Ridding Your House of Common Smells With Easy Solutions
The only thing more frustrating than a smell in the home is not being able to find it. The truth is, smells are common, and many times they’re present despite a clean house and constant upkeep. But they happen. Here’s how to detect where common smells are coming from, and how to be rid of the annoyance.
Name That Smell
1. You smell a hint of methane-sulfur around your guest bathroom and are unsure of its origin. The bathroom is clean and is rarely used and you think to yourself, “where is it? What is this smell?”
Answer: Simply just an unused faucet and shower. The drainage system leading to the sewer is designed with suction in order to keep nauseous fumes from filtering up and into your home. When water completely evaporates from the pipes, fumes start to migrate through causing the smell.
Solution: A little bit of water needs to be in the pipes for adequate suction. Run your sink and shower once a week to avoid the smells.
2. The smell is coming from the sink, be it the bathroom, the kitchen or any location. The sink is clean and by all appearances looks fine, yet awful smell won’t go away. What is it?
Answer: Something is probably lodged in the pipe. It might not be a complete block because water and food pass through fine, but something is there. The bend in the pipe, called a p-trap, often collects hair, debris, food, and other objects, causing mold and foul odors.
Solution: There are two solutions. You can remove and clean the affected are of the pipe, or you can dissolve it using an enzyme-based cleaner until the smell is gone. After doing either, use cleaner regularly to prevent blockages in the future. Check out some drain cleaners at Good Guide.
3. The area in and around the washing machine smells. There’s not obvious reason for the smell. Where is it?
Answer: The seal on the door of a front-loading washing machine keeps water out, but when the door is shut there’s no room for water to evaporate, often causing smells from mildew.
Solution: Let your washing machine air dry after each use, and wipe up extra water off the door when necessary.
4. Living in a house of smokers, or where former residents smoked is not fun, and difficult to remove on your own.
Solution: A professional cleaner will almost certainly be required to get the smoke odor out of the carpet. Is extreme cases, installing carpet might be the only solution.
5. “My pet hasn’t urinated on the carpet for months. Why does the smell keep returning?”
Answer: If any remnant of urine is let behind after the initial cleaning, it will become noticeable again after vacuuming or internal humidity in the home.
Solution: The only way to remove this is with a professional cleaner. Some common cleaners from pet and specialty stories can only go so far in removing the smell completely.
A weird smell originating from the kitchen sink or bathroom shower is normal, but some smells, originating in a crawl space, a cellar, or inside the walls, could mean mold or water damage. Whatever your situation may be, you can count on Kelmann to get the tougher jobs cleaned up. Call us 24 hours a day at 414-774-3799.