~ mold attack! ~
as i mentioned yesterday, due to the high humidity in the past few days, our clothes and shoes start to grow mold. well, today, i found out that it’s more than just clothes and shoes. our dinner table and the chairs are moldy. the TV stands and the DVD racks are moldy. our work desk has (although only a little) mold as well. the wall near the bathroom has mold. our CarrotBot is now looking almost like a Chia Pet… i think we have to throw him away :(
the most disgusting thing is our kitchenware. they grow mold as well… chopsticks, cutting board, everything! this is crazy…
as someone who hasn’t really lived in a humid country for a long time, this is definitely a lesson for both ari and i. we have never had mold problem when we lived in the States. even in our apartment prior the move to our current house, mold was not a problem. most likely because the apartment was fully air-conditioned.
we figured, there are two causes for this mold attack. the first one is the unusual humid week. with non-stop rain for a few days, i think you can’t get any more humid than this. the second cause is the fact that we just left the home vacant for 12 days. our house is a mold paradise.
when we arrived from japan, things weren’t moldy yet. or at least, we couldn’t see it with our bare eyes. but maybe, after exposed with such humid weather for the past few days, the mold was very happy and grew faster than they usually do.
a few things that we considered to get rid of the mold are:
- clean and put the moldy stuff under the sun. it will stop the mold growing. we did clean it, but the problem is, we haven’t had sun for over 4 days… maybe 5? our laundry hasn’t dried for the past 4 days. and it doesn’t look like we’re going to get some sun anytime soon.
- get AC… that will keep the room dry. but that would cost us over 4000 dollars! yikes!
- buy the de-humidifier pellet thing. this one, we just did. the nearby grocery store has ran out of it. i guess everyone in the neighborhood is having the same problem. the home appliance store upstairs, however, still have a few left.
if you have suggestions on how to prevent or get rid of mold, please let us know… i’m afraid that my three stuffed pandas will catch some mold soon. eww.
updates on Japan Trip Entries: it’s done! we’ve uploaded the 10th day photos along with the day 10 entry that’s divided into two different entries: Beppu Jigoku and A.P.U. day 11 doesn’t have any photos, except for few shown in the day 11 entry. so, we didn’t make an album for it. yay! it’s done!
~ comment (16) ~
hi thal, i haven’t been blogging for a while and therefore i haven’t read your story of your trip to japan. i’m saving it for later when i have more time.
i have mold problem too! here in the states! i live in a 1940’s building and it has been raining a lot and almost no sun. although my problem is not as bad as yours, i’m still suffering. the mold is darker and it lives behind paintings, bed frame, bookshelves, etc. i’ve been sneezing a lot when i go to bed and i’m guessing it’s because of them! hiks…i’m thinking to move.
aw, that sucks! and i heard (from 20/20 or something) that those kind of mold could trigger bad reaction on your body… maybe that’s why you’re sneezing.
wah, kok serem gitu mbak?
di sini juga ujan terus tiap ari, tapi ga sampe kayak yg di foto di atas itu. seseram itukah tinggal di singapur? atau, karena rumah abis ditinggal pergi lama?
ga tau nih. mungkin karena waktu itu hujan gede non-stop selama lebih dari 2 hari (kayaknya kalo di indo ampe ujan 2 hari ngga brenti, blum sempet jamuran, udah keburu banjir, hehehe). jadinya humid banget, ampe semua lembab… baju di lemari aja setengah basah gitu.
Thal, itu karena selama kalian pergi ruangan tertutup terus dan kebeneran pas ujan terus, jadi subur mold nya.
Pake lap yg dikasih karbol di lap lalu dijemur kalo uda ada panas. kalo baju2 terpaksa di cuci lagi kalo uda ada panas.
sekarang uda ada panas belum?
yay! hari ini ada matahari. jadi sekarang kita lagi cuci baju dan jemur furnitures… hihihi. kalo besok masih panas, rencananya mo jemur futon.
de-humidifier would be a good solution, ya sama matahari sich, gw juga lagi cari tuh buat pascal, dia alergi udara, jadi nggak bisa terlalu lembab (sama kaya gw, alergi-an)
ach mold @#$%@@! It’s winter here and it’s been raining like crazy. humidity is high outside, but inside, since we turn the heater on all day, i got so dry that we need to also turn the humidifier on for lil ayesha. now we start to see mold on window sill, carpet, moldings, and bathroom sinks. Allergy strikes!! one way to get rid of them is to use bleach+water solution. have never tried the de-humidifier thing. but for me, what’s the point of using dehumidifier when I have the humidifier on? hehehe aah what a wonderful life! *sniffles*
whoa, you have a hyperactive humidifier. we had TWO humidifier that we used over the winter and we never had mold problem back in the States.
yeah, we’ve been washing *everything* here to get rid of those green icky thing. we use lysol, i hope that works…
Yikes! ACs cost 4.000 bucks there? Really? That is just plain nasty…
that’s what our neighbor said… maybe he didn’t research for better price before purchasing his AC units… i’m hoping we could get AC half of his price. or less :P
Wow, the ones here don’t even reach 1.000 dollars. I know Singapore’s more expensive, I just never realized it was THAT expensive, hehehehehe.