Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Kaypea]

Hi everyone,

Yesterday, I noticed my bedroom smelled weird. Today, I notice there's black mold all over the walls. It may be because I've been leaving wet clothes hanging there on a clotheshorse thing, I don't know.

It's so terrible.

Is there an easy, effective way to get rid of it myself, or do I have to tell the school and they'll get somebody in there to get rid of it?

See, I'm really busy this week and my house is a pigsty, so I'd almost rather not have anybody in. I mean, it's a pigsty. And now it smells poisonous.

It's tomb-like in the bedroom. I keep the door closed because I let my pet bunny run around in the rest of the house. For some reason, she only rips up the wallpaper in my bedroom.

What, if anything, can I do myself?

Where is this wet disgustingness coming from? Why was there no black on the wall when I moved in? Why didn't it smell then?

Ugh!

[aphase]

it wasn't ther when you moved in because during the winter the walls get cold, and if your place is humid, then the moisture condenses onto the walls getting your wall paper wet, thats when the black mold starts growing. It actually IS quite toxic, and can cause respiratory problems and even lead to cancer (from the spores in the air). I would remove all the affected wall paper if I were you, and try to open the window up for awhile to air it out. To prevent that from happening again you could either not dry your clothes inside the house, or get a de-humidifier.

Oh, and when you remove the wall paper, spray the wall underneath with a mold killer spray. After it all dries, you can re-wallpaper the areas if you want. Do you live in a basement apartment?

[Kaypea]

Thanks for the tips. I live on the 3rd floor of a small building. Condensation forms by my window, and I guess it caused the mold. I can't open that window, but I have the laundry room open, to air it out.

I guess I'll be sure to wipe the walls every day, because they get wet. I'll get a dehumidifyer after I fix the problem, too.

So, you don't think I can get rid of the mold and keep the paper? (I don't think it's likely, but I saw one article online that said you could).

[bassexpander]

See here:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=138958&highlight=mold

[Bailsibub]

Get yourself a dehumidifier and run it all the time. Korea is HUMID, all year long. When it's cold, it's only more noticeable because that nice-uh 100% sealed apartuh gets black mold in just a couple days. Bleach will kill it. But better yet, just starve it (keep it from getting water from the humid air).

I write this as my coworker blasts her water bottle humidifier on the desk next to me because "winter air berry dry". Nice.

[mulligc3]

I found mould growing in my wardrobe during the summer, at the back all over my jeans. I had it in the bathroom too. Vinegar is the best thing. Just wash the items in it or clean with it. Go vinegar!!

Heinz company spokesperson Michael Mullen references numerous studies to show that a straight 5 percent solution of vinegar�the kind you can buy in the supermarket�kills 99 percent of bacteria, 82 percent of mold, and 80 percent of germs (viruses).

[VanIslander]

[PeteJB]

Put the heating on and keep the window open a bit. You should avoid any condensation this way.

[crossmr]

[redaxe]

[UknowsI]

I have a problem that my bathroom is simply too cold to heat. It has 3 outer walls with no insulation and I have no heating in my bathroom. I have the window a little open to let the air out but it's simply too cold for the water to vaporize. When I shower in the morning it's still wet on the floor from the last morning's shower. fortunately the whole room is tiled except the door into my living room. But of course it starts to grow a little mold on the door. I don't think a dehumidifier will help much because the problem is that it's too cold and not because it's too humid. Even if I opened the window completely it wouldn't dry up. It's not so much mold so I could probably live with it, but if anyone has a suggestion I would be happy. It's only a stripe of mold along one of the wooden edges. If I tried to heat the room I think I would get a 100.000 won+ bill a month from that room alone.

[Faunaki]

[Triban]

[Bailsibub]

Actually, Korea doesn't experience huge swings in humidity levels over the months. They generally stay in between the high 60s to 80% range all year. Sure, many areas in the states get to the 80s in the summer, but it's uncommon for them to be close to that in the winter like it is here (most of the states are in the 40s in winter).

The dry skin red and tri experience in the winter probably comes from some serious ondol action. Like the other posters said, heat will dry out your apartment in the winter, and that can help with mold. You just don't want the humidity getting too low <30%. That's when the dry skin problems you folks are experiencing will come on. Not to mention, at levels such as this, you can actually get more allergy problems (I have bad allergies to mold, which is why I know all this stuff.) as mold spores have a greater chance of getting distributed.

Sure, you can crank up the heat and crack open a window to combat the mold. But then you get into a situation in which you're cranking up the heat more and more as the weather gets colder and colder. Of course, that's not bad as your place isn't all moldy. But then again, you're heating your place all the time....

Just to let you all know, I've had great results with the dehumidifier year round. I suffered from mold allergies that greatly affected my life for years, and they went away for good once I found out about this.

[yeti08]

Can you buy a good dehumidifier at Home Plus or Emart?