van den Broeck Jeff on mon 1 oct 01
We have had a very wet rainy season. What else can you expect? But the
cooler temperature made it an ideal climate for mold growing. In the house
we try to fight or prevent the molds with dehumidifiers. The pottery is
another cup of tea.
A lot of wet things hanging around and the place is not so easy to
dehumidify. To give you an idea about he humidity in potter's terms: it
takes two to three weeks for pots I throw to stiffen up for turning. Three
or four more weeks for the bisquit firing. I'll have to build a ventilated
and heated area for drying for the next rainy season.
Some of my bats grow overnight white mildew-like cotton. After some days it
becomes a black dusty mold. Till now I washed the bats and other places
with a product that pretends to kill molds, but of course it leaves the
bats wet. They perhaps do, but don't prevent a new harvest the next week.
The rapid growth scares me a bit and the day I started a little cough in
the pottery, I was alarmed.
Perhaps I have also to mention that the molds grow by preference on my bats
made from some greenish compressed board, that is so-called waterproof. I
never experienced this anything like this before. Perhaps it took the bats
a while to get humid, because they are supposed to be 'waterproof".
Could I call for the attention and if possible the help of people who are
familiar with the fungus growth and the hygiene in the workplace. (I read
time ago that a hospital had to be closed for a period, because they had
discovered molds in the air con system blowing air in the surgery room.)
I read some months ago several messages about molds, fungus but didn't
read anything that would help solve my problem or did I miss it? Is there a
remedy that is not as bad as molds? I was thinking of burning or heating
the surfaces attacked by molds with a gas torch. The other products are
washed on or off with water, what makes the bats and shelves wet and the
cycle starts again.
Help and suggestions would be very much appreciated.
Jeff van den Broeck
P.O.Box 1099, Baguio City 2600
Philippines
jvdb@skyinet.net
Dannon Rhudy on mon 1 oct 01
.... an ideal climate for mold growing.... place is not so easy to
>dehumidify. ..>Some of my bats grow overnight white
mildew-like cotton. After some days it
>becomes a black dusty mold....
>bats wet. ....>The rapid growth scares me .
.... help of people who are
>familiar with the fungus growth.....
Jeff, do you have access to cornmeal, at a reasonable
price? There is a substance in cornmeal that kills
fungus, molds, etc. You can use what is at the grocery,
or if you have access to agricultural corn meal (a
seed/feed store) it is even cheaper. I think they are
equally effective. Look at a website called
http://www.dirtdoctor.com and see what Howard Garrett
has to say about the control of molds and fungus. It
would be interesting to see if it works on Phillipine
molds as well as here. Texas is a hot wet place too,
though not so much as there. Rainy season doesn't last
as long, humidity not so high.
Test a couple of bats by making a paste of cornmeal and
water and spreading it across the bats. You might try
sprinkling dry cornmeal on a bat, but generally cornmeal
must be wet to release whatever is in it that kills molds.
So that would depend on how wet the bats are, I expect.
Also, household bleach kills molds. But - of course in a
climate like yours the spores are everywhere, so mold control
will be ongoing, no matter what you use.
Try the dirtdoctor website - he's been doing research on
this for some years now.
regards
Dannon Rhudy
and the hygiene in the workplace. (I read
>time ago that a hospital had to be closed for a period, because they had
>discovered molds in the air con system blowing air in the surgery room.)
>I read some months ago several messages about molds, fungus but didn't
>read anything that would help solve my problem or did I miss it? Is there a
>remedy that is not as bad as molds? I was thinking of burning or heating
>the surfaces attacked by molds with a gas torch. The other products are
>washed on or off with water, what makes the bats and shelves wet and the
>cycle starts again.
>Help and suggestions would be very much appreciated.
>
>Jeff van den Broeck
>P.O.Box 1099, Baguio City 2600
>Philippines
>jvdb@skyinet.net
>
>___________________________________________________________________________
___
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
Kenneth J. Nowicki on mon 1 oct 01
Wow... I can't even imagine that kind of humidity as far as potting goes!
Here, in our mostly dry climate of Southern California... if I throw pots in
the evening, I can leave them out uncovered overnight, and by midmorning or
afternoon they are ready for trimming. Guess I should count my lucky stars,
eh?
..............................................................................
................................
In a message dated 10/01/01. Jeff van den Broeck from the Philippines wrote:
> We have had a very wet rainy season. What else can you expect?
<>
> To give you an idea about he humidity in potter's terms: it
> takes two to three weeks for pots I throw to stiffen up for turning.
..............................................................................
................................
Ken
in Encino, CA (soon to be Long Island, NY)
Can't help but wonder what the humidity and drying times will be like once I
get my studio up and running in Long Island. Wife told me it was unseasonably
cold there this last weekend. She joined our friends and their children and
drove out to the farms on the East end of the island for a chilly day of hay
rides, picking bushels of apples, and buying fresh baked pies. (made me kind
of jealous) Meanwhile, I was here in 106 degree sweltering heat with a very
humid system pushing up from Baja into Southern California and Arizona. Too
hot to go out to the garage and throw any pots... maybe I'll try to get to
the wheel tonight after I've got the children to sleep.
Rose Pinkul on mon 1 oct 01
Hi Jeff
I had a chat with US Gypsum a while back about moldy molds. They said get a
spray bottle and fill it with a half and half solution of water and bleach. Spray
it on the molds. Worked for me.
Rose in the foothills of the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains where
my dawg Daisy sleeps at my feet after a long hard day of being reeeally bad.
--
Rose Pinkul Originals
Beautifully sculpted dolls
Quality plaster molds
Website http://www.pinkul.com
Phone 828-652-7430
Fax 828-652-2171
John & Susan Balentine on tue 2 oct 01
Boy Jeff this sure sounds like a major mold problem. My studio is in the basement
of my house and I deal with some mold. I run a dehumidifier all summer. And I run
several fans depending on how the weather is. Circulation really helps but of
course you have to be careful it is not warping your pots. I use something called
Mean Green Mildew Remover. Can get it in any grocery store here in North
Carolina. How about some heat to dry that studio out! We use a wood stove in
the winter and I never see any mold then. Hope this helps--Susan
van den Broeck Jeff wrote:
> We have had a very wet rainy season. What else can you expect? But the
> cooler temperature made it an ideal climate for mold growing. In the house
> we try to fight or prevent the molds with dehumidifiers. The pottery is
> another cup of tea.
> A lot of wet things hanging around and the place is not so easy to
> dehumidify. To give you an idea about he humidity in potter's terms: it
> takes two to three weeks for pots I throw to stiffen up for turning. Three
> or four more weeks for the bisquit firing. I'll have to build a ventilated
> and heated area for drying for the next rainy season.
> Some of my bats grow overnight white mildew-like cotton. After some days it
> becomes a black dusty mold. Till now I washed the bats and other places
> with a product that pretends to kill molds, but of course it leaves the
> bats wet. They perhaps do, but don't prevent a new harvest the next week.
> The rapid growth scares me a bit and the day I started a little cough in
> the pottery, I was alarmed.
> Perhaps I have also to mention that the molds grow by preference on my bats
> made from some greenish compressed board, that is so-called waterproof. I
> never experienced this anything like this before. Perhaps it took the bats
> a while to get humid, because they are supposed to be 'waterproof".
> Could I call for the attention and if possible the help of people who are
> familiar with the fungus growth and the hygiene in the workplace. (I read
> time ago that a hospital had to be closed for a period, because they had
> discovered molds in the air con system blowing air in the surgery room.)
> I read some months ago several messages about molds, fungus but didn't
> read anything that would help solve my problem or did I miss it? Is there a
> remedy that is not as bad as molds? I was thinking of burning or heating
> the surfaces attacked by molds with a gas torch. The other products are
> washed on or off with water, what makes the bats and shelves wet and the
> cycle starts again.
> Help and suggestions would be very much appreciated.
>
> Jeff van den Broeck
> P.O.Box 1099, Baguio City 2600
> Philippines
> jvdb@skyinet.net
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
| |
|
