I’m in Homei Town. Since the landlord will not do anything and my boss is now acting like he’s only the translator, I’ve decided to bleach all the walls, the windows, and the closet everyday until I move out. When I say mold infection, I mean mold is covering all of my walls from the top of my room to the bottom of my room. It’s now growing on my ceiling. I’ve thrown away most of my clothes because mold just keeps growing on them. I’ve tried everything. Next step is to leave the deposit because I don’t want to die and move on. Now I know basically how my boss is as a person and I will be doing no more favors for these people. But thanks for the tread. I’m going to read it now.
I was about to throw out some clothing once, due to what looked like an absurd amount of mold. But I decided it couldn’t hurt to wash it… and it was fine. Good luck!
Removing mold and moldy smell is actually quite simple: use baking soda. Either do a soak or just add a handful to the wash and voila, sparkling clean, minty fresh clothing.
I use it to remove stronger smells like cat pee.
I think it might work even better than bleach and be less harmful for you in the future. There has been some research done on bleach and inidence of breast cancer, for example.
BTW, where is Homei Town? Taichung? Rents shouldn’t be that high. Are there other places available?
Honestly, there is not much your boss can do. As for the landlord, mold simply does not register as a problem for locals. There are unfortunately much worse things and the landlords here do not as a norm invest in maintenance. I am sorry for your situation and I understand. Is there a pipe leaking somewhere? That the landlord can and must fix. What is the cause of so much mold? Lack of ventilation? I sthis a really old place or a newish one? Are the windows sealed or can you open them? Can you run the AC and/or fans in the meantime?
Are you also dehumidifying the room via AC or dehumidifier? Things can get really out of hand if you do not dehumidify during those 200% humidity days.
Thanks for the tip. I’ll run out and buy some baking soda. Do you know if baking soda will work on the walls until I move out? Bleach sure does kill but I try to do it when I’m leaving the apartment for work. It’s true what you said. The boss and the landlord basically laughed at the other co-worker while she cried (out of frustration). When I mean laugh…they laughed in her face. Then the boss said it was Chinese culture to laugh like that…seriously while she was crying you can laugh…smh…I’m totally done with this town. It looks like they remodeled the building but there’s cracking all along the walls in hexagonal shapes. I’m pretty sure they just painted over the cracks hence the paint breakage in those areas. There is no ventilation aside from the ac with dehumidifier mode, one small window in the bathroom, and one in the sleeping area. There is no fan for ventilation. I’m pretty sure they are cheating us foreigners with the rent because when I first moved in they tried to make me pay for the electricity bill of the tenant before me. They thought I would be stupid and happily pay for it…I was only in the apartment for two weeks and they charged me 940 NT.
I just had enough of them. I’m out of here and I feel bad for any tenant who moves in because the inside of the closet is now covered up in mold at the top. I am not cleaning that one. It’s scary looking. My walls are starting to clear up and I don’t need anymore mold spores flying around. I’ve moved all my things out of the closet and am getting ready to get out of this apartment!
I also forgot to say that my boss can’t help me but he put me here. When I said I wanted to find my own apartment, he told me he had an apartment for all his teachers already. He made it sound like a dormitory but really it’s not. Also, the landlords are his friends but he keeps telling me this is his first time dealing with them. He’s translating but I can’t trust what he’s really saying. When we mentioned the mold growing all over the bottom walls of the steps he said it’s not our problem. It is when we have to walk by it everyday. It’s just frustrating being lied to left and right. I can’t trust any of these people. Even the new teacher that came! He said he was having mold problems too and he’s on the fifth floor…then all of a sudden he didn’t have any problems at all. SMH…some people though! I’m just frustrated! Sorry for the vent. There really is no help here.
Yes. When I first started seeing signs of mold, I kept the window and the fan open for air circulation. Little did I know, that was probably what spread it all over the place. I should have looked up mold before doing all that. Because I’ve never really experienced mold in the US, I had no idea what I did. Nobody warned me the humidity was going to be this high and such a problem. After I became contaminated, they decided to tell me how they all had humidity monitors in their homes. This is my first time ever in Taiwan…I think it would have been nice to know what I actually needed. They never said anything about a dehumidifier. They didn’t even tell me I had one on my ac…I accidentally found it when I pressed the change button. I’m just glad I should be out of this moldy apartment very soon. Now I will know how to prevent and protect against mold! This was a learning experience though.
I had the same exact experience as you when I first moved to Asia from the states. I frequently visited TW when I was young, but was never here for a long period of time.
Granted I was in Shenzhen, China, but still very humid over there. I went almost a year without using the air vent function in my bathroom (which was right next to my bedroom) and the bedroom wall that was on the side of the bathroom was covered in mold.
Actually, opening the window makes it worse! It’s normally more humid outside than it is inside so your humidifier or AC unit is working over time!
If I had no knowledge of this, I would have done the same. Thinking some fresh air would help with the moldly smell, but it’s the opposite!
Pro-tip, learn how to set the dehumidifying function AND timer on your AC unit in the new apt. This way on those nasty days, you can set the AC unit to run while you’re at work.
Yes to the window thing! The boss and the landlord just kept telling me to open the windows, which I did, and it spread up the wall! smh
And YES to your tip about the dehumidifying function on the AC and timer! I need to figure out how to do the timer. How long do you usually run the dehumidifier option?
Vinegar is a non-toxic way to kill many kinds of mold. Use a spray bottle. You can also soak your clothes in vinegar before washing them.
Usually nothing more than 2-3 hours. Of course, you’re away from home for 8-9 hours a day, but at least it will take some time for the humidity to settle back in after the unit has stopped.
Make sure your closet doors and drawers are closed too!
You want to look for anything with “時” on your AC or remote. That means time. If you are still having issues, take a pic of your remote and post it here.
Btw, you are keeping a copy of the lease and receipts of your rent payments to use for next year’s income tax deductions if you’ve been in Taiwan for 183 days this year, right? 
I didn’t know you could use your lease and receipts for rent as income tax deductions! Thanks for that! I actually was playing with my remote and found the timer I set it for about 2 hours today! Yay! Now I just have to move out! The mold is growing in the ceiling corner areas I can’t reach and behind the closet I can’t move to clean.
Thanks for the tips though.
You can also go buy dehumidifying products at Carrefour to put inside your closet or dressers. Like these…
https://online.carrefour.com.tw/除濕劑?parentSeName=居家清潔-2
It can get expensive when you have to continuously replace them, but they do make a difference.
For the mold on the wall, even though you are moving out, you still have to live there for the time being, right? You should think about moving some of your stuff or covering your bed/desk/dresser/closet and wiping off the mold on the wall/ceiling. You really don’t want to continue to live in a moldy environment.
Thanks for the advice. I did wipe the mold off of the everything after I let it soak in bleach. I then went over it with baking soda - soaking and wiping. It has cleared up on the walls but I cannot reach the ceiling. It’s growing in a corner of the ceiling. Well, as long as it’s not growing near me, it should be fine.
I want to thank everyone for their advice. I really appreciate it.