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Air purifiers can make a big difference in reducing the smell and the spread of spores. After a long winter, it’s normal for an air conditioner to smell musty when you first use it, as dirt, dust, and debris can build up on its coils and filter. However, this buildup can also mean mold and mildew growth. Cleaning the coils before you start using your AC regularly can avoid this unpleasant smell and keep mold spores from circulating the house. Only a professional HVAC technician should undertake coil cleaning. Sometimes, a deep cleaning isn’t enough to completely eliminate mold and mildew smells.
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If you go on vacation and come back to a musty house, odds are it's just a bit of mildew or stale bits. Open windows or kick on filters or fans to get fresh air moving and disperse the stale smell. In winter, we are less likely to have our windows and doors open for long periods of time, reducing air flow in our homes and preventing proper ventilation. As a result, moisture released as we breathe, and odors created by everyday activities such as cooking, home exercises, and cleaning linger in a home with no outlet. While all types of molds can be a nuisance, black mold is a concern. Black mold can trigger allergy symptoms in some people, but it poses the greatest danger to those with preexisting conditions or the immunocompromised.
Why Does My House Smell Musty? 12 Possible Reasons
Consider renting a steam cleaner or hiring a carpet cleaning specialist. The steam cleaner does a deep clean, much more than if you vacuumed the carpet. You never know what’s breeding in the carpet, even if you clean your home often. In addition to using dehumidifiers, you can use odor absorbers such as baking soda or activated charcoal. Treating mold is more intensive than mildew but depends on the type of mold and the amount you’re dealing with. There are many types of mold, many of which can be a health risk.
Clean Your Home, Clear Your Mind
One of the most common causes of musty smells in the house is excess moisture, which means there’s water in some areas where it shouldn’t be. We’ve all been there—you walk into a room and a familiar but unpleasant scent hits your nostrils. It’s that old musty smell you probably recognize from plenty of basements and thrift stores, but don't want in your own home. According to Robin Murphy of ChirpChirp Cleaning, it’s crucial to get to the bottom of the scent as soon as you can. “Addressing musty smells in your home is essential not only for maintaining a pleasant and healthy living space but also for the overall maintenance and longevity of your home,” she says.
This not only helps maintain a clean drain, but it also acts as a deodorizer and diffuses your kitchen with a fresh citrus scent, Kofsky says. Don't put the dirty clothes basket in your bathroom, Navas says. Instead, keep it in your bedroom or another closet where it won't be exposed to steam from baths and showers. "Bacteria grows in a humid environment, and that's what stinks up the place," Navas says. Even if you've gone over surfaces with a good shower cleaner the smell of dirty laundry will persistent. They may be part of the family, but they can get smelly just like humans.
Old or dirty carpets and rugs
Condensation on the coils creates the perfect environment for bacterial growth, which produces a distinctive odor. The best way to rid your home of the stench is to clean the evaporator coils with a non-acid coil cleaner, or call in a qualified HVAC professional to clean the coils and air ducts. Maybe you’ve noticed a “musty” or “wet cardboard” smell in your home. Or perhaps you’ve referred to it as “old home smell.” Either way, one of the most common causes of lingering, musty smells, especially in older homes, is hidden mold, usually in the walls. If you’ve left the washing too long and it smells really bad, you will need to wash it again and be prepared to hang it out as soon as it’s finished. If you dry clothes on the radiator, remember that this increases humidity in the air, so putting clothes straight from the washing machine onto the radiators could be making matters worse.
If Your Home Smells Funny, Check These 8 Problem Areas
Then, thoroughly vacuum the carpet and the baking soda along with it. If that doesn’t get the job done, you might need a deeper clean. Typically, you fill it with cleaning solution (or white vinegar and water for a cheaper solution) then run the machine up and down your carpets, as you can see in the video above. Consider purchasing a machine and rotating it through the home to ensure your entire home has a chance to get fresh air. An air purifier will circulate and purify the air compared to a dehumidifier that’ll remove excess moisture.
These products should be sprayed onto the area (or as close to the area as possible) where the odor originated from to be effective. These bags are simply hung up in smelly rooms and as the air in the room passes through the bag, the odor is removed. Your dishwasher needs a simple cleaning every month or so, and it’s as easy as running the dishwasher empty with a cup of vinegar. Alternatively, you could sprinkle some baking soda across the bottom of the dishwasher and run it. Take extra care in laundry rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, and basements, where moisture and humidity run amok. A cup of bi-carb soda strateically places is the perfect way absorb bad smells and excess moisture.
Mold or mildew growth can affect the indoor air quality in your home and may lead to long-term health implications. When there’s a musty scent wafting throughout the house, you might panic and wonder, “Does mold smell? ” Mold and mildew can give off that musty scent, so you’ll want to check—or hire someone to check—the vents or ducts for signs of growth. Mold and mildew in an AC unit or the ducts can be a health hazard for residents. Inhaling mold spores can cause symptoms such as headaches, sore throats, and respiratory distress.
The problem with chests of drawers and wardrobes is that we tend to close the doors and only open them again when we want to get the clothes inside. This might not be a problem in your main wardrobe, but if there is a damp or mold problem in there, closing the doors will cause a musty smell that makes your clothes smell. As air circulates, the moisture in the air evaporates, which means that decent air circulation can greatly reduce humidity, and it is humidity that encourages bacteria. Despite this, we tend to keep windows closed to keep out cold air, and very few homes have decent vents or natural methods of circulating air. Even if it looks clean, there could be all kinds of odors that come with a house, especially if the house is old. Musty smells are not always a cause for concern, but in some cases, they may be a health risk.
Six reasons you may need a dehumidifier - The Washington Post - The Washington Post
Six reasons you may need a dehumidifier - The Washington Post.
Posted: Wed, 20 Jun 2018 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Here's how to get rid of a musty smell in a house, what may have caused it and if it affects home value. The smell of smoke can stick to the carpets, furniture, walls, and other surfaces inside the house. Walls and other surfaces in your house can absorb the smell of cigarettes and nicotine over time, which can cause your house to smell musty. Then it’s only a matter of time until mold starts growing in areas of the house with excess moisture or water.
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