Can I use dehumidifier to tackle mouldy bathroom

Question

we had a new bathroom built as an extension about 20 years ago. It didn't have any wallpaper or anything on it for a while, just the exposed brown plaster. It was painted using water based paint a few years ago. Since then it has become very mouldy. The bathroom is very rarely used. I thought of buying a dehumidifier to try and dry out the bathroom and stop the mould reproducing. Is this a good idea? Would the plaster itself be in good condition or would I have to get the room re plastered? I am slightly worried about getting mould in the dehumidifier as it collects the water in a tray.

Ed Beal · Answer

I would do several things at the same time.
To stop the mold you need to take the moisture away.
So a dehumidifier will take the moisture out of the air as the air is dryer the surfaces off gas more moisture making it harder or impossible for the mold to grow.
I would also spray any surface with 3% hydrogen peroxide and water.
If you have really large areas of mound higher percentages of hydrogen peroxide can be used don’t spray above 5% and at 8% it will start bleaching everything.
I use a sponge in some cases a long nap paint roller.
Plaster is one of the surfaces I have found horrid surface mold that was killed with 5% we had planned to gut that bathroom but it cleaned up well and there were no soft spots so we sealed the surround and the house sold without having to redo the bathroom (we did add an exhaust fan).

Can I use dehumidifier to tackle mouldy bathroom

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