Diffusing essential oils?

Hi borderlyme,

I lived in a duplex that had mold issues for 11 freakin' years ! Not that my landlord wouldn't have taken care of it but, I certainly didn't want him digging into walls while I was living there (water leaks in the bathroom plumbing was my guess, due to water stains and orange mold growing on the ceiling of the room directly below the bathroom, which just happened to be my bedroom). And I stayed there because I couldn't afford anything more expensive. I told him about it before moving out this past March. I have no idea if he fixed the issue or just re-rented the place again without doing anything about it. My guess is he just re-rented it. As a renter, I've always considered myself to be the equivalent of "livestock" when it comes to the landlord. When the previous owner sold the place to the current landlord, I thought to myself, "....I'm just the cow that comes with the barn...."

My thoughts re: your apartment & thieves oil are.... "....it depends." It depends on how bad the mold issue is in your apartment. It depends on the source of the problem. Diffusing thieves oil will just be a "$50 / bottle band-aid" to an on-going problem if the source of the mold is not fixed. I ran a diffuser with thieves oil (as well as purification, and other oils) in my duplex on a "low" setting almost 24 hours a day for 5 months before I finally moved out (back into my parents spare bedroom, just like you). Some days the smell bothered me, some days it didn't... that's going to be dependent on your own physiology. But, I can almost guarantee that you are more sensitive to all smells and your asthma is worse due to living in a moldy environment. It took another two months being at my parents (mold-free) place before I began to notice some slight improvements in my health.

My advice would be to save your money on the thieves oil. Think about finding a sub-leaser who would take over the lease and the rent. Or.... kiss your security deposit good-bye and just get the heck out of there. That'd be my choice. Just like if you found new employment and had to move to another city... that's the nice thing about renting, you give up your security deposit and move on (unlike having to sell a house). Whatever you have to do to get out of that environment, just get out. That is priority number one.

Holy crap, are you saying that your deposit was $4k....? Or does that $4k include moving expenses. I'm not trying to pry into your business.... just thinking if you can give us a better idea of what you're talking about re: expenses, everyone here will brainstorm some possible ideas for you that maybe you hadn't considered before.

As an example from my duplex days, I was paying $600/month for rent.... and another $500/month in LLND appts / supplements. Had I moved sooner, I could've rented a MUCH nicer place for $1k/month and avoided the LLND costs, as well as feeling like crap all the time.

Crap, that stinks. I agree, security deposit plus two months rent is a scam.

Hmmm, I'm out of ideas for right now but, will continue to ponder and let you know if I come up with anything else. And hopefully, others will chime in if they come up with anything.

For the situation you're in, as it stands, it does appear that air purifiers, dehumidifiers, and thieves oil might be what you have to do for the time being.