Dealing With Mildew And The Musty Smell From Your Carpet
When there are musty smells coming from your carpet, you can’t ignore it. Unlike stains, one can’t simply cover the area or move around the furniture to hide the spot and deal with it later. The musty odours will make the living conditions difficult. However, it’s more than just about the discomfort. The spores of mildew in your carpet are a health risk. Postponing the carpet cleaning processes also makes the damage to be more expensive, as the mildew will grow and spread through the carpet material, and soon you will need to replace the unit. How do you minimise the damage?
Steps to Follow
- Start by drying the area
Mildew growths in the carpet are attributed to moisture in the material. It can be anything from spills that were allowed to dwell in the carpet, mistakes like overwetting during cleaning process, or there was a case of flooding. Take immediate steps to dry out the area, including running the fans and AC units, and ensuring that there is sufficient aeration in the room. For cases when the moisture is widespread, it is recommended that you call in the professional carpet cleaning crews, as they have high-powered systems that will extract the moisture from the unit.
- Vacuum the area
Immediate the carpet has dried, crank up your vacuum and run it over the unit. The higher powered the vacuum is, the better it will be in removing the debris that is in the carpet.
This is one of those DIY remedies that is used to absorb those troublesome odours. Mix vinegar with water, using a 1:2 ratio. This will vary based on the amount of vinegar that is being dealt with. Spray the solution over the carpet. Note that too much moisture will be counterproductive, and instead encourage more mildew to grow. In addition, there are delicate carpet materials that will be damaged by the application of vinegar, hence you need to first ascertain if it will be safe for your particular type of carpet. In fact, this is another of the reasons why it is recommended that you bring in the professional carpet cleaning team when dealing with mould and mildew issues in your unit to ensure that the appropriate formulations are used for the removal process.
This also comes in to neutralise the odours. Allow the baking soda and vinegar mixture to dwell in the carpet for a couple of hours. You can let it dwell overnight.
Alternatives that can be used:
Here, mix it with water using a 1:5 ratio. It helps in removing the fungal spores and neutralising the musty odours in the carpet.
These are commercial products which are applied to the carpet. Simply shampoo the affected spot and rub it in with a sponge. Allow it to soak for some time – as indicated on the product label. This is usually or around 20 minutes, during which period the shampoo will dry. All that remains is to vacuum up the contents.
With this DIY route, there are lots of issues that you will face:
- First, there is the uncertainty of the appropriate products that will be required. The natural and synthetic fabric carpets have their different modes of approach, and the chemicals that are used may put your carpet at risk – thus the emphasis in hiring the carpet cleaning experts.
- The prolonged duration that it takes, especially when working with the vinegar and baking soda. You want the issue resolved as fast as possible, not to have to leave the contents in your carpet for an entire night – and still run the chances of the mould and mildew not being removed.
Value Of Calling The Carpet Cleaning Specialists
They have both the skills and resources needed to work on your carpet, preventing the fungi from damaging the carpet and getting rid of those musty odours reeking up the space. What’s more, the in-depth carpet cleaning that is carried out in the process removes the rest of the grime and stains that are in your unit, leaving it fresh and vibrant.
There’s also the reduced workload on your part. By outsourcing the task to the professional carpet cleaning crew, you get to sit back and relax, and have quality results at the end of the process. The task is completed in a fraction of the time that you would have taken had you been working on it by yourself. You won’t also need to spend hours research on the formulations to use.
With truck-mounted systems delivering the power needed for the process, you get the grime that is ingrained within the fibres of the carpet flushed out. Approaches like hot water extraction are much more effective compared to the shampooing processes, as it ensures that the carpet is truly clean by removing even the soiling that buried deep within the unit. What about the moisture, you ask? Well, high-powered wet extraction vacuums come into play. They remove the bulk of the moisture – so much that the carpet is simply left slightly damp to the touch. This will have dried off in as little as 3 hours, which reduces the disruption to our day-to-day activities. You also won’t have to worry about subsequent fungal growths, thus protecting your family members.
When hiring a carpet cleaning services to handle the task, there are a few issues that you will need to clarified before the task begins. First, what kind of cleaning methods are used? These vary from company to company. Next, since this is a fungal growth problem in your carpet, you want to ensure that the company that you’re hiring actually has the resources and capacity needed to resolve the issue. Of note is that there are cases where the fungal growth is so extensive in the carpet – especially after it was allowed to continue unabated for long, such that the only recourse is to toss out the carpet and buy a new one. To ascertain that your carpet can be salvaged, and the situation reversed, a site visit by the carpet cleaning crew is recommended.
