SEAL OF APPROVAL
I tried out ways to control condensation and kill mould – a 95p buy from Tesco really impressed me
Plus the best product for removing mould according to an expert
MY home is one of many around the UK that is hit by damp and mould in the colder, winter months.
The toxic combination of freezing weather outside, warmer temperatures inside and closed windows and doors as we try to keep energy bills down is what makes condensation form.
6
Pools of water can soon lead to dangerous black mould forming.
That’s why I’ve been testing every hack, from serious chemicals to kitchen cupboard stables that fans of Mrs Hinch swear by, in a desperate attempt to control condensation and kill mould.
I asked the experts too. Most mould issues can be resolved by increasing ventilation, insulation or heating and through DIY solutions,” explains Nicholas Donnithorne, at mould and damp specialist Peter Cox.
Open your windows - especially when you’re having a shower or bath. Use an extractor fan in the kitchen, keep lids on pans whilst cooking, dry clothes outside if it’s not damp, or in a closed room with the window open otherwise.
Read more tricks
Our house has black mould forming along the window silicon if condensation builds. But it’s dangerous - black mould can cause respiratory illnesses, allergies and asthma.
So we’ve spent weeks trying different DIY ways to prevent condensation and stop mould forming - and two ways to tackle the black stuff once it’s here, too.
Some cost only pennies. Others were pricier investments, but were they worth it if they prevent the expense and hazards of black mould. Here’s how they all worked out:
A pot of salt
6
When I asked the mums at the school gate - my experts for all things home - how they dealt with condensation, I was surprised to hear how many people used a hack I already had in the kitchen: salt.
Most read in Money
I was told to put a generous dollop of salt - I went for about an adult handful worth - in a bowl and placed that bowl on the windowsill overnight.
Asda sells 750g of cooking salt for 65p, so it’s certainly cheap.
My windowsills were dripping wet from condensation every morning but a £2.99 buy got rid of it instantly
I wedged the salt behind the curtains in my bedroom and in the kitchen and TV rooms, but was too worried about my toddler trying to eat a new pot of unknown white stuff to use this method in my kids’ bedroom.
My verdict? Not brilliant.
There was slightly less condensation in the morning compared to no bowl of salt, but still enough coating that I had to get a cloth and wipe down the windows.
I won’t be bothering with the salt pots again.
SCORE: 2/5
Window hoover
6
This is a condensation-killer that you can watch work. It’s a handheld hoover that looks like a dust-buster.
Whilst it doesn’t stop water from forming, pressing the trigger on this gadget at each window every morning wipes and sucks up any water on the glass.
I found water hoovers range from £15 up to £90 for the top brand’s highest-spec window vacuum.
The difference between the cheapest and priciest was how long they run on a battery charge.
Since 40 minutes is more than enough time to dry off the average home’s windows, Aldi’s £14.99 Ambiano window vacuum cleaner will do the trick - but I couldn’t find it in my local store or online so splashed out on the £33 Karcher WV 1.
There’s a high effort involved - you have to actively wipe every pane and window sill, then empty the internal pot.
Plus, you have to charge the vacuum about once a week. But it does work well - I found the Hoover cleared all condensation very thoroughly, and the water tank was easy to empty.
The windows stayed mould-free, though it was quite the morning work-out.
SCORE: 4/5
Moisture Absorbing Device
6
I ordered Unibond’s AERO 360º Moisture Absorber because a builder pal told me it’s the only thing he has found worked for condensation.
I was sceptical, though, as I’d previously tried cheaper brands of disposable pots of absorbent crystals and found they didn’t work.
When I ordered this Unibond pot online, for £10 from Amazon, I thought it would be the size of an air freshener - so I was surprised to open the box and find it more like a small bin.
It’s not pretty, either: but did it work?
The setup was simple: you slot the salt block into place and clip the box closed - it felt safe enough to leave in my kids’ room as they couldn’t access the middle.
This product really impressed me: I could see how much the water tank had filled up overnight - about 100ml of water in one room.
There was a drastic reduction in condensation. I did need to do a quick wipe on some window panes but others were totally dry.
As a bonus, the usual morning musty smell in the bedrooms disappeared.
This doesn’t take in as much as an electric dehumidifier, but it is silent and doesn’t use electricity.
I found one salt block refill - which can be bought separately for about £2 - lasted about a month, so it’s not as cheap as some of the hacks that you already have in the kitchen cupboard, but it works effectively enough that I’m buying one for every room.
SCORE: 4/5
Shaving Foam
6
A great car hack that stops me needing to de-mist my car window screen is to smear a cloth with a dollop of shaving foam on it over the windscreen.
It creates a barrier that stops water from fogging up the glass. So I wondered if this would work on home windows to stop condensation.
All I had to do was raid my husband’s bathroom stash. He’d splashed out on Gillette but I’d buy a supermarket own-brand shaving foam if it was just to smear on windows - Tesco sells a tube for 95p.
I rubbed the foam up and down the panes of glass. The result didn’t look great - it left a slightly smeary residue - but it was surprisingly effective.
No water pools on the sill in the morning, and the hack lasted a week before I had to ‘reseal’ the windows with more foam.
Top tip: go for an odourless one unless you want your bedrooms to smell like a gang of teenage boys.
This method doesn’t take the water out of the air like the salt and dehumidifying methods, so you should still ventilate rooms as much as possible, but it works and it’s cheap.
SCORE: 4/5
Mould remover: Listerine
6
The label on my bottle of mouthwash claims to have 10 benefits in 1 - unsurprisingly, these are related to teeth.
But a friend tells me that Listerine mouthwash stops mould in its tracks.
So I pour a generous amount of a £2.40 bottle of Listerine onto a cloth to find out.
I’ve got a build-up of black mould spores along the silicon of my windows - and previously I used stinky a bleach solution to tackle it.
I find it much easier to try using Listerine - it smells nice and minty, and I don’t have to worry about it touching my skin, as with cleaning products, because clearly it’s body-safe.
Did it work? A little.
Scrubbing the Listerine onto the mouldy silicon, it did come off - although I did have to put in a LOT of elbow grease, compared to the ‘leave on and wipe off’ methods of the mould cleaning products (see below).
READ MORE SUN STORIES
After a week, though, the mould was back. I’ll stick to using mouthwash orally in the future.
SCORE: 2/5
Do mould removing products work?
Mould expert Nicholas warned me that “in cases where mould has already appeared, relying on soap and water to remove it is rarely effective in the long-term.”
He recommends looking for a "biocidal" product, like bleach, to eliminate the living spores in mould.
I tested out Elbow Grease’s Mould & Mildew Stain Remover, £6.25, Mould Magic, which was £13 for two tubes, and Dryzone Mould Remover Kit.
This one was £25 for a two-part kit: one is a bleaching agent, the other a fungicide to keep mould at bay afterwards.
The first thing to say is they all really stink. Open the windows before following their application steps. I found they did eliminate mould effectively.
Elbow Grease worked fastest. Mould Magic was easier to apply on tricky areas like silicon.
Overall the Dryzone product worked best to keep mould away long-term.
Nicholas backs this one too: “it’s one of the few fully tested products on the market - it does what it says on the bottle.”
But it was a faff to use - so I’m going to stick to tackling the causes of mould to stop it infiltrating at home.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
Plus, you can join our Facebook group to share your tips and stories
Topics