Is everything in your room a bit damp right now? Or maybe there's even tiny little pockets of mould forming in the bottom hand corners of your walls? Have you told your landlord and they've kind of looked the other way? Ahh, sounds familiar.
First things first; the only person who can permanently stop damp returning to your home is your landlord. Fixing the problem requires structural work and isn't exactly something you can tackle with your IKEA hammer and a couple of rugs. The trouble is though, that plenty of landlords don't really want to deal with structural work - it's expensive and timely. In the short term it'll be more fool them for not fixing it - according to B&Q it can cause 'serious damage to the structure of your house' but in the short term, you've got to live there. And your duvet's wet.
So, there are things to do to prevent damp in the meantime, or stop it from getting any worse. From insulation to fool-proof products, here's a few things you can do that will help...
Get a dehumidifier
If you're smart about it, get your landlord to get one. Explain that damp isn't a thing they want in their walls and at least by sucking the moisture out of the air, you're going some way to helping the problem from getting worse. Whacking it on for an hour or so before bed means the textiles in your room have a chance to dry. We recommend Swan's 20 Litre Low Energy Dehumidifier, which costs just 7p per hour to run and extracts up to 20 litres of water per day.
Alongside regulating humidity around the home (removing excess moisture from the air and stopping the build-up of mould and bacteria) it's also the best way to economically dry clothes quickly, which means no more waiting three days for your clothes to dry, or having to run expensive tumble dryers with an equivalent energy use of 65p per hour. Controlled by a 24-hour timer, the dehumidifier can be set to operate at convenient times – for example, after a morning shower and it's extremely quiet, so it won’t disturb you.
Check out the Swan 20 Litre Low Energy Dehumidifier here, currently on offer for £219.99
Open your window
I know, I know it's bloody cold and the last thing you want to do is sit there with a chill but damp is caused by moisture not being able to escape the room so by opening the window for a little bit, you're at least getting a pattern of circulation going.
Keep your curtains open during the day
Not always easy to remember if you're getting up in the dark and coming home in the dark but make sure you do this; especially if it's sunny. Direct sunlight through the window could help dry out your room a little.
Remove any textiles from the outer wall
Because they'll go mouldy. Many a good dress was ruined by hanging against a damp wall. Don't let this be yours.
Remove window condensation
Again, more moisture in the room = bad. Get yourself a window cleaner squeedgee thing and leave the window in your room nice and dry before you head out for the day.
Take pictures of all of this and send to your landlord regularly.
Don't dry clothes in your room
In shared houses you don't really have a lot of options but, obviously, the more moisture in your room, the worse. Move your clothes horse out into the hallway and ignore your flatmates annoyed huffs when they have to manouvre themselves past it.
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