Help me identify this bedroom odor and what to do about it?

August 10, 2022 2:53 PM

I'm renting a room in a residential home, and there's an odor I can't figure out. Is it maybe toxic?

The house recently changed owners, so maybe it's new carpet or new paint on the walls? But the carpet and paint extend into the closet, and the closet seems to smell less.

The room apparently used to belong to a tween girl, and I'm a guy, so there might be a lot of obvious scents that I wouldn't know.

It's sort of cloying? It sticks in the nose? It's maybe faintly petroleum-, silicone-, or thermoplastic-elastomer smelling? Maybe ever-so-slightly sweet? It doesn't smell like latex carpet-backing. That's the only strong smell I know.

Does anybody have any idea what this is? Is it toxic?

There don't seem to be any hotspots or smell-centers--it seems to evenly permeate the whole room (except for the closet). It maybe smells a bit less near the floor? Maybe?

a VOC meter doesn't register anything. No PM10 or PM2.5 either.

Carbon dioxide falls quickly if there's no one in the room, but the smell is always strong upon entering.

Vacuuming the carpet thoroughly didn't seem to do anything. Should I try lightly washing the walls?

Does anybody have ideas for what this scent might be coming from, or what it is, or what to do about it? It sticks in the nose and is maybe giving me a headache?

posted by zeek321 to Home & Garden (16 answers total)

Response by poster: (The smell seems like it's only in this particular room. I can't smell it anywhere else in the house or garage or basement.)
posted by zeek321 at 2:56 PM on August 10, 2022

Most likely, it was the cleaning chemicals used to prepare the room for your tenancy. People have a tendency to overdo those.

Before I tried anything labor intensive, I'd go to the grocery and buy three or four $1 boxes of Arm & Hammer Fridge & Freezer. Remove the side panels, let them breathe and see if it helps. A&H can wipe out most temporary bad smells.

Not sure where you are in terms of weather, but leaving a window open when you're not home, if realistic, would also help.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 3:11 PM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: (I went to see the room when it was already empty, a few weeks ago, and then moved in today. The smell was exactly the same both times--I hoped it would have dissipated by now, but it doesn't seem like it has at all. Perhaps they reapplied chemicals a second time?...)
posted by zeek321 at 3:34 PM on August 10, 2022

Kilz base paint, has a smell which bothers me. It is the only thing which paints over ballpoint pen.
posted by Oyéah at 3:54 PM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

You might need one more coat ofpaint to trap it in. If that is what it is.
posted by Oyéah at 3:56 PM on August 10, 2022

I'm kind of wondering if you are smelling some sort of vaping byproduct?

It's probably worth renting a "Rug Doctor" or similar if that carpet is not new to you.

Can you open a window or turn on the (window AC unit) higher? Besides baking soda, bowls of white vinegar can be left out to help deodorize (or used to clean walls). There are also odor eliminating products that you can buy. A room air filter can help with fresh clean air as well.
posted by oceano at 4:12 PM on August 10, 2022

Do you have anyone you could invite over to help try and figure it out?

In the meantime, wipe down the walls with a tiny bit of dawn in a bucket of water and a rag
posted by raccoon409 at 4:21 PM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

If it was a tween girl she might have spilled body spray somewhere or maybe like a melted lip gloss fell behind something? Could the smell be perfumey like that?
posted by nouvelle-personne at 5:39 PM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

as a parent of teen girls, can confirm that left to their own devices, they will accumulate, use, spray and spill an absolutely boggling amount of heavily scented products. Leave everything open, do the baking powder rug thing maybe... febreze... good luck.
posted by fingersandtoes at 5:49 PM on August 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

Set up an exhaust fan in a window, even if you have to buy one. Run it continuously on med or low for a few days, maybe on high at the hottest part of the day.

Flow/circulation is the only way to reliably speed dissipation of odors, and it can be used in conjunction with any chemical cleaning, adsorbent or neutralizing methods if you want to try those too.
posted by SaltySalticid at 7:27 PM on August 10, 2022 [2 favorites]

Buy a few boxes of baking soda. Scatter them over the rug in the morning. Return, of an evening, and vacuum up the mess. Discard the vacuum bag immediately.
posted by sourcequench at 8:34 PM on August 10, 2022

I'm not sure this makes sense as an only-one-room thing, but bedbugs can have a smell that is sort of sweet, like crushed raspberries. The only time I encountered it was at a hotel where I assumed it was a weird cleaning product until, well, later. I'm not saying it's definitely that, but I'd also want to rule it out asap!
posted by catabananza at 9:15 PM on August 10, 2022

Try putting a very thick layer of dry bicarb soda powder directly on the carpet, leaving it 24 hours, and then vaccuuming it up.

You would be AMAZED how much odour this absorbs.
posted by carriage pulled by cassowaries at 1:54 AM on August 11, 2022

Try peeling back the sheets and see if it might be the mattress? A new foam mattress might be offgassing still.
posted by Lady Li at 5:55 AM on August 11, 2022

Febreeze. Spray daily until not needed. Wash the walls, as odors can stick to paint.
posted by Enid Lareg at 8:08 AM on August 11, 2022

Get yourself a couple of Bad Air Sponges and a couple of Zeolite odor absorbers, I swear they both work really well.
posted by radioamy at 5:01 PM on August 11, 2022