Black Mould
Jul 30th 2019, 8:33 pm
#16
MODERATOR
Joined: Apr 2008
Location: Province of Vicenza
Posts: 19,036
Re: Black Mould
Black wall mould is a well known, stubborn, old git in Italy.
It grows on the wall every goddamn year under the window wall in my utility / laundry room. When I moved in 20 years ago I thought it was because the windows were old, single pane, aluminium framed 1960s windows and one of them was cracked. After a couple of years I had them replaced with double glazing, brand new PVC and foam filled, silicone whatever in the gaps.
Everything was great until I went to England for Christmas and shut up the house.
I have tried every kind of Italian bleach from the mild Ace Candeggina to the more industrial. I have scrubbed the wall each Spring and used the strongest anti-muffa bought in the ironmongers and another from a professional painter and decorator and I have repainted with every type of anti-mould paint.
I have even chipped away the old layer of ancient and nasty plaster and replaced it with fresh "malta" ...... plaster, and still that wall grows black mould every winter. I regularly open the windows, I don't have a tumble dryer, I don't have condensation running down the windows, but that wall just keeps producing mould. I tell myself it's only the laundry room.
An Italian friend of mine has mould growing in her bathroom. She's quite fussy and almost OCD about cleaning and airing her house, but she seems to have just accepted the fact that her bathroom has 3 outside walls and grows mould as if it's quite normal. Every Spring she pays the professionals to scrub and clean the ceiling over her box shower and every Spring they spend two whole days in there with masks on.......... and she knows it will eventually start to creep back. It's amazing how she can be so afraid of getting a draft on her neck (cervicale), avoids ice cold drinks (indigestion), never walks barefoot (a myriad of colds, flu and viruses), doesn't have air conditioning because of the dangers it brings and wears a cardigan in the supermarkets in July and August. A month ago she even told me that her back pain was kidney pain and probably because she'd eaten a few slices of melon straight from the fridge late at night and was probably suffering from a renal colic. Last year she had liver pain, probably caused by the fact that she'd eaten a huge, fatty and fried platter of fish, a frittura mista. I just let her speak. I'm used to tales like this now and often go to bed wondering how come I don't know exactly where my liver and kidneys are and what exactly has caused my tummy ache or my diarrhoea? That's why I'm amazed. She's afraid of cold food and drinks, drafts, air con etc but seems to think that the mould is just par for the course.
It grows on the wall every goddamn year under the window wall in my utility / laundry room. When I moved in 20 years ago I thought it was because the windows were old, single pane, aluminium framed 1960s windows and one of them was cracked. After a couple of years I had them replaced with double glazing, brand new PVC and foam filled, silicone whatever in the gaps.
Everything was great until I went to England for Christmas and shut up the house.
I have tried every kind of Italian bleach from the mild Ace Candeggina to the more industrial. I have scrubbed the wall each Spring and used the strongest anti-muffa bought in the ironmongers and another from a professional painter and decorator and I have repainted with every type of anti-mould paint.
I have even chipped away the old layer of ancient and nasty plaster and replaced it with fresh "malta" ...... plaster, and still that wall grows black mould every winter. I regularly open the windows, I don't have a tumble dryer, I don't have condensation running down the windows, but that wall just keeps producing mould. I tell myself it's only the laundry room.
An Italian friend of mine has mould growing in her bathroom. She's quite fussy and almost OCD about cleaning and airing her house, but she seems to have just accepted the fact that her bathroom has 3 outside walls and grows mould as if it's quite normal. Every Spring she pays the professionals to scrub and clean the ceiling over her box shower and every Spring they spend two whole days in there with masks on.......... and she knows it will eventually start to creep back. It's amazing how she can be so afraid of getting a draft on her neck (cervicale), avoids ice cold drinks (indigestion), never walks barefoot (a myriad of colds, flu and viruses), doesn't have air conditioning because of the dangers it brings and wears a cardigan in the supermarkets in July and August. A month ago she even told me that her back pain was kidney pain and probably because she'd eaten a few slices of melon straight from the fridge late at night and was probably suffering from a renal colic. Last year she had liver pain, probably caused by the fact that she'd eaten a huge, fatty and fried platter of fish, a frittura mista. I just let her speak. I'm used to tales like this now and often go to bed wondering how come I don't know exactly where my liver and kidneys are and what exactly has caused my tummy ache or my diarrhoea? That's why I'm amazed. She's afraid of cold food and drinks, drafts, air con etc but seems to think that the mould is just par for the course.
Jul 30th 2019, 9:15 pm
#17
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 252
Re: Black Mould
Black wall mould is a well known, stubborn, old git in Italy.
It grows on the wall every goddamn year under the window wall in my utility / laundry room. When I moved in 20 years ago I thought it was because the windows were old, single pane, aluminium framed 1960s windows and one of them was cracked. After a couple of years I had them replaced with double glazing, brand new PVC and foam filled, silicone whatever in the gaps.
Everything was great until I went to England for Christmas and shut up the house.
I have tried every kind of Italian bleach from the mild Ace Candeggina to the more industrial. I have scrubbed the wall each Spring and used the strongest anti-muffa bought in the ironmongers and another from a professional painter and decorator and I have repainted with every type of anti-mould paint.
I have even chipped away the old layer of ancient and nasty plaster and replaced it with fresh "malta" ...... plaster, and still that wall grows black mould every winter. I regularly open the windows, I don't have a tumble dryer, I don't have condensation running down the windows, but that wall just keeps producing mould. I tell myself it's only the laundry room.
An Italian friend of mine has mould growing in her bathroom. She's quite fussy and almost OCD about cleaning and airing her house, but she seems to have just accepted the fact that her bathroom has 3 outside walls and grows mould as if it's quite normal. Every Spring she pays the professionals to scrub and clean the ceiling over her box shower and every Spring they spend two whole days in there with masks on.......... and she knows it will eventually start to creep back. It's amazing how she can be so afraid of getting a draft on her neck (cervicale), avoids ice cold drinks (indigestion), never walks barefoot (a myriad of colds, flu and viruses), doesn't have air conditioning because of the dangers it brings and wears a cardigan in the supermarkets in July and August. A month ago she even told me that her back pain was kidney pain and probably because she'd eaten a few slices of melon straight from the fridge late at night and was probably suffering from a renal colic. Last year she had liver pain, probably caused by the fact that she'd eaten a huge, fatty and fried platter of fish, a frittura mista. I just let her speak. I'm used to tales like this now and often go to bed wondering how come I don't know exactly where my liver and kidneys are and what exactly has caused my tummy ache or my diarrhoea? That's why I'm amazed. She's afraid of cold food and drinks, drafts, air con etc but seems to think that the mould is just par for the course.
It grows on the wall every goddamn year under the window wall in my utility / laundry room. When I moved in 20 years ago I thought it was because the windows were old, single pane, aluminium framed 1960s windows and one of them was cracked. After a couple of years I had them replaced with double glazing, brand new PVC and foam filled, silicone whatever in the gaps.
Everything was great until I went to England for Christmas and shut up the house.
I have tried every kind of Italian bleach from the mild Ace Candeggina to the more industrial. I have scrubbed the wall each Spring and used the strongest anti-muffa bought in the ironmongers and another from a professional painter and decorator and I have repainted with every type of anti-mould paint.
I have even chipped away the old layer of ancient and nasty plaster and replaced it with fresh "malta" ...... plaster, and still that wall grows black mould every winter. I regularly open the windows, I don't have a tumble dryer, I don't have condensation running down the windows, but that wall just keeps producing mould. I tell myself it's only the laundry room.
An Italian friend of mine has mould growing in her bathroom. She's quite fussy and almost OCD about cleaning and airing her house, but she seems to have just accepted the fact that her bathroom has 3 outside walls and grows mould as if it's quite normal. Every Spring she pays the professionals to scrub and clean the ceiling over her box shower and every Spring they spend two whole days in there with masks on.......... and she knows it will eventually start to creep back. It's amazing how she can be so afraid of getting a draft on her neck (cervicale), avoids ice cold drinks (indigestion), never walks barefoot (a myriad of colds, flu and viruses), doesn't have air conditioning because of the dangers it brings and wears a cardigan in the supermarkets in July and August. A month ago she even told me that her back pain was kidney pain and probably because she'd eaten a few slices of melon straight from the fridge late at night and was probably suffering from a renal colic. Last year she had liver pain, probably caused by the fact that she'd eaten a huge, fatty and fried platter of fish, a frittura mista. I just let her speak. I'm used to tales like this now and often go to bed wondering how come I don't know exactly where my liver and kidneys are and what exactly has caused my tummy ache or my diarrhoea? That's why I'm amazed. She's afraid of cold food and drinks, drafts, air con etc but seems to think that the mould is just par for the course.
The mould however... yep it's a problem alright and I'm pretty well convinced there's going to be a dose of it waiting for me when I get over there in September judging from what I saw in the spring..
Jul 30th 2019, 9:39 pm
#18
MODERATOR
Joined: Apr 2008
Location: Province of Vicenza
Posts: 19,036
Re: Black Mould
That reminds me of my first summer in Italy when I asked for a glass of water somewhere and I was asked if I wanted it at "temperatura ambiente". I remember working out the translation and thinking ......... it's 40 shitting degrees. Why would I want warm water? I know for a fact that I was frowned upon at bars when I bought my toddlers a fruit juice at bars and asked if they had a cold one in the fridge. COLD? Per la bambina? FREDDA? Yes, because warmed up pineapple or orange juice is ****ing disgusting. My kids are both still alive. And they ran around barefoot and never had scarves.
Last edited by Lorna at Vicenza; Jul 30th 2019 at 9:57 pm. Reason: spelling
Jul 31st 2019, 9:06 am
#19
Just Joined
Joined: Nov 2017
Location: Castiglioncello
Posts: 9
Re: Black Mould
We've had the same problem here. The things that worked for us were neat tea tree oil on porous furniture (has a strong though not unpleasant smell for a day or so after). Bleach spray left for half an hour on the walls and repainting with an anti-muffa paint. Dehumidifiers work very well at keeping the mould away, but need to be emptied of the water every day - we have two around the house and they have effectively cured the mould problem in the rooms they are in (the doors have to kept closed). I read that bleach will only treat the surface as the active ingredient (chlorine?) doesn't penetrate the wall.itself to kill the spores.
Jul 31st 2019, 10:14 am
#20
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Apr 2008
Location: essex and calabria
Posts: 423
Re: Black Mould
Obviously dehumidifiers can only be used when the house is occupied.We use ours for a couple of months when we drive back in March.Making sure furniture is not touching the walls,leaving at least a 2inch airgap.We also leave bathroom windows slightly open.Ours are tiny with mossy screens,so no security risk.All this has drastically reduced our mould problem.In the UK,one of our bedrooms has 3 outside walls and used to suffer badly.2 airbricks and polystyrene backed plasterboard on the walls cured it.Just my two pence worth,every house may have different causes,cheers,Brian.
Jul 31st 2019, 12:57 pm
#21
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 2016
Location: Ex Teramo, Abruzzo
Posts: 1,217
Re: Black Mould
We had mould every time we came back from winter/xmas in the UK – probably 2-3 months each time. It was only ever on the west facing walls/ceilings. It was not horrendously bad, but it was a lot worse until we did as Brian has said i.e. moved stuff away from the walls (including curtains). Corners were the worst spot, along with the area where they had a single wall so as to recess the radiator. We’ve know people leave on dehumidifiers when away (you can get those that have pipe outlets for the water), but to me that seems a bit drastic. Anti-muffa worked, but it is awful stuff. You need to spray and leave and if need be spray again It tells you “do NOT rub in” , because it spreads the mould. It was never present or came bach whilst we were there.
Jul 31st 2019, 4:55 pm
#22
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 213
Re: Black Mould
I'm not a rep for Solarventi! But the point about them is that they work all year round, without cost,and regardless of whether the house is unoccupied. Ours was about 120 quid I think and easy to install -just had to drill a big hole in the wall
Aug 1st 2019, 11:37 am
#26
Forum Regular
Joined: Oct 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 206
Re: Black Mould
Also try buying a denture brush. I bought one in a £1 type shop - it has a stiff brush to it and it small enough to get into small corners. Also has two different size heads on it. Great for cleaning awkward spaces especially if you need to scrub.
Aug 1st 2019, 8:02 pm
#27
Forum Regular
Joined: Oct 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 206
Re: Black Mould
I've got a book from many years ago on how to make your own products for a low cost and less toxic living and it says "Tea tree oil can kill mold." It also says that your basics for cleaning most things is white distilled vinegar, soap, baking soda to care for your house with great success.
It also says about Mould: "It should be eradicated as soon as it appears as its dangerous to your health. Dry out anything that is damp, such as basements and carpets. Fix leaks in the plumbing and roof. Wipe up spills. Remove the water source. Use a dehumidifier. " It then goes on to say about getting air to circulate (but you know that and are not there all the time.)
It also says though to use an ultraviolet lightbulb anywhere mold appears! It works particularly well in the basement. It says its called a germicidal UV light by one manufacturer and can kill up to 100 percent of the mold. It then goes on to say to cover the mold with cornstarch to remove moisture. Dust off. It says to place an open bag of lime in a damp area and the lime will absorb moisture.
Hope this helps.
It also says about Mould: "It should be eradicated as soon as it appears as its dangerous to your health. Dry out anything that is damp, such as basements and carpets. Fix leaks in the plumbing and roof. Wipe up spills. Remove the water source. Use a dehumidifier. " It then goes on to say about getting air to circulate (but you know that and are not there all the time.)
It also says though to use an ultraviolet lightbulb anywhere mold appears! It works particularly well in the basement. It says its called a germicidal UV light by one manufacturer and can kill up to 100 percent of the mold. It then goes on to say to cover the mold with cornstarch to remove moisture. Dust off. It says to place an open bag of lime in a damp area and the lime will absorb moisture.
Hope this helps.
