Mold

We bought 2 of the small, square ceramic heaters with an auto cycle and put one in each of our closets. They turned on and off automatically and produced just enough warm, circulating air to keep our clothes free of mold.

I find bleach is the only thing to actually kill mold. A bleach and water mix will work, just make sure area dries with fan or dry heat.

I removed every closet door in our house and replaced them with curtains. It has helped immensely! When we do start to see/smell mold or mildew (very rare anymore) I use a bleach/water solution. Vinegar and water also works. The ceilings are the only area we still had issues with so we washed all of our ceilings with bleach/water and have started to paint them with a mildicide paint. That seems to be taking care of that issue.

Irish spring works well in dresser drawers to combat the musty smell (don't take the paper off).
I used a pump sprayer in the bathroom with bleach water to combat mold let sit for about 30 minutes then rinse.

I haven't found the DampRid to be at all cost effective - is used up way too quickly. If you have a big problem a dehumidifier is probably the best defense.

An ozone generator works very well too.

I love Clorox. Have to use it on my deck railings on a regular basis and any other moldy surface, mostly outside, Thank goodness but do have the handyman tackle cleaning the cieling every few yrs.,if necessary.

If you want fresh smelling drawers, put a sheet of fabric softener in them however they will eventually go stale and need to be replaced.
You can put a couple in closets and other places that get stuffy being constantly closed.

You can wipe down the insides of drawers with clorox water or vinigar water. Just make sure to dry before putting clothes back in.
Keep clean windows and screens to keep a good airflow into apt./house. So dusty these days. Good Luck.

Note that Irish Spring and fabric softener sheets do not actually keep mold from growing inside your drawers and the items therein; they just cover over the smell. I keep most of my clothes hanging or on shelves rather than in drawers for this reason.

Bleach and hot water are the only things that actually kill mold spores. Lysol won't necessarily help because mold is fungal, not bacterial, and so antibacterial agents like Lysol aren't designed to destroy it.

Vinegar will kill many types of mold spores (more than 80%), but not all. In areas where bleach cannot be used, a vinegar/water solution is the best alternative.

The ceramic heaters do work to dry out excess moisture in small spaces, and as others have already noted, airflow is crucial. When it's as wet as it was a couple weeks ago, running fans 24/7 is essential to dry things out as much as possible in 85%+ humidity.

Also, if you have any leather -- shoes, bags, belts, whatever -- check and clean it now! Mold loves the stuff, almost as much as it loves damp sweaty laundry.

Oh, and Damp Rid is usually a waste because of how quickly it disappears, except in cabinets -- under the sink in the bathroom is a good spot. If you have guests visiting and your place smells funky, a course of Damp Rid can give a temporary fix, but it vanishes faster than you can say "Home Depot charges way too much for that stuff".

I have found that a small heater rod , designed for pianos, works well in cosets - my house has an electrical outlet in each closet and I didn't know why until I asked the previous owner.

http://www.kingmaker.net/mears4.htm

Dryer sheets seem to help in drawers.
Light and air seem to be the best = most days all my windows and sliding doors are wide open.

This stuff:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Mold-Armor-32-oz-Mildew-Stain-Remover-Plus-Blocker-FG523/100678523#.UjsqBsaxf1E

I use two of these for my basement room. I empty both every other day or so. The are little workhorses and definitely help!

http://www.amazon.com/Eva-Dry-EDV1100-Petite-Mini-Dehumidifier/dp/B0069ABM7A/ref=sr_1_5?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1379610228&sr=1-5&keywords=eva+dry

Thanks everyone! Lysol does say it kills mold on the can, so I am confused about that. Re: the heaters.... doesn't that make mold worse? I know high heat but I thought it preferred warm damp places. Maybe I am mis understanding. Its actually not the closet that smells it seems to be the room. My bedroom is not nearly as bad as my guest room which has no clothes in it at all. A high end wicker dresser and a bed and two night tables. I did notice the tables getting moldy. Its defiantly better today with the dryer days. We are pretty high up and usually get really great breezes, so I will leave the fans on longer and see how that goes.

Stxem - Do you close the windows when you use that? I don't want to be powering the dehumidifier to try to dehumidify the whole island lol.
I will bleach water the rooms and see if that helps too. Thanks again everyone.

I use rubbing alcohol, the strongest I can find, on our leather and wicker furniture. Also on our beds, books and closets. I put it in a spray bottle and spray everything. On the leather furniture I saturate a sponge and wipe it down until it all looks wet. It works great! When ever we are off island for more than a week I buy a 10lb bag of the cheapest rice I can find and fill up tube socks with the rice and put them all around the house especially around our electronics. The rice absorbs the moisture out of the air.

Ah -- it looks like the spray formulas of Lysol do claim to kill mold, so they must add something to the formula to make that happen. I was thinking of the liquid concentrate, which does not kill mold; it only kills viruses and bacteria. Many people don't know the difference between mold, bacteria, and viruses, and they just assume that something "antibacterial" will kill mold too. It pays to read labels.

The heaters have a dehumidifying effect to prevent moisture from building up in the first place. If the contents of your closet are already damp, you will need to dry them out first before using a heater. I have the rod-type heaters in both of my closets, which I leave open (with curtains), but I still think the heaters help.

Good luck!

http://blackmold.awardspace.com/prevent-mold.html

My windows are a wood slated design so they are never actually closed. The dehumidifiers are really small (so probably not too much wapa power being used), in an average sized bedroom and I empty them every other day. And it is definitely drier down there when they are on, versus not. So they work. Whether you close your windows or not depends on your house. My house is very open, but designed with the breeze in mind so it maintains a cooler, drier temperature than the outside in general--this probably helps the dehumidifiers be more effective.

@dougtamjj...I thought I was the only one who puts alcohol in a spray bottle. (: I spray it on everything but especially my mattress and pillows. It works as an air freshner too and will kill bacteria.
I like the rice idea!

Any suggestions for patios? We have a few spots where the water pools. I don't want to use bleach because a) my daughter, and b) it would rain down on my landlord's head.

For outdoor surfaces (e.g. patios) try some stuff called JoMax. Works as well as bleach water for removal, but leaves a coating that seems to retard the return mold build-up longer than plain bleach water. I use it regularly and it works well. It is also available at Home Depot.

Huh - I found this page on the site that Bombi posted. Good information here for newbs who have never dealt with mold like me lol.

Loks like they have all the remedies there. The smell has decreased quite a bit. I think the culprits were not the closets but the side tables I have which are cheapies, particle board covered with laminate. I am tossing the two from our room and will build two more from pallets for the guest room. My pallet coffee table was the best money I never spent!! That thing doesn't mold, wipes clean with a damp towel AND doesn't swell from drink condensation. Awesome idea.

http://blackmold.awardspace.com/kill-remove-mold.html

Looked at the site. Let me know how vinegar, baking soda, blah , blah ,blah works. I call BS.
In my experience , been around for 50 years,bleach is.the only thing that kills mold.
I hate using bleach because of the toxicity , but seriously the only thing that kills mold on any type of surface.

Another solution: move to the south side or east end 😉 (just teasing)

Not a chance! lol. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the NS 😀