Peeling paint, bubbling wallpaper, mold behind wardrobes, and water-stained ceilings — I’ve seen all the classic signs of excess moisture in my own home.

But while window condensation is an obvious telltale sign of too much moisture inside my house, the root cause of the other issues isn’t so clear.

But before calling in a specialist, there’s a simple test you can try to determine whether the moisture is coming from inside or out.

Beyond covering your Thanksgiving turkey, aluminum foil can help with a stack of hacks around your home, including identifying which sides of your walls are holding excess moisture.

All you need to do is take a piece of aluminum foil and tape it to your wall. Within 48 hours, it should give you an indication of where the moisture is coming from.

But how does this aluminum foil hack work, and is it reliable? Michael Rubino, mold and air quality expert at HomeCleanse, explains: “Aluminum foil doesn’t allow water vapor to pass through it easily, because it’s a non-porous surface. When you tape it against a wall, you’re essentially blocking moisture from moving between that section of the wall and the air in the room.”

And he adds, “If the air inside your home is humid and the foil gets cool enough, that moisture in the air can condense into water droplets on the side facing the room.”

The same process happens when you spot condensation on the inside of your windows.

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