This is a weird one ladies so after exhausting all my ideas I really need yours. My husband and I were away for the holidays and his great aunt stayed in our room while we were gone ( we live with extended family to help my mther-in-law who has MS) When we came back the room looked exactly like I left it and she did not metion spilling anything and the carpet looks the same (color and fibers ect. However two days after we got home the carpet started to smell on my side of the bed. REALLY BAD!!! The worst thing was it soon got so rank you could smell it in the rest of the house. I tried sol-u-mel (my favorite cure all that usually works wonders. Febreeze, dry foam carpet cleaning, Lysol, and Nuetra air. We had a professional come in and he left a machine that would 'gas' the area with ozone and told us to call the gas company becasue it smelled like a gas leak. We did that and there was no gas leak and the floor under the bedroom is concrete (it used to be the garage almost 20 years ago.) We used the ozone machine and the smell of it drove us nuts and we had to sleep on the coach for two nights. The problem is the original smell is out of the air but still in the carpet!! And as soon as this ozone stuff wears off the original smell will probably be back in the air again. AHHHHHHHHHH!!
My back is killing me from the sofa, the smell of the ozone stuff is making me cough and the original smell was making my allergies so bad I couldn't see (my eye swelled up) We have taken everyhing we can move out of the room and there is nothing on the floor or in the corners. Any ideas would be appreciated we are at the end of our rope and since it keeps coming back I just don't know what to do.
First of all thanks to everyone for responding. We finally did take up the carpet (new was not in the budget but we did it anyway.) And as we were taking up the old carpet we found out that the wall in the corner of the room had been leaking water (must be cracked concrete). The smell is mist likely mold related and we plan to have a professional come in and take care of it before we lay the new carpet in the mean time we are sleeping on the couch and the floor since we removed everything from our room and now the family room is full of stuff and you can barely move in the rest of the house. Pray that whoever we get in here can get here fast and get the work done! I WANT MY OWN BED!!! Thanks again ladies.
I know this is expensive, but with all the problems you have been having with no luck in getting the smell out, you may just need to take up the carpet and get rid of it.
Sorry
I would pull the carpet up and put down a new one or use throw rugs until then. There must be something in that carpet causing the smell, so i wouldnt leave it in there any longer. Get rid of it.
Maybe she had an accident that's too embarrassing to talk to you about. She may have removed the stain but the odor remains (like with cat urine). You may have to rip up the carpeting and buy new. At least that way you can clean the cement too.
Maybe you should just replace the carpet. Or ask her what happened. Good luck!
If she had an accident and cleaned up the top evidence, but it soaked into the padding and a little into the cement. Try the pet store for the skunk removal stuff it is in a white bottle with black print and a little bit of red on the label. It has no odor to it. Soak the carpet well with it. Blot it up and then rent a steam cleaner for your carpet and go over the whole carpet. Do another treament of the odor stuff and resteam clean. This took out skunk smell when my dog got sprayed and ran into our living room and rolled on the carpet. Hope this helps.
If your sure the source is eminating from the carpet, if it's in the budget, replace the carpet and padding. if you have allergies to contend with hardwood or laminate flooring would probably be best for you.
good luck
Have you tried baking soda to absorb some of the smell? Otherwise...Sounds like it may be time for new carpet!
wet the area again and this time pour a few boxes of baking soda on the spill it will absorb the moisture and the smell reapeat like 3 times it will work. anytime you have a spill or a pet accident do this, it accually absorbs trhe color of the stain up too .. leave the baking soda on each time for 2 days the last application about 5.
Honestly, I don't know what to say b/c the situation seems pretty bad...were there any animals in the room? Did you try the good old arm-n-hammer or even vinegar with it? We use to have a prob with carpets and allergies until we just got rid of them altogether and had tiles put in...is that possible for you guys?
BTW I am a homeschooling mom to a 3rd grader and wonder if you are using any particular program/curric? Pls advise. I have 4 other kids by the way. Do you attend any support groups in the area?I am kind of new to this.
Good luck!
Could it be a dead animal somewhere in a vent that goes to your room? My friends had this problem and found a dead squirrel in their vent....
DId you ask her if maybe she spilled something or had an accident so you know what to do?
First off, I am concerned about the "ozone" machine that you describe. When you talk about "running it", are you, present, in the room???? I have used an ionizer or ozone machine at several hotels (a lot of hotels have portable ones for bad smells that other people leave behind - specifically smoking in a non-smoking room). It's my understanding that you cannot or should not be present in that room during the running of the machine. The machine should be on for 2 - 4 hours, in a closed off room. After it goes off, you go in and open a window, briefly. I don't ever recall any kind of smell that the ozone machine makes. I have bad allergies so I'm a little familiar with this.
Secondly, we had a relative that lived with us for about two years. She was older and in poor health. Later, when she moved out, I had many problems of bad smells in the carpet. Sorry for the graphics but could your guest have had a "bathroom accident"? (either one can be reallllly bad!) By looking at your carpet, you would not detect that there was an accident if the clean-up job was good. Our smells (about a year later) are all gone. I had carpet professionally cleaned, used a pet enzyme cleaner many times (nothing with a deodorizer because that just masks the smell) and it eventually went away. The difference with my situation is that the under flooring is wood. You may have to pull up the carpet in that area, paint "Kilz" primer/sealer on the flooring (can be purchased at any home depot - type store) and either re-lay the carpet, get a professional to relay your carpet or buy new stuff.
Hope this helps and hopefully you won't have to get this drastic.
EDIT: I noticed that your next post mentioned a dead animal - I thought about that too. In any vent space.... also if there is a crawl space nearby - have you checked it for possible vermin??? Or is there any kind of ground sewer drain nearby or covered up? (You mentioned that it used to be a garage - just a thought.)
It maybe that whatever you have spilled and in addtion to has reacted with the chemicals in the carpet to cause all of this. I am a health concious mother who trys to use all natural cleaning supplies in the home. try using vinegar to nutralize and clean and pat dry then sprinkle with a little baking soda. I do not know how much help this would be but it seems like you will try anything now. Good Luck!
Hi J.,
You could try something like Natures Miracle (Petsmart) or Pet Stain and Oder remover (Petsmart/target). While these are labeled for pets they actually take out organic stains and odors from floors and carpets. I used it with our dog and then with our kids when they would get sick and it would get on our carpets. (ie bathroom accidents/vomit/etc.) It works well if you think she might have had some sort of personal accident on the carpet.
Good luck!
Jeniifer,
I am really surprised the sol-u-mel didn't work. In any case, you have two options. 1, mix baking soda and water spray the carpet until it is soaked and lay down a towel and walk on it until it is almost dry. The spray again and let air dry (not as wet this time.)
2. There is a product out there called kids & pets. works wonders! Wal-mart has it. You put it in a spray bottle and once again, spray the carpet until very wet, soak up with a towel and soak again and let air dry. It may take a few times of doing this, but it will work.
We had gotten a stray cat who we didn't realize was spraying the carpet in our sons room until it was too late. It took at least 4 applications, but it did finally get rid of the smell. (and it was bad, you could smell it through the whole house)
Hope this works for you. I feel your pain, I'm horrible smell sensitive.
M.
We had a similar problem in our master bedroom a few years ago and it turned out to be a dead rodent. The people who lived here before us had 2 dogs, so we originally assumed it was a "dog accident" causing the smell. However when we tore out the walls to add an addition to our house, we found the real culprit! If it is a dead animal in your case, it could be very difficult to find out where it is. Can you find an exterminator?
Hi J.,
First of all, I am so sorry you are dealing with this, odors like this are so incredibly frustrating. I am not sure of your house set up, but let me share a story that sounds incredibly similar.
We left for a weekend and we had someone house sit with our pets. When we returned there was a horrible smell which seemed to be coming from the family room. I tried everything, and it was horrid. I went to a fireplace store thinking we needed a fireplace deodorizer. When I walked in, the place smelled like my house. The manager told me they had a gas leak. I immediately went home and checked to make sure the gas in the fireplace was completely shut off. It was not! The person who stayed at our house had used the fireplace and didn't turn the key tight enough and small amounts of gas were seeping into the house. Thank God it was only a day, who knows what may have happened otherwise.
My point, is that the cleaner you hired mentioned it smelled like gas. Check your fireplace, stove, heater, etc, because that could be it. I also contacted the gas company to make sure we did not have a leak. However, he said his people would not had picked up on the fireplace thing. A little scary!
Good luck to you! I agree with the group, if all else fails,replace the carpet.
If it's definitely coming from the carpet you could try Odo-Ban from Sam's Club (you might need to get someone with a card there to help you out). That stuff works AMAZINGLY! It even gets out cat pee smell! I usually soak the carpet with a solution of Odo-Ban and water. Then you have to really go over and rinse the area or the soap will stay in the rug and attract the dirt and you'll have big dirty spots.
My cat peed all over our carpet and it went down through the carpet into the pad. I tried everything including the enzyme stuff and Odo ban is cheap and works the best.
Good luck!
