We are clean people. We keep things neat and organized. We clean up our messes. We don’t fill our house with clutter. So after a month of RVing, when we looked in the back of the closet and found mold, it was quite a surprise.
It can happen to anyone in an RV. It is a small space without great airflow. People breathe and this creates humidity. Humidity leads to mold.
There are a few factors to keep in mind.
* Size of your RV
* Number of people
* general humidity in the area you are staying
*amount of time you spend in your RV
These factors can all contribute to more or less humidity in your RV.
But don’t worry. There are steps you can take to reduce the likelihood of mold.
Your first defense is airflow.
*Make sure there is airflow around clothes in your closets or drawers, especially against external walls. Don’t put your clothes up against the wall in the closet, but leave a gap between them and the wall.
*Leave cupboard doors and drawers cracked open to allow the air to move.
One place that can be prone to mold is under a mattress. Your body heats up as you sleep and creates moisture that can get trapped under your mattress and create mold. I have had a problem with this in some RVs but not others. The mattress may make a difference. You can put a hypervent mesh between the wood and your mattress to allow air to flow. They were created for use in boats, but work great in RVs. When we have been in very humid areas we have lifted our mattress during the day to prevent mold.
In drawers and closets damp rid is a great product. There are many different brands and we’ve had good luck with all of them. We have used hanging bags that are disposable, plastic containers and bags, and reusable containers. The disposable ones may cost a bit more, but are much more convenient and less messy. The refillable ones have dumped over and made huge messes that are difficult to clean up because the liquid becomes very oily. These do a great job of catching the excess moisture.
And the number one thing that prevents excess humidity is a dehumidifier. When we were in a small trailer be bought a small countertop dehumidifier. It would run all day and pull about a cup of water out of the air. It was useless.
We knew we needed something better and we were so happy to get our Haier 30 pint dehumidifier. On a humid day it can pull over 2 gallons of water out of the air. It will quickly clear moisture off windows on a rainy day. And it has doubled as a clothes dryer. We have a small hanging rack that hangs above the dehumidifier and it was a lifesaver when we were trying to dry cloth diapers. The kids hang their swim clothes above it to get them dry and occasionally I find their paintings hanging up there when they want their art project to dry quickly. When we had a water leak in our outside storage, we put the dehumidifier in there overnight and it sucked out all the moisture.
I know space in an RV is limited and these dehumidifiers can be bulky and heavy. It is worth making space for. They usually come on wheels but we have nowhere to move ours to, so we took them off to make it more stable. The water canister is easy to dump and it will automatically shut off when full, it won’t overfill. The peace of mind knowing that our home is clean and free from mold and mildew is worth losing the little bit of space it takes up.
This has been one of the most necessary purchases since moving into the RV. It’s right up on the list with a sewer hose and an instant pot!
