Cabinets sweating inside in winter

[thefishingal]

Greetings,
This is our first winter in the Pacific Northwest. During the winter the inside of our cabinets were sweating and we had some issues with mildew. I have no idea what to do. Anyone had that problem and know a solution?
Many thanks!

[jsmart]

LynnandCarol wrote:
Buy some Damp Rid from Walmart. WE put one in each shirt closet, closet, and cabinets. We also purchased a small dehumidifier from Lowes for about $40. No worries now!

X2 on damp rid or any other product out there that absorbs moisture. In the Northwest, you need to ventilate your RV while using it, we leave a vent fan on low while using our class A.

[LynnandCarol]

Buy some Damp Rid from Walmart. WE put one in each shirt closet, closet, and cabinets. We also purchased a small dehumidifier from Lowes for about $40. No worries now!

[thefishingal]

Sorry I should have given more info. It's a 2013 Brookstone 5th wheel. Says it's 4 seasons. We live in full time.
Thanks so much for the help

[RollandB]

Living and camping on the wet side of Oregon, while in storage I keep a dehumidifier going and containers with Damp Rid. In use is where I notice it the most and usually only in the cloths closet. We will keep he doors open a bit and make sure anything on hangers Rent up against the wall . It seems to work. Good luck!

[2gypsies1]

To start with, leave the doors open and pull things away from the outside wall. Don't pack things too tightly that there's no room for breathing.

This also includes your mattress. When we stayed in the Southeast of Pacific Northwest every morning we'd pull the mattress away from the wall about 6 inches. It stayed that way all day to air out.

Good luck.

[TXiceman]

The OP never said what type RV he has. Sounds like a typical 3 season trailer and not well insulated and they do not do a good job of ventilating the RV.

Ken

[rekoj71]

As others said we need to know if you are living in it or not.

We found that in the winter we could find most of the aluminum framework of the RV, like in the ceiling corner and where the studs were on the walls, due to them not being able to be insulated and having direct contact to the outside walls, and this is where we could see the condensation (sweating) build up. We live in ours so humidity is always a problem so anything to reduce that helps, including the above posts about the vent when cooking or showering, but also a squeegee to the shower walls afterwards, once in a while just running a vent fan when it wasn't the very coldest out, we even regularly wiped off the single paned and condensation covered windshield to remove the humidity and wringed the rag out in the sink. The windshield was colder and acted just like the inside of a dehumidifier, which also can help. Most of the moisture absorbing canisters or chemicals listed above work pretty good if it is being stored but won't work fast enough if being lived in.

As far as mold and mildew, bleach and some other bathroom cleaners have worked well for us, but be careful as bleach can ruin things so be careful what you use it on.

[Free_Range_Huma]

You didn't say whether you are living in it or storing it?

I live in the PNW and in my motorhome. I'm assuming/hoping you have at least one Fantastic Fan, or a very good overhead fan. That is your friend.

I never, ever heat water (spaghetti, tea, etc.) without first turning on the overhead fan. Works like a charm. Same with the vent in the bathroom for your shower (but I'm sure that one is obvious).

When it was just living in our driveway and I wasn't in it, I kept several of these around the inside, removing them as often as necessary and bringing them into the house to bake in the oven to dry off.

I do NOT recommend the Dri-z-Air stuff. While it works, it is messy, you WILL spill some, somewhere, and anything the water or the white crystals get on will become super-saturated and possibly ruined. (I trashed an expensive vacuum cleaner once by absent-mindedly vacuuming up a few spilled crystals and then forgetting to clean out the waste bin portion of it immediately.)

[DSDP_Don]

Often when you're in cold weather, you have a tendency to close EVERYTHING up including vents....this is part of the issue. You need to leave a window open a few inches. This will help with the condensation.

[rhagfo]

thefishingal wrote:
Greetings,
This is our first winter in the Pacific Northwest. During the winter the inside of our cabinets were sweating and we had some issues with mildew. I have no idea what to do. Anyone had that problem and know a solution?
Many thanks!

Is this in storage, in use.

If in storage, air dryers, I use the rechargeable after a bad experience with Driz-air.

If in use VENTILATION!
If cooking keep a ventilation fan going in the kitchen to draw out the moisture of cooking. Keep roof vents open a small amount, otherwise your camper will be very humid inside, and mold will follow.

[darsben]

Breathe shallow

[handye9]

The colder the weather, the more you'll have issues with condensation. You probably won't totally get rid of it, but, a few things that help are:

1. Leave a window or roof vent open, just a crack.
2. Use a dehumidifier.
3 Leave cabinet / closet doors open.
4. Move things away from exterior walls to allow air circulation.
5. Reduce coffee making and cooking

[atreis]

I leave the cabinet doors open when the trailer isn't being used.

[Dick_B]

Having no particular expertise I suspect little or none insulation on the walls where the cabinets are located which would make the cabinets `cold' creating the condensation. Sort of like the condensation on the outside of a glass of a cold drink.
Solution? Keep the doors open? Dehumidifier? pull the cabinets and improve the insulation? Install small lights inside the cabinets like under cabinet lights to warm up the space; actually some sort of heat producing resistor would do the same.
Refer to opening statement about expertise...