People online are finding out about an easy German hack to help get rid of damp and mould quickly.
The UK’s consumer champion Which? that reviews products and services for consumers has informed people of the hack via social media. It shared a reel on Instagram demonstrating German Stoßlüften technique of tackling mould which involves opening all the windows in your house for five minutes twice a day.
Stoß translates to ‘shock’ and lüften means ‘ventilation’ so the method is shock ventilation. This is a quick, easy and affordable way to tackle mould in your home.
In the Instagram reel, the Which? spokesperson demonstrating Stoßlüften said: “Have you got a damp house? Well this is what the Germans would do about it and it’s basically free.
“Some ways of conquering damp can be expensive or require a fair bit of DIY. Germans have a great habit that anyone can get into: Stoßlüften, literally shock ventilation.
“Wrap up warm, run around the house and open all your windows wide for five minutes twice a day. Yes, even in the freezing cold!”
He explained: “The warm, damp air in your home will quickly get replaced with cold, dry air. When you’re sealed back up again the temperature should quickly get back to comfortable but now the moisture in the air is banished and won’t be condensing in damp patches on your walls and windows.”
The caption reads: “This simple German hack will help you tackle damp and mould without spending a penny.” The Instagram reel has amassed 3.5 million views, 37,000 likes and nearly 1,000 comments.
One person said: “What great advice. I have a German/Dutch brother in law and a very good German friend and they always sleep with the bedroom window open.”
Another added: “The lung clinic at my chronic asthma hospital team also recommend this – get them windows open!” A third who has tried this hack commented: “Done this for years, in a council block, that has huge issues with damp and mould. Works perfectly and really is a life saver.”
Other Instagram users in the comment section said Stoßlüften has worked for them or their family members who have tried it out. A woman who lives in a cottage said: “I open my windows every day all year. I live in a very old cottage with no damp proof course. And no damp at all inside. So it works. I’ve always needed fresh air. Glad I’m doing something right.”
However, several Instagram users who live in the UK claimed this wouldn’t work for them. One said that the “air in England isn’t dry, it’s damp, especially at the minute.” Many people agreed with this.
Someone else said this isn’t true. They explained: “A lot of people in the comments seem to mistakenly believe that the cold air outside their house is as humid (or even more humid) than the warm air inside their house. This isn’t true: cold air has a much lower carrying capacity: it can’t hold as much water vapour as warm air.
“When you open your windows, the dense cold air flows into the house replacing the less dense warm air (which is driven outside). This means that you have replaced warm air with a high moisture content with cold air with a lower moisture content.
“As that cold air warms up inside your house it absorbs moisture from surfaces and materials. Doing this multiple times a day will therefore move moisture from inside your house to outside your house.”
Which? also shared a second reel in response to people who said the air in the UK is damp so opening the windows wouldn’t help them to tackle mould.
In the video the spokesperson said this is a “confusion between relative humidity and absolute humidity.” He sat in front of two glasses of water, a small one that was full and a bigger glass that had less water in it.
Touching the small glass he said: “This very full glass is like the air outside on a cold day. It’s at 95% capacity. It is holding as much water as it’s capable of holding but warm air can actually hold almost twice as much in a house compared to the cold air outside.”
