Why Does My Carpet Smell Worse After Cleaning?
There is nothing as disturbing as putting in the effort to thoroughly clean your carpets, only to later find out that they have started smelling bad. Unfortunately, this is what most homeowners experience after residential carpet cleaning – their carpets either start giving a sour, musty, or wet dog smell. As professional carpet cleaners in Vancouver, we have identified several effective solutions that could help resolve this issue. Let us take a detailed look at the post cleaning carpet odor and how you could deal with it.
Post Cleaning Carpet Odors
The Musty Odor
The musty odor you usually experience following a carpet cleaning is mainly caused by your carpet’s padding not being dried properly. When the carpet padding and backing are wet or damp, your carpet will smell a bit sour and could also enable the growth of mildew. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do about this except for being patient until your carpet completely dries off – and this could be a quite slow process as we all know.
But you can avoid the growth of mildew by applying a white vinegar and water mixture to your carpets. In addition to discouraging the mildew spread, this mixture will also absorb the underlying smells emitted by the carpet.
You could also take steps to speed up the drying process. To do so you could keep your home doors and windows open for proper ventilation, and also use a space heater if available.
The Wet Dog Odor
The wet dog stench is another issue that is quite common after a carpet cleaning and it originates from the carpet’s underpadding or backing. But the reason for this odor is not the growth of mildew.
This post cleaning carpet odor we generally experience occurs when the original stains, smudges, and dirt in our carpets have not been cleaned out properly. When these are not dealt with from the root level, the water has the ability to seep through the carpet and react with these leftover waste – thereby emitting the smells once again. The odor similar to a wet dog is especially strong when you have not thoroughly cleansed pet waste and food spills from your carpet.
It is normal for this odor to last for nearly a day or two after you complete the cleaning. If the odor is prolonging, that means you are going to experience the post cleaning carpet odor and you need to take action to speed up the drying of the carpet. However, you could also opt to use germicides or antimicrobial solutions to deal with the odor, but do note that wetting the carpet further could result in an increase of the strength in the odor. Hence, at the end of the day, your ultimate goal should be to completely dry your carpet as soon as possible.
Other Approaches To Dealing With Post Cleaning Carpet Odor
Although there is not that much you could do to completely eliminate the post cleaning carpet odor, there are several things you could do to control the odor while your carpet dries. Among them, using white vinegar to absorb the odor emitted by the carpets is one of the oldest, yet most effective tricks.
Kitty Litter is considered to be an ideal alternative for vinegar since it also acts as a deodorizer when placed in the room, similar to white vinegar. Unsurprisingly, you need to be cautious if you have cats as they may use these for excretion.
Our carpet cleaning experts also encourage homeowners to sprinkle a bit of baking soda on the carpets that are drying – which you could later remove to eliminate the odor. Similarly, Borax is another recommended solution that destroys mold and thereby helps reduce the odor emitted from freshly cleaned carpets. You could powder and scrub borax on to your carpet and leave it overnight to take effect, after which you could vacuum clean.
Other Consequential Carpet Cleaning Issues
The post cleaning carpets odor you deal with due to a major issue like water damage is not quite as simple as in other circumstances. This is owing to the fact that the odor may have resulted from an already spreading mold and mildew growth. In such scenarios, dealing only with the odor is not enough as the organic growth may even impact the health of you and your loved ones. Therefore, make it a point to hire a professional to do the cleaning for you. But if the bad stench still prolongs, you may have to consider replacing your entire carpet as a means of getting rid of the negative effects.
At the end of the day, the post cleaning carpet odor you experience after a carpet cleaning should be a result of it not have completely dried. So ensure that you maintain favorable conditions to speed up the drying. But if the odor still does not revolve, consider hiring Vancouver carpet cleaning professionals to take a look for you.