We have a mold problem. We discovered it a few weeks ago, right after the election. Ellie was spraying some spots high up on the walls in the bedroom when she saw some more near the base boards. She moved the furniture and let out a groan of, “oh no!” when she saw how much was there.

I came in to inspect and more or less just help her find it all. It covered the lower half of two walls and had crept into our closet. It was a moment of panic, and oh shit. We did the only thing we knew how to do, stripped down, donned rubber gloves and a bandanna, and then sprayed the hell out of the room. The walls were wiped down and were cleaner than they ever had been.

We lost a few things, nothing major and I expected to lose more but I think we caught it pretty early on. I panicked when I realized our wedding clothes were in the closet right by the mold. Fortunately, their garment bags kept them safe.

After the walls, we cleaned the furniture. Mold had started growing under our dressers and bed. It was dirty work and it wore me out, but we got it.

Then a week later I checked again. And it was still there. We wiped it down and hoped for the best. A week later the same thing and then I knew I needed to make some serious changes.

Last night, we pulled all the furniture out and wiped it down with bleach followed by a mixture of beeswax, mineral oil, and tea tree oil. All of which should inhibit mold growth. We’ll see how that works.

The culprit of the mold, however, started with a humidifier and a diffuser meeting old, cold, brick and concrete walls. The cold outside made the moisture condense and the warmth of the room created the perfect breeding ground for mold upon mold. With the measures we took last night along with removing the moisture from the room, we should be in good shape to keep the mold at bay, otherwise this is going to be a really, really long winter.