I have allergies to dust and mould is there any help I can get for dehumidifiers?

JumpingJames

I have long-term conditions and my house has mould, the housing association is bad at helping me, is there any way I can get dehumidifiers or air purifiers such as vouchers for this to help my situation? Or also to get electrical vouchers to help with the cost of them? Thank you.

newborn

Hallo, I hope things get better for you soon. If you don't mind lots of ideas, keep on reading:

Unless there is a broken gutter or a hole in the roof, walls should not be damp and mould should not be possible.

 There is no alternative to cleaning, ventilating, airing, and if need be, using anti mould paint. Mainly, just dry off any damp surfaces e.g. clean the shower then towel the surfaces dry,  as soon as  you get out of it. Use a cloth and dry condensation from the windows as soon as you notice it.

 (And figure out why it formed, because condensation suggests curtains might have been shut, and/or some other insulation solution found, even using that cheap stretch film 'secondary glazing', which will protect from heat and cold ).

Try not to have chemicals  or anything scented and not to spray anything. And, never set light to anything including candles, Never use air fresheners   White vinegar cleans most things, is very cheap, and won't give off chemical fumes. 

If you still find the air seems to be unhealthy for you, you might try not to have carpets, as with a hard floor it is easy to damp- mop the dust away each morning. (For the sake of insulation, for heat and sound, an old carpet could be left in place, then covered with hardboard  which is cheap, then with lino or whatever smooth surface flooring you can get). 

Having air too dry can be as bad as having it too wet, so maybe you don't need a dehumidifier? If you really  do, maybe get a second hand one, and don't run it too often? 

Investigate the word 'offgassing' as it may help you avoid things which are invisibly harming you. 

 If you know the air you breathe is clean, but you still find you have allergic type of physical reactions, look up 'Fodmaps diet' (Kings College Hospital used to be a good site, before most g.ps or dieticians had heard of it.) 

Lots of people with multiple conditions turn out to be 'sensitive' to something they never suspect, (very often something they particularly like)  for instance some are not allergic to gluten, (so the old fashioned idea that allergy tests show everything is now known to be mistaken), and they thrive better if they avoid gluten and/ or avoid wheat.  (Garlic, honey and strawberries, of all things, are among the top offenders, but unfortunately so is cheese, even sometimes for people who can happily  take milk and yoghurt) --- 

This is anecdote not scientific evidence, but it is so curious it is worth telling: One neighbour, for no apparent reason, took it into her head to stop eating cheese, ( though she adored it). Within a fortnight, the mid-life hot flushes, which had wrecked her sleep for years, were suddenly cured. It could have been sheer coincidence, but she still keeps away from cheese!

 Every person has a digestive system entirely different even from his identical twin. Mainly, for most people but especially for the 'not very well' ones, it is now thought best to avoid manufactured food, and to eat organic if possible. That is not as dear as people think, because if you prepare your own fresh healthy food, with virtually nothing ever thrown away or wasted, it can actually save money.  

   

Jimm_Scope

Hi @JumpingJames I've been exactly in your position but with a private landlord. It just makes you feel so... icky and unsafe in a place you should feel safe, your own home.

Has the Housing Association inspected your property after you reported it?

Shelter have a good webpage for exactly this situation, please give it a read if you have the time Damp and mould in council and housing association homes - Shelter England

Let us know what stage you are at and how you get on.

newborn

Don't know  what happened but I missed the first sentence off, and can't get into 'edit' to put it back: I just wanted to start my post with saying congratulations to you because you seem to have jumped to thinking about what you can do yourself to change things, and I'm sure you are right. People who are not very well and/or have allergies are so wise to look at this.

Some of us have bodies which are struggling in various ways, so the more we can do to give them a helping hand, and treat them well, the better it must be.

JumpingJames

newborn said:

Hallo, I hope things get better for you soon. If you don't mind lots of ideas, keep on reading:

Unless there is a broken gutter or a hole in the roof, walls should not be damp and mould should not be possible.

 There is no alternative to cleaning, ventilating, airing, and if need be, using anti mould paint. Mainly, just dry off any damp surfaces e.g. clean the shower then towel the surfaces dry,  as soon as  you get out of it. Use a cloth and dry condensation from the windows as soon as you notice it.

 (And figure out why it formed, because condensation suggests curtains might have been shut, and/or some other insulation solution found, even using that cheap stretch film 'secondary glazing', which will protect from heat and cold ).

Try not to have chemicals  or anything scented and not to spray anything. And, never set light to anything including candles, Never use air fresheners   White vinegar cleans most things, is very cheap, and won't give off chemical fumes. 

If you still find the air seems to be unhealthy for you, you might try not to have carpets, as with a hard floor it is easy to damp- mop the dust away each morning. (For the sake of insulation, for heat and sound, an old carpet could be left in place, then covered with hardboard  which is cheap, then with lino or whatever smooth surface flooring you can get). 

Having air too dry can be as bad as having it too wet, so maybe you don't need a dehumidifier? If you really  do, maybe get a second hand one, and don't run it too often? 

Investigate the word 'offgassing' as it may help you avoid things which are invisibly harming you. 

 If you know the air you breathe is clean, but you still find you have allergic type of physical reactions, look up 'Fodmaps diet' (Kings College Hospital used to be a good site, before most g.ps or dieticians had heard of it.) 

Lots of people with multiple conditions turn out to be 'sensitive' to something they never suspect, (very often something they particularly like)  for instance some are not allergic to gluten, (so the old fashioned idea that allergy tests show everything is now known to be mistaken), and they thrive better if they avoid gluten and/ or avoid wheat.  (Garlic, honey and strawberries, of all things, are among the top offenders, but unfortunately so is cheese, even sometimes for people who can happily  take milk and yoghurt) --- 

This is anecdote not scientific evidence, but it is so curious it is worth telling: One neighbour, for no apparent reason, took it into her head to stop eating cheese, ( though she adored it). Within a fortnight, the mid-life hot flushes, which had wrecked her sleep for years, were suddenly cured. It could have been sheer coincidence, but she still keeps away from cheese!

 Every person has a digestive system entirely different even from his identical twin. Mainly, for most people but especially for the 'not very well' ones, it is now thought best to avoid manufactured food, and to eat organic if possible. That is not as dear as people think, because if you prepare your own fresh healthy food, with virtually nothing ever thrown away or wasted, it can actually save money.  

   

newborn said:

Hallo, I hope things get better for you soon. If you don't mind lots of ideas, keep on reading:

Unless there is a broken gutter or a hole in the roof, walls should not be damp and mould should not be possible.

 There is no alternative to cleaning, ventilating, airing, and if need be, using anti mould paint. Mainly, just dry off any damp surfaces e.g. clean the shower then towel the surfaces dry,  as soon as  you get out of it. Use a cloth and dry condensation from the windows as soon as you notice it.

 (And figure out why it formed, because condensation suggests curtains might have been shut, and/or some other insulation solution found, even using that cheap stretch film 'secondary glazing', which will protect from heat and cold ).

Try not to have chemicals  or anything scented and not to spray anything. And, never set light to anything including candles, Never use air fresheners   White vinegar cleans most things, is very cheap, and won't give off chemical fumes. 

If you still find the air seems to be unhealthy for you, you might try not to have carpets, as with a hard floor it is easy to damp- mop the dust away each morning. (For the sake of insulation, for heat and sound, an old carpet could be left in place, then covered with hardboard  which is cheap, then with lino or whatever smooth surface flooring you can get). 

Having air too dry can be as bad as having it too wet, so maybe you don't need a dehumidifier? If you really  do, maybe get a second hand one, and don't run it too often? 

Investigate the word 'offgassing' as it may help you avoid things which are invisibly harming you. 

 If you know the air you breathe is clean, but you still find you have allergic type of physical reactions, look up 'Fodmaps diet' (Kings College Hospital used to be a good site, before most g.ps or dieticians had heard of it.) 

Lots of people with multiple conditions turn out to be 'sensitive' to something they never suspect, (very often something they particularly like)  for instance some are not allergic to gluten, (so the old fashioned idea that allergy tests show everything is now known to be mistaken), and they thrive better if they avoid gluten and/ or avoid wheat.  (Garlic, honey and strawberries, of all things, are among the top offenders, but unfortunately so is cheese, even sometimes for people who can happily  take milk and yoghurt) --- 

This is anecdote not scientific evidence, but it is so curious it is worth telling: One neighbour, for no apparent reason, took it into her head to stop eating cheese, ( though she adored it). Within a fortnight, the mid-life hot flushes, which had wrecked her sleep for years, were suddenly cured. It could have been sheer coincidence, but she still keeps away from cheese!

 Every person has a digestive system entirely different even from his identical twin. Mainly, for most people but especially for the 'not very well' ones, it is now thought best to avoid manufactured food, and to eat organic if possible. That is not as dear as people think, because if you prepare your own fresh healthy food, with virtually nothing ever thrown away or wasted, it can actually save money.  

   

Thanks for your advice, this house is 200 years old which may be a problem, the bathroom floor is now  collapsing but lucikly the association will fix this in time. Luckily, we don't have carpeted floors. We hoover a couple times a week and mop once a week, we keep the windows open when possible and dry the floor after showering. There is mould in every room, it is not as bad now because of summer but in winter it is bad, the roof had a faulty and water came through, they tried to fix this which was somewhat successful but the roofers they employed did not do a professional job and left missing tiles not lined up gutters etc. which let water through again and they need to fix this in time. The humidity inside is 60% a meter says, I am allergic to dust, mould, and other things such as dog hair so an air purifier would be ideal. These allergies were found by the NHS due top my conditions, I have antihistamines but I do not take them currently.

Offgassing never heard of I will research it. We do use chemicals to clean however and rarely light candles, about diet yes I did my own testing and it said that I am allergic to eggs and a few other food stuffs but they are really hard to avoid. 

JumpingJames

Jimm_Scope said:

Hi @JumpingJames I've been exactly in your position but with a private landlord. It just makes you feel so... icky and unsafe in a place you should feel safe, your own home.

Has the Housing Association inspected your property after you reported it?

Shelter have a good webpage for exactly this situation, please give it a read if you have the time Damp and mould in council and housing association homes - Shelter England

Let us know what stage you are at and how you get on.

Yes there is a legal case against them but it takes a long time, it is a housing association