Mould in a child's room

Why this room in particular

Mould in a child's room is almost never a coincidence. Several conditions usually coincide in that room, each insignificant on its own, but together producing exactly the environment in which fungus grows.

• The room is kept cooler. There is a widespread belief that a child should sleep in a cool room, so the radiator is turned down or closed off entirely. A cooler room with the same humid air forms condensation faster, because surface temperatures are closer to the dew point.
• The cot or bed stands against an external wall. A bed pushed tight against the wall shields it from the room's heat and from air movement. The wall behind it is several degrees cooler than the rest of the room, and that is where the first patch appears. A wardrobe or shelving unit against an external wall does the same.
• The window stays shut at night. Entirely understandable — parents worry about draughts. But a sleeping person exhales and gives off a considerable amount of water overnight. In a small, closed room, humidity can rise very noticeably by morning, and the windows mist up at dawn.
• Laundry is dried in this very room. There is a lot of children's washing and it is done often. Every load dried gives several litres of water back into the room.
• The room is small. The smaller the volume, the faster humidity rises in it from the same source.
• Plenty of porous surfaces. Soft toys, a rug, curtains, fabric storage baskets. They absorb moisture and hold it.

The typical picture we get called out to: a patch in an external wall corner behind the cot or below the windowsill, noticed after the bed was finally moved. Why these conditions produce mould is explained in more detail on the page about the causes of mould.

Rooms with a cot deserve a separate mention. If a child sleeps in the same place against an external wall and the room door is kept shut at night, air exchange in that room during the night hours is practically zero. That is one of the most common reasons why the first patch appears right behind the head of the cot.

What to do first

If a patch has already been found, the first steps are simple and can be taken the same day, before any treatment.

1. Do not brush the patch dry. Wiping or brushing it dry lifts spores into the air and spreads them around the room and beyond, through the flat.
2. Move the bed away from the external wall. A few centimetres already changes the air movement behind it significantly. If you can, move the bed to an internal wall.
3. Move the child's sleeping place to another room for as long as the problem is unresolved. It is the simplest step and it costs nothing.
4. Stop drying laundry in this room. Move it to the bathroom with a working extract, or to another room.
5. Turn the heating up to a normal level. A cool room is not a counterweight to moisture — it is the cause of it.
6. Air short and hard — 5–10 minutes with the window wide open several times a day, including in the morning after sleep. That is not a draught, and it does not chill the walls the way a window left ajar all day does. Practical advice — in the section on ventilation.
7. Wash the affected soft items at the highest temperature the material allows, and dry them completely.

If the patch comes back — or if it is already larger than a palm, or if it is under wallpaper — the moisture source is deeper and it needs measuring.

Mould in a child's room often means the moisture problem is present throughout the flat and this room is simply the weakest point — which is why at an inspection we measure the other rooms too.

About health — honestly

On this question it is worth staying precise. We are not doctors, we do not carry out diagnosis and we make no claims about specific illnesses or preventing them.

What can be said in general terms and is widely accepted: in damp rooms and on mould-affected surfaces, spores and other particles enter the air, and some people react to them more sensitively than others. The more sensitive groups usually include small children and people with allergies and respiratory problems. That is the reason to treat a child's room as a priority rather than putting it off until spring.

Our job is to remove the fungus and its cause, so that the question of the home is taken off the table.

If you have questions about your child's health, or you associate any complaints with the state of the home, that is a conversation for a doctor — it is their competence, not ours. More general information — on the page about the health effects of mould.

How we remove it

We assess soft items separately. Soft toys that are not directly affected can usually just be washed and dried completely.

A rug or a mattress that was right against the affected wall and has absorbed moisture has to be assessed on site: in a mattress with fungus inside the filling, surface treatment is not reliable, and it is more honest to replace it than to promise the impossible. If a damp smell remains in the room, an ozone treatment can follow the main work — it acts on the smell molecules, including in fabrics and hard-to-reach places.

In a child's room we observe two further points. First, the room is always aired thoroughly after treatment, and we say clearly from what moment it can be used again. Second, we recommend planning the treatment for a day when the child can be elsewhere — it is simpler for everyone.

Prices

Inspection with moisture readings from €40. Treatment from €1.50/m², minimum order from €80. A child's room is usually a small space, so the work often falls within the minimum order. If adjoining rooms are affected too, or drying is needed, we confirm the price after the inspection. For the overall order of work, see the section on mould removal.