceiling fan spins very fast or slow.

[Andres77]

I meant the closet door.

[Sugar100]

Can I put paper towels inside that plastic drawer? I have no newspaper. I have to shove clothes as I need it all to fit inside. All people shove drawers with clothes it’s normal

[Sugar100]

I always have the closet door open

[Sugar100]

So I read online my heater and thingy can kinda be used as dehumidifier, I have to set it on dry mode

[annabananna]

I would get a professional to come in and look.

[Sugar100]

I will tell my landlord then. But I cleaned e trying with bleach so if u enter my home u won’t see any mold anymore. It’s sweaky clean.

[annabananna]

Good hopefully you were able to get it out.

[Sugar100]

I need still tell her tho right? Even though I cleaned most of it? I’m worried as it is appearing on everything and most stuff I’m throwing in trash. Kinda scared even tho my sfudio is sweaky clean now.

[annabananna]

Personally I would tell her. Mold isn’t something I take lightly.