Damp Smelling Carpet – Causes and Solutions

Before we tell you about how to rid your carpet of damp smells, an important note:

If your carpet smells and feels damp, then you may have damp. Without treating the cause of the damp, your carpet will continue to get worse.

If you leave the cause of the damp for long enough, your carpet can even begin to rot away.

So, while we have all the tips about solving a damp smelling carpet below, you need to find the source of damp affecting your carpet and treat it.

Otherwise, you need to buy a new carpet altogether. Plus, if the damp is affecting your carpet, it is likely affecting other areas of your home too. Like floorboards, floor joists and perhaps the walls too.

Right, with that important note about damp out of the way, let’s explore the causes and solutions for damp smelling carpets, shall we?

We’re going to explore the causes of a damp carpet first and then offer a few solutions to solve the musty smell coming from your carpet. As I said above, though, if the cause isn’t sorted, the damp smell will likely return.

 

Causes of a Damp-Smelling Carpet

Causes of a damp smelling carpet can be as simple as rain. If the weather has been particularly bad recently and you’ve had a few people walking into your home without taking their wet shoes off, this can mean that your carpet gets damp.

Other causes for damp smelling carpets include:

• A leaking pipe
• Penetrating damp
• Condensation
• Rising damp
• A spill that wasn’t cleaned up properly

 

Solutions for a Damp-Smelling Carpet

Of course, the best way to rid a carpet of a damp smell is to dry the carpet out.

The cause of the damp must be treated first. There are plenty of DIY ways of treating damp, though. However, if you have a leaking pipe, for example, you may need to call a plumber.

Still, once you have solved the damp issue causing your damp carpet, there are some easy ways to rid your carpet of the damp smell.

Getting rid of the moisture in your carpet

1. Dehumidifier

If your home does have damp, a dehumidifier is a great tool to have. It keeps moisture levels in the air low by collecting moisture as it runs. This will help draw out the moisture in your carpet. Still, just because the moisture has gone, the smell may remain.

 

2. Wet and dry vacuum

This is another great tool for getting rid of the water in your carpet. Wet and dry vacuums aren’t too expensive nowadays, and if your home suffers from a lot of damp issues, they can help massively when trying to get a handle on the situation.

You can also rent wet and dry vacuums. Quick tip: if you do rent a wet and dry vacuum to help with your damp problem, use it on any carpet stains you have at the same time, they work wonders on stains.

Again though, a wet and dry vacuum will do wonders for drawing out the water in your carpet, but a smell may still remain.

Removing the damp smell in your carpet

Here are some tricks for removing the damp smell caused by a damp carpet.

1. Good ventilation in the room

Open a window in the room and get a fan in there too. To create good ventilation in a room, you need a good circulation of air.

If the room has windows on opposite walls, open both. One will suck air into the room, the other will push air out. If you only have one set of windows in a room (or windows on one wall), use a fan to push air into the room and open the window to suck the air out of the room.

This will massively help with the smell, but we have one more trick up our sleeve, which will work wonders!

 

2. Bicarbonate of soda

Bicarbonate of soda is one of the greatest cleaning tools that you can have in your home. Sprinkle it on your carpets, leave it for at least an hour, but ideally overnight if you can. Then hoover it up.

Bicarbonate of soda breaks down the smells in your carpet, and so it will greatly help with a damp smell. You can also use bicarbonate of soda each time you hoover your carpets to enjoy a fresh and clean smell all year round.

Conclusion

If you have a damp smelling carpet, finding the cause of the damp is just as important as getting rid of the smell. Find the cause and treat it, and then treat your carpets.

Getting rid of a damp smell in your carpets is really simple as you can see above, but if you don’t find the cause, the smell will return.

Please explore our website further for more cleaning articles. We have cleaning articles on here that can make cleaning easy, stress-free and even enjoyable.