Nobody wants a smelly house. If you’ve noticed that your home has developed a pong, it’s important to find the source of this bad odor as soon as possible. It could be something obvious such as a garbage can that needs cleaning or a dirty litter tray or wet laundry that’s been left in the washing machine too long. However, there are cases where the source of the stench may not be so easy to identify. Below are just a few examples of hidden sources of smells to consider in this situation.
carpet
Spilt foods or animal hair can become trapped in carpets, giving the whole room a whiff. To ensure that your carpet is not the source, you should consider using a carpet cleaning machine over your carpet. These machines add water and chemicals to the carpet to help break up and loosen debris, before vacuuming them up. You can buy your own carpet cleaning machine or hire someone to professionally clean your carpets for you. If you’ve got kids or pets, this is worth doing regularly.
dishwasher
Dishwashers can sometimes cause a smell if the filters get clogged or if food debris gets trapped in the seals. Regularly cleaning your dishwasher is recommended to prevent these odors occuring. Regular cleaning can also be important for making sure that your dishwasher isn’t recirculating dirty water. Check out this guide on how to clean a dishwasher.
Kitchen Sink
If there’s a bad smell coming from your kitchen, don’t overlook the kitchen sink. Kitchen sink plugholes can become smelly for one of two reasons: 1) there’s a build-up of food in the pipe, or 2) there’s a u-bend issue causing sewer gas to escape through your sink drain. If the smell is caused by food, pouring a solution of equal parts vinegar and bicarbonate of soda down the plughole should do the trick (providing there’s not a blockage). If it’s an eggy smell, it’s likely sewer gas and you may want to contact a plumber to take a look.
Towels
Damp towels can quickly develop a musty smell if not allowed to dry. Make sure that wet towels aren’t just being chucked on the floor (kids are most likely to do this). Instead, always hang up towels immediately to dry after use, or throw them in the dirty laundry basket.
Dead Animals
If it smells like something has died in your home, there’s a chance that something may well have died in your home. Dead mice are the most common culprits – the smell could be coming from inside a wall or behind some furniture. If you’ve got a pest problem, you’ll encounter this smell more regularly – consider calling up pest control to put an end to this issue. If you’ve got a pet cat that likes to bring in gifts, this could also be the source of the smell – check under furniture for any dead mice.
Mold
Mold has a distinctive musty smell. While a mold problem is often visible, mold can sometimes grow in hidden places such as behind furniture or inside cupboards. Make sure to regularly pull out furniture and empty cupboards to check there is no mold. An anti-mold spray is the best solution.
New Furniture
If you’ve recently bought some new furniture, don’t be concerned if you notice an unpleasant chemical smell in your home. This is likely caused by finishes like flame retardants and varnishes. Because the furniture has been boxed up for so long, the smells will have had nowhere to escape to until now. You can get rid of these smells by airing out the room containing the furniture – the smell should fade within 24 hours.
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