I had new gauze curtains made for large lounge room curtains at great expence only two have developed mould . One is very bad, was actually sticking to window which was running with water . We have a heat pump and a 4lte Dehumidifier but no extractor faniin kitchen which is being updated soon . Wondered what I can do in mean time to remove mould on curtains and also got some stuff from AA that stops car windows from misting up . I live in Auckland
oh_hunnihunni,
Apr 22, 11:49am
There is a diy double glazing kit at the big hardware chains that might help, but in Auckland with our humidity it pretty much comes down to letting air circulate on a very regular basis to minimise damp interiors, and solving any leak issues that maybe causing the issue.
voyager4,
Apr 22, 12:42pm
Napisan or the pink updated one.
articferrit,
Apr 22, 4:10pm
If you mean net, or sheer, curtains you could soak them in warm water with some bleach (read the amount on the bottle) and salt, rinse, and hang in the sun, rehang them when still slightly damp so they will drape properly and not have creases.
tweake,
Apr 22, 8:00pm
no comment on cleaning the curtains. however prevention is always better than a cure.
a simple thing is to move the curtain away from the window a bit, or reduce its length so its not pleated so much (sorry if i get the terms wrong here).
next thing is to reduce moisture in the home. two main things, reduce moisture entering the home and making moisture exit the home. big factor for me was moisture coming up through the floor. a ground sheet moisture barrier on the dirt was the single biggest improvement.
removing moisture is ventilation. just opening windows, even all day long, i found not all that great. a ventilation system providing constant air flow is the best solution.
however keep in mind that single glazing in Auckland will always get some condensation. the trick is to keep it to a minor amount ie not running down the windows. and yes ventilation companies sell systems to completely remove condensation, but they work by blowing air over the windows so you loose all insulation qualities of the curtains. so you trade condensation for heating.
mazalinas,
Apr 22, 8:15pm
Try soaking the curtains in the bath with warm water and Napisan for an hour or two - do this with the windows wide open so you don't breathe in the fumes. If you have little kids about then make sure they can't enter the bathroom while the curtains are soaking. To stop the gauze curtains sticking to the window again, maybe hand sew some inconspicuous weights at the hem to keep them steady and away from the window.
blueviking,
Apr 23, 7:00am
Curtain Magic. For sale on here. Nothing else comes close to ease of use.Spray and walk away.
tegretol,
Apr 24, 10:17am
What is that called?
dottyone1,
Apr 24, 10:56am
Rain X
lovelurking,
Apr 24, 11:07am
Yes, it’s much better than soaking in Napisan etc.
sweetgurl108,
Apr 24, 11:57am
Curtain Magic. Requires the usual patch test, and repeated applications but you wouldn't believe the results. I treated one curtain with a spot around 10cm diameter, where you couldn't even see the curtain behind the mould. Took a few days, and had to keep good airflow but it worked. Good as new.
tegretol,
Apr 24, 6:00pm
Not for the inside of the windows. Rips the hell out of wiper blades as well.
andrewcg53,
Apr 24, 7:32pm
Fill a bucket with water add salt until it will no longer desolves and wet all areas with mold leave to dry in a place out of the sun when dry sweep the salt off the curtains along with the mold
evoalg,
Apr 25, 7:26pm
Another vote for curtain magic. Bought it after googling a thread in here. The mould marks fade in from of your eyes. Bought on TM
blueviking,
Apr 26, 7:43am
Also works on walls & ceilings.Spray and move it around with a soft brush to make sure the area is covered. Don't rinse after you use it, just wipe any excess off and leave.
Have used napasan on worst curtain made paist and painted on left overnight then soaked overnight then washed. All stain has gone . Willcheck after 10 weeks . If mould has returned,will consider Cur tain magic. but it is a hell of alot of stuff to buy for a couple of smallish areas to treat also a great deal of money for a large container I may never use again .
blueviking,
Apr 27, 6:52am
Just sell the remainder here on trademe. I use curtain magic as I've cleaned a lot of black mould with it. A ceiling, which the painter said to remove as you couldn't clean that black a ceiling.After cleaning, they didn't even paint it.Did a house in the waitakere ranges that had been shut up for over a yr.Mould on every wall and ceiling.Cleaned it all.Went to paint a shower ceiling that was mouldy, which the tenant said they'd tried for 3 hrs to clean it and I walked out of the room after 10mins with a clean ceiling. It will not bleach out colour. try bleach on a ceiling with nice coloured carpet below and see what happens.In my last job I used to carry it all the time and if I came across mouldy ceilings, I'd spray an area so people could see it work.And No, I don't work for the company.
whynot47,
Apr 27, 2:37pm
Dont dry clothes inside. makes inside of houze wet and damp
tweake,
Apr 27, 4:53pm
funny thing is i dry clothes inside a lot. is the house damp? no, not at all. infact the wet clothing makes very little difference to the houses humidity. btw i have no kitchen or bathroom exhaust fans.
the things i have found that makes the most difference is moisture barrier over the dirt under the house, decent heating and how much air flow comes into the house. when the ventilation system kicks on full noise the humidity in the house rises because its pumping in humid outside air.
however things are a bit different if you have 4-5 people living in the house. its a case of understanding how much moisture comes from which source.
tygertung,
Apr 27, 5:15pm
Don't use bleach on nylon. It is however safe on polyester.
dottyone1,
Apr 30, 1:52pm
how can you tell the difference ?
kitty179,
Apr 30, 1:56pm
From memory, Curtain Magic has to be used within a certain time of it being opened so yes I would agree not good for small jobs.
evoalg,
Apr 30, 3:48pm
Hmmm. thank you for posting this. I ws wondering why curtain magic smells so strongly of bleach. Looks like it just bleaches the mould away. Some water and bleach in a spray bottle would do the same it seems. I feel stupid now.
evoalg,
Apr 30, 3:49pm
mine worked after the expiry date, but still-I read another poster's article on this, looks like the magic is missing.
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