I must get the musty out!

July 27, 2007 10:22 AM

How do I get the musty smell out of a room, after the musty item has been cleared away?

My roommates love to camp. After one trip, they brought home their sleeping bags, and left them to dry under the dining room table, on a rug. Unfortunately, that was the same week we had really hot, really humid weather, and the sleeping bags became moldy instead. There's no mold anywhere else in the condo.

They have since moved the sleeping bags down to the basement (they will be washed later), but the musty smell has now permeated the whole first floor of the condo. And it's aggravating my asthma. I've tried leaving a window open for ventilation, but the condo has really horrid airflow, so it's not clearing out. I'm giving the place a thorough cleaning this weekend in case there's something I missed. If not, how can I get rid of this smell?

posted by spinifex23 to health & fitness (7 comments total)

Sounds like you need a dehumidfier.
posted by Sara Anne at 10:34 AM on July 27, 2007

Did the mold from the bags get into your carpet? Wash everywhere the bags were sitting upstairs.

there's always Febreze.
posted by JimN2TAW at 10:40 AM on July 27, 2007

You probably have thought of this already, but if you can stick a box fan in front of one of your windows, that might help the airflow. If you have storage boxes of any kind somewhere in your condo, you can build a tower of boxes to reach the level of the window.

You can put some baking soda on the stinky part of the carpet, let it sit for awhile (a couple hours), then vacuum it up.

Here's a link for getting the mildew smell out of a car.

Good luck!
posted by TheClonusHorror at 10:57 AM on July 27, 2007

You don't say where the rug is now. Is this a throw or wall to wall?

Wall to wall you need to get a proper cleaning. One of the problems with w2w is that the carpet pad under it will pick up and store skeeve easily and it hard to get out. The sooner you cope with it the better.

For throw you need to get it out, twoot sweet. Check your yellow pages and find a place that will clean it. And your roommies should pay - who puts wet crap on a carpet?

You need to turn over the air in your apartment too. If you've got horrid air flow then get some box fans. Searching for 'fan' under 'household items' in the local craigslist forsale turns up about a bazillion items, you can get a few cheap.
posted by phearlez at 11:08 AM on July 27, 2007

Oh, the roomies will pay, as it's their condo - I'm merely renting a room from them. It is a throw rug that is on top of the main carpet. I'll talk to them about cleaning it.

I do have one fan going, but obviously that's not enough. I'll see if we have other fans I can use tomorrow. I'll also try the baking soda technique.
posted by spinifex23 at 11:15 AM on July 27, 2007

Google ozone generator rental. I haven't used one myself, but people I trust tell me they work.
posted by Bruce H. at 12:23 PM on July 27, 2007

I conquered it!

I sprinkled baking carpet on the soda, and let it sit overnight. Then I vacuumed it up the next morning. That, along with cleaning all the little pillows and blankets on the couch and putting out some baking soda boxes (the ones meant for the fridge) have enabled em to completely conquer the bad smell!

Thanks all!
posted by spinifex23 at 1:15 PM on August 6, 2007