Everyone in Singapore wants to live in a house that smells fresh and good. Carpets are usually considered a major part of household items. They give houses beauty as well as warmth. But after a certain period of time, you may notice that your house may begin to have some mysterious smell. One of the likely sources of that bad smell could be your carpet. Carpet fibers have the ability to trap odors and make them linger in your house for a long time. If you notice that your carpet is the source of that smell, then it is important to first of all look at the possible sources of the smell.
Main Causes of Smelly Carpets
1 Excessive Moisture
This is a major cause of bad carpet smell. You are likely to observe that there are times when excess moisture gets underneath your carpet and carpet pad. This will easily lead to musty smell. One of the main sources of this moisture may be; spills, humidity or at times potted plants that may drip onto the carpeting. Flood can also not be ruled out as a source of carpet smell. This mainly happens during rainstorms when a finished basement floods. If you ignore such things and take no steps to address these issues properly, then continued exposure of your carpet to excess moisture causes growth of mold and mildew under the carpet padding. This does not only cause an increase in smell but also creates some health risk.
2 Pet Stains
Many house hold have pets such as lovely dogs and cats. They are friendly and lovable but at times they are likely to use the carpet as a restroom, as a result they may cause the carpets to smell for a long time. It is also likely that the smell will still remain even after cleaning the carpet. This is simply because of the gases that are usually released by the bacteria digesting the urine. In such a case, if any urine remains in carpet, then it is likely that the carpet will continue to smell. The same case applies in case someone vomits on the carpet.
3 Tobacco Smoke
This may come as a surprise to many but smoke is a common source of carpet smell. If you live in a house where someone smokes regularly, then it is likely that the carpet will collect the smell of the smoke. At times the people that live in the house may notice the smell but a visitor will smell it immediately they enter the house.
4 Old Age
When your carpet is old enough, do not be surprised if you start to get some bad smell coming from it. This is because carpets are made of from fibers which break down over a certain period of time. When the carpet becomes old and begins to smell, there is really little that you can do about it other than replacing it. Apart from the smell, old carpets may begin to release harmful dust, which can cause indoor allergies.
5 Food and Beverage Spills
Carpets are usually placed on the sitting room which are quite near the dinning rooms. When we take our meals, there is a probability that there may instances when food and beverages spill may occur onto carpet which may lead to bad smell. Just like the pet smells, some of these organic products may attract bacteria which break down and release smelly gasses.
How to remove smelly Carpets.
There is nothing that is stressing and makes you feel embarrassed and uncomfortable like living in a house that doesn��t smell good. When the source of the bad smell is your carpet, then you need to address the issue immediately and in an appropriate way.
Immediately after you have identified the cause of the smell, then you can employ the following tips to remove the smelly carpet.
· Begin by trying to vacuum your carpeting regularly. In the event that you may have any pets, it is important that you do daily vacuuming. Ensure that you work on a small section of the carpet once at a time and then go over every area with several overlapping strokes.
· Use entry rugs to try and trap much of the obvious dirt.
· Use you range hood and bathroom fan to vent moisture and odor as well as cleaning any filters often.
· Keep all your pets off the carpets. Make use of black light to find any pet stains which may cause bad smell.
· In the event that you spill any beverage on the carpet, clean it immediately and ensure that you remove as much moisture as you can.
· Make plans to have your carpets professionally cleaned at least twice a year.
When you know what causes you carpet to be smelly and then take appropriate steps to regularly address the causes, then you can prevent your carpet from becoming smelly.