Every homeowner wants only the best for their houses. From the roof to walls and floors, everything has to be perfect. One of the standard and most useful covering people use at home is the carpet. It makes any flooring surface more beautiful and comfortable. You can now choose from the different types of carpet materials and a variety of designs and colors to match every room in your house.
Homeowners often check sites like CarpetNurse.com for the best carpet brand and they get them installed in the bedroom, kids’ play area, home offices, stairs, and basements. However, maintaining the right carpet needs time, effort, and a lot of commitment, especailly if the carpet experiences heavy foot traffic. You can either hire a Scottsdale Arizona Carpet Cleaner to wash the rcarpetfor you or diligently clean it yourself.
Homeowners love the thought of having a clean carpet after some time. Although it sometimes is unfortunate when you notice that it smells differently even after washing. Then, you ask yourself how does this happen when the carpet has just been cleaned. Continue reading to know why.
What Makes a Carpet Smell Awful?
Why do carpets stink even after washing? Below are some of the usual reasons why you have a smelly carpet at home.
● Moisture
One of the leading causes of bad smelling carpets is moisture. You might not know it, but the back of the carpet may still be wet, hence giving a musty smell even after carpet cleaning. It also happens if an inexperienced carpet cleaner accidentally over wets your carpet and cannot suck up all the moisture from the fibers.
Mold and mildew may grow in the underlay. This, this part of the carpet is not exposed to air and light; it needs more time to dry appropriately. Damp carpets need immediate attention so as not to create more significant problems in the future. Sometimes, though, a musty smelling carpet could be a pointer to an underlying, likely more serious problem of water damage in the house. In that case, it might be the right time to call in NW Suburban Chicago Water Damage Restoration experts (or providers closer to you) for a thorough inspection and quick remediation.
● Old Carpet
Another reason for smelly rugs is an old carpet with the bottom part starting to break down. Therefore, it is essential to check your carpet’s underlay every so often to ensure that it is still in good condition.
● Low-Quality Carpet Cleaning
There are times when people tend to save on money that the quality of carpet cleaning is sacrificed. Cheaper carpet cleaning services may not have the proper equipment to extract the fibers’ leftover water, leaving your carpet still wet after cleaning. You may sometimes find some carpet cleaners using electric fans to help the drying process. There are also instances when the carpet cleaner is inexperienced, who tends to use too much detergent and does not rinse the carpet thoroughly afterward.
● Stains
A persistent carpet stain is another viable reason for that funky smell in the room. A stain that you forget to clean immediately thoroughly will get through the carpet’s fibers and will start to smell. One example is a spilled milk that you did not instantly clean. At some point, the spilled milk will turn sour and begin to stink. When this happens, you will need a professional carpet cleaning service.
● Other Reasons
Other reasons you might not know about are the following:
- Cigarette smoking since cigarette smell can quickly penetrate all kinds of fabrics, including carpets, curtains, and even underlays.
- Smoke, just like cigarette smell, can get into materials. To get rid of this unpleasant smell, you can have your carpet deep cleaned.
- Untrained pets typically make a mess on your mat. Pet urine, in particular, is a nightmare to carpet owners. If the stain is not correctly removed immediately, the smell will get stuck and making it difficult to remove.
How to Keep Your Carpet Smelling Good?
If you happen to have a smelly carpet even after cleaning, don’t worry. You can always opt to go for professionals from a nearby home improvement company who can get your carpet smelling as good as new again. Although, if you do not want to go to the experts, there are some home remedies to get rid of the stench as well. Below are some of the tips you can follow to bring back the sweet scent of your flooring.
- Open all windows to ensure the proper air circulation in the room where the wet carpet is.
- Sprinkle some baking soda on the mat and vacuum it afterward. You can open a box of baking soda and leave it open overnight to absorb the carpet’s smell.
- Combine white vinegar with equal parts of water, then apply it to the carpet using a soft brush and let the fabric air dry afterward.
- Place bowls with white vinegar and let them absorb the stench from the entire room.
- Use a dehumidifier in the room.
- Pour Borax onto the carpet and gently scrub it in with a dry brush or broom.
- Use fans to help dry up the carpet quicker. You can also rent a space heater to soak up the room’s humidity and make the drying process a lot faster.
Not to Do’s with a Carpet
Simply knowing what to do when you have a carpet at home is not enough. Being aware of not what to do is just as important as knowing what you should do. Here are some more tips on the things homeowners should avoid doing:
- Placing furniture on the carpet, especially if it still wet. Carpets need to breathe to dry up, and by putting heavy stuff on it, you are preventing fresh air from circulating.
- Stepping on the carpet while it is wet.
- Using a home vacuum to soak up the moisture from the carpet. Instead, you can try contacting a professional carpet cleaning service, or if you want to do it yourself, use a wet vacuuming model.
If you have done everything, but your carpet remains smelly, then it is time to call the professionals. Just make sure that you choose a reliable and trusted carpet cleaning service in your area. You can ask relatives and friends for recommendations or search for cleaners with a high satisfaction rating from customers. Nobody wants to end up with a bad-smelling carpet after spending a lot of money.