What can I put in a fitted wardrobe to stop damp?
Put holes in it. Ventilation. Top and bottom to allow air flow. You can get small plastic grills to cover them if they are too conspicuous. You could adjust the doors so there was a small gap top and bottom or up the middle. However, the damp in the wardrobe may indicate a more general problem. It may be in the walls, as mentioned above, or it may be that the room is generally poorly ventilated – if on an outside wall, damp will condense in the relatively cool wardrobe. This might be helped by ventilating the wardrobe or you may need to ventilate the room generally.
If the back of your wardrobe is on an outside wall and there is no heating or ventilation it may be the problem. You can just leave the wardrobe doors open when the heating is on for a few hours now and then, get water absorbing granules like the ones used in caravans from Woolworths or B& Q, buy a small de humidifier and put it on for a few hours inside your wardrobe, put a panel inside your wardrobe between the wall and your shelves to insulate it. Look for any mould and wash it off to stop a musty smell, and put a few drops of lavender in your shoes or bits that are stored there to keep things smelling fresh.
Depends how damp you mean. If there is actual moisture (assuming it is a brick wall with plastered finish) you’d best deal with the source of the problem before it results in further deterioration. Hiding the problem with built-in furniture is a recipe for disaster. However, if it is merely a ‘cold wall’ (perhaps north facing?) and an electrical damp meter gives only surface readings you may find that the wardrobe lining provides sufficient insulation to protect your clothes. Bear in mind that you will be cutting off circulating air, so any affected surface will be prevented from drying out through the concealed area. If you have ‘black mould’ on the wallpaper or around the window area, you may wish to treat this with a fungicide or bleach prior to painting over with a spirit-based (as opposed to water soluble) paint. Black mould will always recur unless you improve heating and/or ventilation. Best advice? Get the ‘damp’ problem checked by a professional and have appropriate remedial m
