Yes, a dehumidifier will help. Probably several of them, which seems like a lot to spend for something you'll only need for a few weeks until you fix the air conditioner.

Maybe just better ventilation will help keep the moisture down.

I'm trying to understand why mold and mildew seem to be such problems now. And it's not just you. I get problems with it in my house too in the summer (no air conditioning), though I think not to the extent you do.

When I was a kid in the 1950s and 1960s, only rich folks had air conditioning at home. The rest of us ran window fans at night, closed the windows first thing in the morning, and turned on the oscillating fans in the rooms. When it got really hot and sticky, we went to the beach, or sat in a kiddie pool, or saw a movie at an air conditioned theater. :)

Thing is, I don't recall any particularly significant problems with mold in those days. Shower curtains, sure, but other places? Not that I can remember.

What's changed? Is it that houses are built tighter now, so moisture stays inside? Are mold spores more common and/or numerous? Have we forgotten how to clean the stuff off, or don't have time? Did the constantly moving air from all those room fans keep the spores from settling? Are we just all more particular? Some combination of these?

Maybe I’ll see if any of the systems the HVAC people install already come woth dehumidifiers.

Yeah I think it is spot on..this is a relatively new house (built maybe 2000) and it is a little darker and cramped in some ways compared to others I’ve lived in...I often feel the design contributes to mold (downstairs bathroom has no windows/external walls for example).

And yeah we havent been as diligent as we should be about dusting. Lack if a lot of Natural light despite the houses “oversized” windows makes it hard to see the mold without a white toned flashlight (like from my phone).

turns out shortly after writing I discovered a major mold source/accumulation: curtains on the windows and back sliding doors. Im not sure how long the stuff has accumulated there but we have been keeping the doors and windows open since the AC has been dead.

the curtains has literally hundreds of these white “dots” or circles, almost look ok like pimples. On closer inspection you see tiny dots or hair like things, i guess thats the spores. Removed the curtains and stashed em in a garbage bag after spraying aggressively with isopropyl.

Yikes! Maybe with that gigantic amount of mold removed it will be a little less of a problem? I’m a little worried that if I had no idea about that mold, what else could be in places I havent checked? I didnt even think that was a likely spot for mold. I think i need a mold cleaning checklist.

In the meantime, clean up the mold and get fans at least running to keep air circulation going. Its a bad year for mold and mildew. I took the great grandkids carseats out of my car so I could haul a few things, and yesterday put one of them back in and the straps had mildew on it. They were outside, but, sitting under cover, and up on a chair, so not exposed to weather. Today, I am in the process of cleaning them all, and putting back in the car.

That sounds more like mildew rather than mold. Not quite the same thing. My sister got some on some clothes she stored in a unfinished basement that didn't have air circulation, since it wasn't finished they hadn't finished off the duct work there either. They also had a bit of moisture build up due to water not draining away from house so we'll, which was rectified. I suspect along with the humidity and no air circulation may have caused the mildew.

Do you have central air? Run fan it air conditioning and dehumidifiers, that would probably help.

"Maybe I’ll see if any of the systems the HVAC people install already come woth dehumidifiers."

An air conditioner dehumidifies quite well, as long as it's sized correctly for your house.

"I’m a little worried that if I had no idea about that mold, what else could be in places I havent checked?"

IMO people worry way too much about mold, thanks to all the breathless "be very afraid" stories on television and the internet. It's what they do. Fear-mongering causes "engagement," which makes advertisers happy.

Only a couple types of mold are really hazardous to people. Some folks have allergies to others, but that's more inconvenience than danger.

Wipe down the mildewy surfaces with diluted bleach. Get the air circulating. Then relax, it's not as bad as all that.