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Opt for scented bin bags to help cover up any future smells. A cup of bi-carb soda strateically places is the perfect way absorb bad smells and excess moisture. The old stack of magazines or the pile of clothes you've meant to sort out. You can remove mold from damp drywall, concrete, and wood, but soaked drywall or insulation is easier to remove than repair.
Control the Humidity
Here, experts explain six reasons why your house might smell musty and offer some potential solutions to make your home smell nice once again. See “Best Odor Eliminators for the Refrigerator, Freezer and Carpets and More” for tips on dealing with musty carpets. Check for roof leaks, especially around any roof penetrations like chimneys. As a homeowner or renter, you need to be mindful of indoor air quality. If you feel congested or have watering eyes at home, but feel better when you're away, that's a red flag.
This is why your house smells musty and what you can do about it
To be safe, you should still open a window and run ventilation fans. Increasing airflow can assist in reducing condensation and enhancing the quality of the air in your house.
Wash Your Pets
Starting your HVAC system can also help draw out odors and capture mold spores in the filters. Be sure that the system has clean filters and replace them often to help remove musty smells. It may also be a smart investment to purchase an air purifier if this is an ongoing issue or if anyone in your house struggles with allergies and stronger sensitivity to mold. Air purifiers can make a big difference in reducing the smell and the spread of spores. Washing machines are big germ-harbouring havens – and bacteria leads to nasty household smells (find out more about banishing germs from your home in our dedicated feature).
How to Get Rid of Mildew Odor
Use baking soda to deodorize these surfaces to improve the scent. Scrubbing the walls and floors isn’t necessarily going to cut it, though. It’s not uncommon for the smell of mildew to emanate from fabrics, such as towels, and from other personal belongings (e.g., sneakers). If so, soak it in all-fabric bleach for about 30 minutes. After rinsing it off, run it through the washer as you would a normal load of laundry.
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Next Up In Basements
Boiling a cup of vinegar in a pan will cut through greasy smells – and the smell of vinegar will dissipate quickly. Are there some smells in your house that you'd rather live without? Stinky trainers littering the hall, a dank smell in the living room, a teen's musty bedroom, lingering cooking odours, mildewy undertones in the bathroom?
How to sanitize a water bottle
"There is a risk that if cats dislike the smell of the scented cat litter or fresheners they may start to avoid using their litter tray," says PDSA Vet Nurse Gemma Renwick. "This can lead to toileting outside of the litter tray, which can be a difficult habit to solve. If you’re not a fan of the appearance of disposable air fresheners, refillable designs are also available, such as Glade Automatic Spray.
If you have musty odors in the kitchen, laundry room or bathrooms, improve ventilation. Switch it on when a shower starts, and it shuts off automatically. If your house smells musty after a rain, and it's a significant difference, rain is probably going where it shouldn't. The first spots to check are the roof and attic, but rain can seep into basements and crawlspaces, too. The musty smell in your house will likely go away if you thoroughly clean the space. Run an air purifier and dehumidifier to ensure you have healthy air quality in your house.
Also, the next time you redo the paint on the walls in the bathroom or kitchen, use mold-inhibiting paints to keep the spores away. If the mold area is larger than 10 square feet, you may need professional mold abatement. For small colonies of mildew on fabrics or walls, you can follow these tips to get the source of the musty smells under control.
In a 1 gallon bucket of water, dilute 1 cup of chlorine bleach. This solution effectively kills mildew on surfaces like ceramic tile and grout, cement walls, and washable fabrics. When you see evidence of mildew, it's essential to get rid of it before or after you solve the problem causing the issue. For a minor spot or two of mold, you don't have to use bleach, and you can use a bucket of warm water and a couple of squirts of dish detergent to wipe away the mold spores.
If there are specks of mould on the curtain, scrub them away with a bleach solution – just make sure to rinse the curtain thoroughly afterwards. For everyday cleaning, you can dilute lemon juice (a few tablespoons to a cup of water) in a spray bottle and spray directly on the glass shower door to remove watermarks. If you’re dealing with heavy limescale deposits, you can apply pure lemon juice straight from a sponge. We’ve rounded up 10 tips to keep this space smelling fresher for longer. So what can you do to get rid of that familiar musty smell?
If the grading around your home pitches back toward your basement, water will eventually work its way in. In this case, re-grading the property might be the best option. You can also hire a contractor to dig around the foundation and install a French drain to divert water. For extremely wet basements, a trough around the interior leading to the sump pump might be necessary to control groundwater. Many homeowners bathe their pets once each month, but that may be unnecessary for you. However, your house will likely smell bad if you go 3 months or longer without bathing them.
And while you might be tempted to cover up bad odors with air fresheners or plug-in devices, Murphy warns against this. “These can mask odors temporarily and contribute to indoor air pollution,” she says. What’s more, high humidity can lead to the development of mold and mildew, adding to the smell and creating a health hazard too. Try to use washable pet bedding or bedding covers so you can simply throw them in the laundry from time to time. The same goes for baby bottles that roll under the couch, or glasses with a dab of milk left in the bottom. Over time, all those food crumbs build up, adding to the “unique aroma” of your home.
Rub vinegar onto the mold and then wash away with very hot water. Once you've narrowed down the symptoms, you can focus on eliminating the problem. The only lasting way to get rid of musty smells in the house is to find the source. In this post, we'll discuss sources of musty smells in the home and how to deal with them. After cleaning areas with mold or mildew, see what you can do to prevent future moisture problems. Hiring a professional may be a smart move, especially if you don’t know the cause of the moisture problem.
For instance, we have a litter box for the cats down in the basement. The box is plastic, so it doesn't allow the floor to breathe where the two make contact. It's easy to clean up, but something I know I need to watch. If you’re unsure of how large your problem is, hire a mold professional to inspect your home.
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