My carpet got wet and now it has an awful smell. How do I get rid of it?

Question

I live in an apt. that has wall-to-wall carpet. Yesterday, the dishwasher flooded the kitchen and the carpet there got soaking wet. Today it smells. How do I get rid of the smell?

Answer 1

Your apartment manager should pay for professional carpet cleaning. If they didn't have it wet vac'd right away, it might have mildewed and the carpet will need to be replaced. This has happened to me before, and I had to break my lease b/c the odor was giving me headaches. But I didn't have to pay anything b/c the apartments were in violation of some health codes due to the mold growing in the carpet and padding.

Answer 2

Wet Carpet Smell

Answer 3

Hi
If it has only been a few days it is a musty smell you are smelling from the water not mold.
First thing you have to do is dry the carpet. I am going to assume you do not have professional equipment for this.
1/ You will need to lift the carpet where it is wet. Where the carpet and wall meet there should be tack strip holding the carpet down.( behind carpet) You can lift the carpet off the tack strip with a pair of pliers grabbing the carpet fibre and pulling up.
2/ Pull the carpet back until the wet spot is exposed .At this point you should be able to see the under pad. Try to remove as much water as you can by either a wet vac or towels.
3/ now you will need to dry the pad by either lifting it out and drying it outside or leaving it in place and putting a fan blowing on to pad and carpet. This will need 2 or so days to dry.
4/ When to carpet and pad is dry you should not be able to smell it.
5/ Install the pad and carpet back down and I would recommend cleaning the carpet but that will be up to you.

In the flood business for 14 years

Answer 4

Patty, the smell from the carpet is a new mold colony growing in your home. As you may know, mold spores are not healthy to breathe in. However, mold is as ubiquitous as the air we breathe. The thing is that when a large mold colony is living indoors with us, the amount (and type) of mold spores breathed in can make this situation a health hazard. See link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxic_mold

Don't panic just yet. First, I would contain the area of the carpet that got flooded. Your first question should be "How do I kill off the colony asap and get it out of my living space?," which by the way is causing the smell along with bacteria. Rather than buying expensive and possibly toxic fungicides, try plain old kitchen vinegar. Not only will the stuff kill off most of the colony (let it soak in the carpet) but it will replace the smell with vinegar. Depending on your preferences, though, this may or may not be an acceptable smell to deal with.

However, the fact is that you should have that area of carpet replaced. Try finding same stock of carpet used to furnish the apartment. This may be impossible to find if the carpet is old. The second (and best) option is to remove the carpet from the vicinity and replace it with vinyl or linoleum flooring. That way, if another spill of flood occurs, you won't be dealing with another mold colony growing under your feet.

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
My carpet got wet and now it has an awful smell. How do I get rid of it?
I live in an apt. that has wall-to-wall carpet. Yesterday, the dishwasher flooded the kitchen and the carpet there got soaking wet. Today it smells. How do I get rid of the smell?

Answer 6

i am a contractor that has an apt complex to do the maintenance for and have to replace the padding under carpet quite often. First the complex is responsible for any damage that comes from their equipment. Next you may be responsible for the repair if you do not contact them that should have been done as soon as you saw the water. If water goes into the padding you can be pretty sure that it will have to be replaced if it was not drawn up quickly, the carpet usually can be saved. Do not just try to cover it up with something like febreze because there may be mold growing on the pad and the flooring. and that will be another set of problems for you health wise.

Answer 7

It may be that you have mold growing in your carpet. If a professional cleaner or shop vac will not clean the carpet well enough to keep the smell out then your next best bet is to remove the carpet. There might even be floor damage under the carpet.

Good luck!

Answer 8

Rent a rug shampoo machine from the local hardware store or grocery store. One the sprays water and sucks it up. Shampoo the rug. I have added bleach to the machines and it has not damaged my rug, but I'd spot test it first. After you are done, Shampoo it one more time, but instead of adding soap to the machine, add fabric softener. Get a pricey one that smells good.

Answer 9

hire professional carpet cleaners

Answer 10

Go to the pet store and get "Nature's Miracle".

I hope the floor panel is not rotten or else you will need to replace that too.