When the season changes and you can smell mildew in the air with your hands getting clammier than usual, you know that the uncomfortable warmth is not the only thing you have to worry about.
- room ventilation
- opening a window
- taking colder or shorter showers
- replacing furnace or AC filters
- putting plants outdoors
- line drying clothes outside
- repairing walls
- replacing rugs
- using rock salt
The best and most ideal way to reduce humidity indoors is of course with the use of a dehumidifier. But, if you don’t have this appliance or the humidity issue is pretty mild, there are several hacks that you can use for dehumidifying your house.
When the months get warmer, the last thing you want is to deal and worry about mold and damp spots.
The following methods are very easy to do and you can even use the existing equipment pieces you already have in your home.
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It All Begins with Proper Ventilation
Start by making sure that the rooms in your house are well ventilated, particularly in spots that often develop moisture such as the bathroom and the kitchen.
Open your doors and windows if possible.
You can also keep fans or vents on for a longer time to ensure adequate ventilation.
Maintaining proper ventilation in your house for several hours a day can significantly help lower indoor humidity.
Bask in Colder or Shorter Showers
Showers can produce lots of excess steam which can improve indoor humidity.
When you shower longer, you will also produce more steam.
To lessen the excess moisture, you can crack a window open or you can also leave your exhaust fan turned on a bit longer after you finished showering.
On the other hand, you can also indulge in colder showers if you can.
These can produce lesser steam and also has a lesser effect on indoor humidity.
And the best thing here is that cold showers are also great for your overall health!
Replace Your AC or Furnace Filters
Always conduct a regular cleaning of your AC and furnace filters.
Once your AC or furnace filters get clogged, these can slow down the flow of air and will no longer be effective in lowering humidity.
Line Dry Your Clothes Outside
Hanging your wet clothes inside will only increase the humidity levels in a room, specifically in rooms with rather bad ventilation.
Your best option to lower indoor humidity is to hang and let your clothes dry outside, especially during more humid months.
If this is not a feasible option like in apartments without balconies, you can opt for a clothes dryer vented outside.
Put Your Houseplants Outside
In case you don’t know it yet, plants release some moisture vapor to the air.
If you have plants indoors, you can put them outside for the meantime. Also, see to it that you don’t overwater your plants.
Open Your Window
Probably the easiest and simplest trick to lower indoor humidity is by opening a window.
You can create more flow of air by leaving your window open and letting the air dry out especially in those damp rooms like the kitchen and bathroom.
Use the Exhaust Fans in Your Kitchen
Stovetop and oven cooking can produce moisture into the air.
When you cook, try your best to cover the food for the steam to stay inside and turn up the exhaust fans in your kitchen.
Repair Your Walls
Walls with holes or cracks can also make moisture get indoors. Moist and warm outside air could get inside your home through holes and cracks during humid and warm weather.
It can then result in condensation on the materials indoors when they are much cooler compared to the outside air.
If you don’t wipe up this condensation right away, it can lead to problems such as mold, mildew, and rotting wood.
Check the external walls of your home on a regular basis to make sure that there will be no cracks then fix these properly.
Replace Your Rugs
Rugs are prone to collecting moisture, particularly when the levels of humidity are high indoors.
When you notice that your rug smells moldy or has gotten damp, send it over to your dry cleaners to have it cleaned.
Harness the Power of Rock Salt
One feasible solution for reducing indoor humidity when you don’t have a dehumidifier is to use rock salt which is a hygroscopic material.
It means that it can draw and store water molecules from the surrounding moisture and pull any excess moisture from the air in the same way a dehumidifier does.
Prepare two plastic tubs of similar size. Place an object in one tub to elevate the second one.
Drill some holes into the second tub then fill this with rock salt.
Put the second tub then followed by the first tub, in several days, you will notice some water in the tub at the bottom.
Check this tub every day and empty any water.
Zeolite rocks, calcium chloride, and silica-based kitty litter can also serve as substitutes to rock salt.
Put Your Fans to Use
Fans are great when it comes to moving stale and warm air around in a room.
Your fan can increase the flow of air in a room which will then get rid of excess moisture by evaporation.
Turn on the AC
Your room will not only cool down when you turn on the air conditioning as this can also help lower indoor humidity, specifically during humid weather.
These simple and easy tips on how to reduce humidity in a room naturally are based on several pointers: maintaining good airflow inside with proper ventilation and absorbing air moisture with the use of clever materials that can absorb moisture.
In case none of the above tips worked in reducing your home’s indoor humidity, you may have a rather serious humidity concern.
If this is the case, you can consider investing in a quality dehumidifier.