A piece of furniture against an external wall acts like a blanket — the wall behind it becomes colder than the rest of the room, and that is where mould starts.
A large item of furniture pushed tight against an external wall insulates that part of the wall from the room's heat. Warm air from the radiator does not reach it, the air does not move, and the wall surface temperature behind a wardrobe is lower than in the rest of the room — often by several degrees.
Several degrees is exactly what it takes for condensation to start settling on that surface. And because the spot is hidden, the problem is only noticed when the furniture is moved — usually after a year or two.
Furniture does not create moisture. It creates a cold surface on which existing moisture settles.
That is why the problem is seasonal. In summer nothing happens behind a wardrobe — the wall is warm. During the heating season, as the outdoor temperature drops, the inner face of the wall cools, and behind furniture it cools most. Typically the patch forms in December to February but is seen in spring, during a deep clean.
The worst combination is a bed or sofa against an external wall in a bedroom. A significant amount of moisture is exhaled into the room overnight, the door is usually shut, the temperature there is lower than in the rest of the flat, and the furniture sits right against the coolest wall. All four factors work in the same direction.
Inside a wardrobe two further factors are at work. First, the wardrobe doors are almost always shut, so the air inside does not change. Second, textiles absorb and hold moisture, so the inside of a wardrobe is damper than the room.
If the wardrobe stands against an external wall, exactly the same condensation situation forms on its back panel as behind any other piece of furniture — only with textiles right next to it.
A wardrobe's back panel is usually thin chipboard or hardboard. That is precisely the material fungus grows on best: porous, organic and thin, so it absorbs moisture through its full thickness quickly. If the panel has swollen and crumbles when touched, the fungus is inside the material and the back panel is easier to replace than to save.
Fitted wardrobes are a case of their own. They often have no back panel at all — the clothes hang directly against the external wall, and there is not a centimetre between the carcass and the wall. If such a wardrobe is planned against an external wall, it needs at least a ventilation gap at the top and bottom of the carcass.
If the smell stays in clothes even after washing, it usually means the fungus was present for a long time and the substances that create the smell have got into the fabric. Ozone treatment often helps in those cases.
| Item | Can it be saved | How |
|---|---|---|
| Cotton clothing | Usually yes | Hot wash, dried completely |
| Wool / delicate fabrics | Often yes | Ozone treatment to clear the smell |
| Leather shoes and bags | Depends | Surface cleaning, drying, ozone treatment |
| Wardrobe back panel (chipboard) | Often no | If the material has swollen and crumbles, it has to be replaced |
| Mattress with fungus inside | No | Because of the porous filling, treatment is not reliable |
We assess the wall behind the furniture and the condition of the furniture itself, and measure moisture.
We tell you what can be saved and what cannot — chipboard with a swollen structure usually cannot.
We treat the wall and the affected surfaces of the furniture.
If a smell remains in the clothing or the room, we carry out an ozone treatment.
We state the gap that is needed and the airing routine.
A practical example. A three-room flat in a panel block, the bedroom's external wall, a dark patch of about 1.2 m² behind a two-metre wardrobe, the back panel swollen at the bottom. Humidity in the room is 68%, and the wall surface behind the wardrobe is noticeably cooler than beside it. Here the job is treating the wall, replacing the wardrobe's back panel and providing a gap — treating the wall and then pushing the wardrobe back just as tight would mean returning to the same point a year later.
You do not find a problem behind furniture by accident — you only find it if you deliberately look. The best moment is mid-winter, because in summer there may be nothing visible even if the situation exists.
If the wall behind the furniture is merely cool but there is no patch yet, that is the best possible moment. A gap, moving the furniture to an internal wall and reducing humidity in the room are usually all that is needed at this stage — no treatment at all.
We do not restore furniture or replace wardrobe components. If a wardrobe's back panel has swollen and is crumbling, we say so and recommend replacing it, but the replacement itself is a job for a joiner or the owner. Nor do we insulate walls — if the readings show a cold bridge in the structure, we name it and say what has to be dealt with.
We also do not treat mattresses or upholstered furniture with fungus inside the filling. Porous filling cannot be treated reliably — there is no way to check whether the product has even reached what is growing in the middle of the material.
Treatment from €1.50/m², minimum from €80. If clothing or the room also needs ozone treatment because of the smell, we include that in the quote after the inspection.
You need enough of a gap for air to move behind the furniture — a few centimetres already changes the situation significantly. The colder the wall, the more the gap matters.
If only the surface is affected and the material is sound, usually yes. If the chipboard has swollen and crumbles, the fungus is inside the material and the wardrobe is better replaced.
Ozone treatment usually helps in these cases, because it acts on the smell molecules in the fabric rather than just washing the surface.
Describe the situation — we will tell you whether treatment is needed at all, and which one.
Fill in the form — we will call you on the number you provide, ask a few clarifying questions and propose a solution.
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