Two questions..............
1. How do you avoid it?
I've been here for almost three months now. I took a years contract on what will hopefully be a nice place in the summer, but at the moment the only way to describe it is HORRIBLE. I made what is probably the classic mistake of taking a top floor apartment in a relatively new development with north facing floor to ceiling terrace doors. That adds further misery as it's the area in which I sit all day working, but the cold is an aside really compared to my main problem. The mould grows like wildfire. Walls, ceilings, furniture. I even had it growing on a laptop bag that had been in a cupboard for less that three weeks! So is it all down to the type of property I've chosen? Some people have suggested as much. Others have said that I've been unlucky enough to get what they refer to as a "sick house" and it's as a result of the sub standard materials used in it's construction. Whatever the cause, I won't be spending another winter here and it's making me question whether I should consider living anywhere on Gozo during the winter months. So pile in. All comments and suggestions are welcome.
2. How do you remove /contain it.
There appear to be two (at least) types. One is what I refer to as the "black fluffy stuff". This seems to be easy enough to remove with a dry cloth. I was considering washing the surfaces with a bleach solution, but was advised by a former cleaner at the property that any moisture applied to the walls would almost certainly lead to it growing back at twice the speed. So every couple of days I go to war in a different room, but within a fortnight things are usually as bad as they were to begin with.
The second type is grey and usually circular. This is the real beast. It seems to become a part of whatever it grows on. And whilst the "dry cloth" approach reduces it's impact, it leaves a permanent unsightly stain. I've completely lost the battle with this on the bathroom ceiling and the only option now seems to be to get the paintbrush out. So once again, I'd be grateful to hear of your own experiences and how you won (or lost) the war against this ever present foe.