[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Afternoon lads

I did a job for a guy on Tuesday and cleaned most of his house. He rang today to say the living room carpet smel really badly foisty smell whereas everywhere else in the house id cleaned smelt fine.

Why would his living room smell bad and no where else? I asked him to feel if the carpets were still damp and he said no it was all dry.

Anyone got any clues for a cause and remedy?

Thanks in advance

john

[Ian Rochester]

Was it a 100% wool carpet?

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

I dont think so, it didnt smell of lanalin much when i was cleaning. He says its only the front room that smells and nowhere else ive cleaned so maybe underlay or something underneath the carpet perhaps??? Help

[lands]

Previous flood?

[Aquakleen Restoration Services]

Hmmm he never said anything about that but thats a thought. He is giving it till after the weekend and calling me on Monday whether its still bad or not.

Is there anything I can do to eliminate the smell for him. He is a nice bloke and id like to help him.

[edward coller]

some carpets wool particularly will smell woolier  specially if not allowed to dry with ventilation plus cat/dog wee can be reactivated by hwe  we had extreme case 2 years ago where machine was not extracting as we thought carpet got sodden hardboard sprang and smelt like a sewer.......cleaned again bags of deodoriser  dehumidifer  and no charge for the cleann......Simon

[Kev Loomes]

Could be that someone has spilt something (liquid from food i.e. cuury sauce, gravy etc or a drink), and that by wetting the carpet it has re-activated it. You cant be reponsible for their accidents and any odours from it. This is why we have in our terms that we cant be responsible for old stains re-activating and smelling!

But having said that try spraying an odour kill or similar, they should be happy with this - you could explain at the same time re 'old stains'. If your ultra determined you could heavily soak the area and use a water claw to draw most of it out of the carpet.

The only other thing I can think of is that its a wool carpet, but they normally stop smelling once they are dry  

Hope this helps

Kev

[lands]

If your gonna treat smell make sure you use a proper odour neutraliser and not an odour freshner (the latter only works while its still wet (sure you new this but just in case)

Pete

[Kev Loomes]

Odour Kill from Alltec:

'The most effective way to eliminate persistent odours such as vomit, urine, milk and food etc.  This complex blend of chemicals neutralise the bacteria that cause odours.  ...'

 

[lands]

Not heard that one Kev. Chemspec do a freshner with same hence my thread. How would you say that Alltec one measures up?

Pete

[Chris R]

Had a couple like this over the years.

Somethings been spilt on the carpet and cleanings reactivated the smell.

It will go eventually.

Putting a dehumid in the room will speed up the ( complete) drying process.

I found that treating with deoudourisers just prolonged the smell, unless you can find the exact spot thats causing the problem.

Milk is terrible, smells like sick. Pet odours also very bad.

regards

Chris

[Ken Wainwright]

It is not uncommon for a house to have some mildew/mould in corners, around edges, behind curtains, perhaps where a plant pot stood etc. etc. The increase in humidity can give these organisms a "New Lease of Life". If it's a mouldy/mildew type odour, it will subside on it's own but the source should be found and a remedy executed.  This may not be a carpet cleaners job. Almost certainly, the cleaning has not caused this problem, merely highlighted it.

Safe and happy cleaning
Ken

[Kev Loomes]

Pete

Pretty good, but Im always on the lookout for the ultimate in every branch of our cleaning armoury. Im sure there's one even better out there somewhere!

I also think Ken's explanation - if not the actual problem, is spot on.

[John Kelly]

I'm with Ken on this one. Its usually a fungal bloom caused by the carpet remaining damp for quite a few hours which at this time of the year is common due to the high humidity of the outside air.
Hessian backed carpets are more prone to this. It usually dies off once the carpet dries, however if the house has any dampness which will in itself create a humid atmosphere the mould/mildew may persist.
Also by doing something you are showing the customer that you care about their problem.
Re-clean using a combined anti bacterial, anti fungal solution and dry using an airmover with the windows open. Better still with a dehumidifier. Best if you can direct the airflow from the airmover under the carpet.

[stuart_clark]

 I had a similar problem like this last year ! an oldish couple had hired a rug docter to clean there very dirty nylon carpet, as you can imagne they diddn't pre vac at all and after running the rug doctor over it they were not too pleased with the results! so they cleaned it again and again and again realy over wetting the carpet, a couple of days later there was quite a bad stensh comming from the carpet and so they asked us if we could rectify the situation ! we prevacked thoroughly, pre sprayed with an enzyme then rinsed with chemspecs one clean and for good measure we sprayed on chemspecs Antimicrobial treatment Ultrafresh, I telephoned the custy the next day and they said the foul smelling odour had completely vanished