Tackling Moisture Issues in Puerto Rico
Along with beautiful tropical weather comes little annoyances that have to do with all of the moisture in the air. Anytime you open any food, cereal for example, it goes stale in minutes (literally sometimes!). In order to keep things edible, you have to keep them in the refrigerator: Spices, boxes of cereal, flour, sugar, etc…which makes for one annoyingly crammed full fridge!
The moisture issue also creeps into our closets and things that have been in there for more then a week or two smell funky and mildewy. I actually have mildew growing on all of the leather high heeled shoes that I don’t ever wear.
But I recently found a SOLUTION to these two little moisture/humidity problems! For the kitchen we ordered a set of OXO Pop Containers. We actually found one of these containers at the local Kmart, but they were $22 a piece! Once we tried it and found that they work great to keep the humidity out of our food, I went online and found that Macys.com (who ships to PR), had a 10 piece set for $100. These containers really do work so well at keeping our food fresh as they have a type of pop seal that uses suction to seal. We can keep cereal in the cabinet again…YAY!
Next, I tackled the mildewy closets with Space Bags. We have way too many clothes that we NEVER wear now that we live in Puerto Rico. This includes my collection of vintage fur coats, high heel shoes, Stefan’s designer suits, ties and dress clothes, snowboarding gear, etc. These items have been literally rotting in our closets. So the other day I finally busted out the Space Bags that we bought well over a year ago and I LOVE THEM! They are so incredibly perfect for Puerto Rico, or any place that has high humidity. I just ordered 10 more…haha.
Tags: humidity, mildew, moisture
January 27th, 2010 at 3:44 am
Yeah, y fridge is packed
My cabinets are unopened packages and canned goods.
Thanks for the PR order-able product information. (~;
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January 27th, 2010 at 6:22 am
A friend of mine has a machine that you put for example in your closet and turn it on in the morning and by evening is full of water. I really don’t know the name of it but I know it is expensive, about $200 or something. Anyway, your idea with the shoes is super!
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January 27th, 2010 at 6:37 am
Summer, Thank you so very much for the very Helpful
suggestions. Will do! And it’s so great that Macys
ships to Puerto Rico! In closing….. Love, Love, The
Animal Print Heels! Fab.
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January 27th, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Since we have our house close for long period of time, we use a dehumidifier, we keep it draining into the washer or the sink. It works for now, but they die and you have to replace, but you can put them on a timer.
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January 28th, 2010 at 5:44 am
Rosa I think that’s the machine I am talking about!
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January 28th, 2010 at 11:09 am
What a great piece of timely advice – two weeks before me resuming my tropical adventures, by going to the wettest, most humid part of Belize – its rainforest in its deep south.
No I won’t be taking any furs or even cashmere or wool sweaters, but since I’ll be living there only part of the year, a few months at a time, I now know how to store my belongings. Staff I left in PR – and before that – in CR (Costa Rica) for a summer spent outside the tropics – had molded during my absence and had to be replaced. Thanks again, Summer!
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January 28th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
I just pulled out our wooden guest bed to paint and found grey mold covering the wood! Yikes! This is REAL wood, not the particle board crap (we have that too). Thanks for the info on containers – I have found beetles in noodles and flour and don’t want the extra protein.
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January 29th, 2010 at 5:16 am
Hey – I checked the link and can’t tell if the containers are glass or plastic. Glass I hope?
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January 29th, 2010 at 6:02 am
fantastic idea. I’m going to see if I can find them in NJ and bring them down next week.
I’ve been using zip lock bags and plastic containers for some things but I keep most stuff in the refrigerator. We have a dehumidifier on in the house when we aren’t there, and I only have puerto rico weather clothes in my closet, but I have sandals that look a bit funky from the humidity.
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January 30th, 2010 at 5:14 am
@Katrina: They are plastic. Glass would have been great though
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January 30th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Crazy Question – last time we were down I left a pair of bright blue sandal’s outside on our deck and one disappeared. The next day I left a pair of orange patterned sandals out near our driveway for just a few minutes. I came outside and one was gone. This never happened before and it must be an animal who likes bright colors (i’ve never had my brown or black sandals missing). But it’s making me crazy.
any idea’s ?? (ps… when we come down this week I’m only bringing dark color footwear)
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January 31st, 2010 at 10:35 am
Carol – We have one, it’s called a dehumidifier. But in the tropics, you could run a dehumidifier 24/7 and there will still be humidity in cramped placed like closets. Plus we got sick of emptying the water out 3 – 4 times a day.
Minerva – Yes! I think the Space Bags will be perfect for you! I’m so tired of pulling out clean sheets for guests and they just smell so musty. I’m washing all our linens and storing them in the new Space Bags I just ordered.
Katrina – Yep, we’ve had the same problem with mildew/mold growing on everything (leather couches, wood furniture, etc). And we had the same problems with bugs getting into everything (even flour stored in tupperware). Cardboard boxes are also no good in cabinets for more then a month. We’ve had ants crawl in and build a full on nest in boxes of Jello, pasta and even hair dye. The OXO Pop Containers are made of thick plastic (much more sturdy then tupperware). Nice quality and I’m SO happy to finally be able to store stuff in the cabinets.
Linda – All of my sandals are bright colored and none have gone missing from the porch. Perhaps some stray dogs are playing with your sandals on the beach right now
…
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February 1st, 2010 at 12:30 pm
A thought — could it be that you brought too much stuff with you to PR? (I lived there for 5 years and about 45% of my heart is there). I have been thinking a lot lately about “the true cost of stuff”…
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February 1st, 2010 at 12:31 pm
oh, but thanks for reminding me about the moisture!! I need to be reminded…I live in SoCal now and actually miss the humidity…but not the cereal/crackers…I remember how even a new box could be in bad condition.
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February 1st, 2010 at 12:33 pm
And thanks so much for the space bags idea. Just yesterday I was thinking about how we were in one place in SE Asia and the “clean” towels and sheets had that awful mildew smell. In your mind, you know that technically they are clean, but your senses tell you otherwise. I was thinking about this in case we retire there…just check up on your stuff once in a while, even space bags are not full-proof (until you get a cat to chase the mice away)
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February 1st, 2010 at 6:10 pm
3CK – I actually threw away or donated 90% of my stuff before moving to PR. I only brought stuff that was not replaceable. As silly as it sounds that I brought vintage fur coats to PR, they are not replaceable and I do plan on wearing them again someday…Just not here
…). And yes, I totally know what you mean about the mildewy “clean” towels/sheets. It doesn’t bother me too much, but I hate pulling out clean linens for guests that smell funky like that. Hopefully the Space Bags will help with that problema 
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February 2nd, 2010 at 6:20 pm
Hi there, So glad to hear that Space Bag products helped you protect your shoes from the humidity in PR. I guess there are downsides to living in those tropical climates. Just wanted to let you know that if you’d like to share your story/photos on our new online community, you’ll have the chance to win free Space Bag products to use all around the house. Feel free to use the “contact us” form at http://SpaceSaversCommunity.com if you have any questions. Hope to hear from you soon. Best, Space Savers community correspondent
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February 4th, 2010 at 12:14 am
“Stefan’s designer suits”
Come on Stefan.
Throw on the Custom Suits every once and a while.
- MPM
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February 4th, 2010 at 10:10 am
So once you get mildew on leather, is it ruined forever or can it be cleaned? If so, with what? Thanks. Fran
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February 4th, 2010 at 6:40 pm
RUB VASOLIN ONTO LEATHER. THIS WILL SOFTEN THE LEATHER AND CLEAN IT AND PRESERVE IT. USE IT ON ANYTHING THAT IS
LEATHER. IT BRINGS LIFE BACK TO THE LEATHER. BABY OIL ALSO WORKS. VEE
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February 12th, 2010 at 9:08 pm
never had problem with humidity in Rincon
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February 15th, 2010 at 10:23 am
We came home yesterday, but Sunday, I was driving down the 413 near tres and saw this local woman in front of her house with another woman. They had spacebags and were shaking them out. I thought maybe they read your blog
kinda strange isn’t it?
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February 18th, 2010 at 8:24 am
Hi, I am on St. Croix and interested in the door company?
Thanks
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February 27th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
I have only been here for 2 1/2 months and some of my husbands baseball caps got mildewy already! Thanks for the advice!!
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April 12th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
The best way to deal with humidity is air conditioning. If not possible, keep things as open as possible. For example, my closet has no door, and I always keep the windows open.
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April 13th, 2010 at 3:06 am
@Lucas: Great advice. Our offices with the computers have AC going in them but the they are the only rooms with AC. Upstairs, it is all open to let the air through so AC is not an option.
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April 18th, 2010 at 9:20 am
A Foodsaver is great in areas with high humidity. It is the same concept as space bags but for food. They offer canisters, rolls of film for creating the exact size of “bag” and also a variety of ready to use bags similar to ziplock bags. I wash my so I can reuse them. I also use this to package food for the freezer as it prevents freezer burn for a much longer time than other storage methods.
Here’s the link to the official website but you can purchase the foodsaver and accessories from a number of websites.
http://www.foodsaver.com/index.aspx?promo=G8FPALL&gclid=CLvyy7jSkKECFYqF7Qod5kwoOA
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August 12th, 2011 at 2:34 pm
This is so funny to me because I’ve lived here (PR) all my life and I really don’t notice this things. Well I think I’m 2 used to it. What you need to do is to open all your windows and doors and let the air to circulate around specially those sunny days. As you may know mildew is a type of fungus they love humid and dark spots in your house. To prevent that you should let(or try to) the sun to enter to the room constant light an air kills the fungus. On some stores like Kmart or walmart they have on the laundry section a piece of cedar wood to hang on your closet that piece of wood absorb humidity and helps to prevent the bad odor and the last advise is to clean your closets and/or cabinets often as a preventive measure. I always do this and I’ve never had problems… Good Luck!!
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