You do all you can to keep your house looking and smelling fresh. But, have you ever walked in and were met with a musty smell wafting around? Couldn’t pinpoint where the smell was coming from?
Musty smells can make a place uninhabitable, so you must find the source fast. But, not to worry, we will tell you where to look if your house smells musty but has no mold.
What Is a Musty Smell?
Image Credits: ponint2homes.com
When you enter a room and detect strange odors in your home, the first thing you need to do is to try and establish their source. There is musty smell of a damp place with a stagnant air and when you open the door, all that will come to hit you is that bad smell. And known as musty is because it smells unclean and stale, and typically means the existence of mold spores.
While you may have a musty odor more than you like, it isn’t always bad. And studies prove that smelling odors makes life less risky —that denotes something in your home needs fixing. The CDC has also warned that if you can smell the mold, you are at risk and it is important the mold be removed as quickly as possible.
Now what if you can’t actually see the mold? Maybe your house just has a musty smell and you can’t see any mold growing anywhere. And there may be any from a few reasons, such as high humidity, plumbing problems, soiled carpets, or a broken HVAC system. Below, let’s explore these possibilities to help you remove musty smells from your home.
Possible Sources of the Musty Odors
1. Musty Odors Due to High Humidity
Image Credits: pexels.com
While at times your house may smell musty and moldy, it is not always something you need to be too concerned about with what parts of the home the mold growth is occurring in. It may be you won’t allow fresh air entering through windows, doors and other types of ventilation. It’ll make the stagnant air trap contaminants, leaving you with the musty smell.
This is a bigger problem in colder periods, such as winter when you hardly open the windows. The unfortunate thing is that if you’re able to identify this in the winter, that solution’s not as easy as opening the windows and running the fans. While it may not be possible right now to keep your windows and doors open, there are some tricks like buying a good air purifier and getting a few houseplants = that will make things better until you are able to let the fresh air in.
In fact, if you happen to smell the odor during warmer season, then the quickest fix would be to open your windows and the doors during the day and let fresh air come in. If it stinks that much, you’ll want to get an odor reducer and a tower fan to enjoy fresher air.
Similarly, washing and drying curtains, and upholstery will help to eliminate the unpleasant smell.
2. Musty Smells Due to Plumbing Problems
Image Credits: precision-dampproofing.co.uk
Excess moisture on surfaces is what causes the persistence of pollutants such as mold and mildew. Whenever you have musty odors, check the plumbing for leaks. Occasionally, leaks occur within walls so you may not notice the damage until your interior walls are visible. However, if the house or room smells musty that’s your cue to get a plumber in to fix the pipes.
Naturally, if your house also has high humidity, the smells can be unbearable. Thus, during the repair of the plumbing, you can get it helped by buying air conditioning products including air purifier and humidifier to make the condition better.
Try to let the windows and doors open in the day to allow free fresh air, this will also help dry the walls thus getting rid of the nasty smell.
3. Musty Smells Due to a Broken HVAC System
Healthy indoor air quality is something that our houses depend on good HVAC systems for. However, if these systems break, there could be increased air pollution, like an icky stink you don’t want. After ruling out the above, you should consider having a professional check at your HVAC if the musty smell remains.
Dust and debris are often obscured in HVAC filters, ductwork, making it hard for the system to work as it should. In another event, the system may also retain moisture leading to mold growth. Therefore, when you turn on the HVAC system, the bad smell will be circulated all over your house.
Most of the time, you will only have to replace the HVAC filter a few months at a time. However, in case you have mold or mildew in the system, your best option would be to find a professional will come in and fix the heat pump, furnace, and other components in the system to make it work.
4. Musty Smell Due to Soiled Carpets
Image Credits: keylifehomes.com
The possibilities above are probably going to have worse damage which will make you spend more money to get rid of the musty smell. However, if you are fairly sure the smell emanates from only one room then perhaps your carpet has been recently stained and has been left to dry in the particular room and without ventilation to help in the process.
Consequently, the moisture will pull pollutants in the room and generate an awful, congestion stink that cannot allow one to comfortably spend time in the room. Rendered in such a manner, you may not eliminate the bad smell if your carpet is freshly soiled with a clean cloth and baking soda in removing the soiling. Then, leave the carpet outside to dry on its own and you shall not have a bad odor of mold.
On the other hand if the carpet was placed on the floor for days or weeks after it had been soiled you are likely to get a strong smell that requires cleaning as well as drying. Uncertain as to how to wash the carpet? To clean the stain you need a cleaning solvent and brush or carpet cleaner which is fine. This is because after washing the carpet, you will be forced to hang it to dry outside to clear all smells.
In a case where you cannot clean the carpet from home it is advisable that you hire the services of a carpet cleaner. The cleaner will have the use of the best equipment, carpet stains erasers, and other natural non toxic carpet cleaning solutions.
5. Musty Smells Coming From The Windows
Image Credits: greatplainswindows.com
You also should not neglect your windows, as they are also perfect candidates for picking up moldy smells. This problem is rife if you hardly open the windows. In this case, fresh air to suppress condensation is not available, especially if several people dwell in your house. The condensation will accumulate over time and as we all know a perfect environment for mold or mildew to thrive. Lastly, it will have a smell which is musty.
The good news is that the reason for a musty smell may be the easiest to address; simply clean your windows and keep them open more often to keep your place smelling fresh. Starting, however, you’ll need the best cleaning products, that would include a grout cleaner, a spray bottle, and a damp cloth..
6. Musty Smells Due To Laundry Drains
Do you smell musty in your house, and could it be in the laundry room? If the answer is yes, then the washing machine is most likely the guilty party, particularly if it’s a front loader. While washing machines are some of the most used of household appliances, they also come with hidden nooks and crevices perfect for mold or mildew growth. Eventually, the smells must build up when it grows.
The good news is that the problem is simple to correct. However, after every laundry session, you’d only have to run hot or warm water to clean the machine. However, this will hardly solve the problem with musty odor if it’s already there, in the indoor air. Or, there is a good likelihood the musty smell will likely begin to wear off on your clothes every time they exit the drum. To remove the unpleasantry if must can I put it;
Step 1: Clean the soap, softener and bleach dispensers in your washing machine.
Step 2: Put in a few cups of bleach into the bleach dispenser. After that, run a wash cycle on your hottest setting, waiting for water to mix with the bleach.
After several minutes of rotation of the drum, you should stop the cycle and leave the machine with the bleach solution for thirty minutes. After 30 minutes has elapsed, stop the washing cycle and then run a cycle to wash off all bleach on the clothes.
Step 3: If the steps above don’t work, it could be that the drainage system in the machine is malfunctioning — which could also be causing musty smells — so it’s time to call in a professional. The smells are mainly the build up of cleaning products and lint that allow mold growth, in most cases.
If the recycling bin does smell, a professional will remove the build up and will recommend the best cleaning process to avoid future smelly odors.
Simple Remedies for Musty Smells in Your Home
Image Credits: devrylaw.ca
With that, you need to mitigate these smells from reoccurring. Now that has been said, let us have some tips to keep your house smelling fresh all through;
-
- Open windows to let in some fresh air.
- If you’re not able to open the windows, increase airflow in your home. Therefore, get ventilation fans and an air conditioner to push out stale air.
- A mild odor problem can be masked by making a natural air freshener. For instance, you can boil lemon peel for a lemon’s fragrance for a house.
- To improve the house smell, put the lemon solution in all rooms. Before you have to deal with the unpleasantness of smells, pay for a good air purifier to get rid of the bad smell.
- You should also check places like your plumbing, HVAC, and other places where damage could be arrested to prevent musty smells.
