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Thread: Anyone have any tips on how to remove that "musty" smell/air from a house?

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    Gold Member Marcos's Avatar
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    Anyone have any tips on how to remove that "musty" smell/air from a house?

    Moving into this year's student housing, but it suffers from a stuffy/musty air, tried airing it out but it might just be stuck to the wallpapers and carpet, any ideas?

    Need to get it fresh for it be habitable

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    Frebreeze, or just live in it. Our kitchen smells quite strongly of potato peelings and no matter how much i bleach or wash it, it still smells.

    Failing that, get one of those wet washer carpet things. You could always have the place fumigated, lovely new smell

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    dehumidifier? might get rid of some of the mustyness otherwise open all the windows and get some fans going to move the air. febreezebis your friend in uni accom0dation

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    That powder you shake onto carpet and then vacuum up really helps remove smells in carpet. Neutradol do a decent one, their air fresheners are pretty good as well. I suppose air fresheners really just treating the symptoms.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Anders
    That powder you shake onto carpet and then vacuum up really helps remove smells in carpet. Neutradol do a decent one, their air fresheners are pretty good as well. I suppose air fresheners really just treating the symptoms.
    do the shake n vac and put the freshness back?
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    get some airflow (leave a window open!) and wash the carpets/cupboards/whatever dust and do 'spring cleaning'

    homes of people who insist on keeping windows closed (and stopping fresh airflow) always smell awful, imo!
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    Unless you cover it up with air freshener (which i hate, it all smells like old ladies perfume to me), you will only get rid of it by painting the walls and/or changing the carpets and curtains too. But that’s down to the landlord, so have a word and find out when it was last redecorated. Check for damp on the walls and see is the shower has proper ventilation, if there is a problem the landlord should sort it as it’s a health issue. But you will get used to it after a while. One student house i was in was nasty, but after a month i did not notice it to much and we were only there for 10 months.

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    dust the carpts with bicarb of soda & salt, brush in, leave for 15 mins & hoover.
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    Quote Originally Posted by 0iD View Post
    dust the carpts with bicarb of soda & salt, brush in, leave for 15 mins & hoover.
    Just what I was going to say - nice and cheap too!

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    Dam student houses lived in 3 by now, seen many more but these really dont matter since i was always wasted, dont u love student parties?

    One thing i have learned bout this type of accommodation the original smell never leaves so choose wisely.

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    I remember seeing a program a while ago about a couple that had to rip out the boards in the walls etc because the smell had gotten that deep into the house.

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    Wash any curtains....and if you've got net curtains, take them down, and put them away untilyou move out and put them back up then.

    Curtains sit near windows, windows are always wet with condensation, and they get smelly the fastest.

    Don't bother to use fabbric softner on curtains, just normal washing powder, 40 degree gentle wash and then iron them wet when they come out of the machine, and get them OUT DOORS to hang and dry.

    Your drains need flushing too. Drains allow lots of rank smells to come back up.

    You need this:


    It's called Zoflora, its available in the cleaning section of every supermarket. It's a disinfectant, but it's ultra concentrated, very cheap for how long it lasts, and if you get Bouqet (that one in the piccy) it smells really nice. Dilute it in a bucket (1 cap for several litres of water) and pour it down the sinks and toliets and bath, and leave overnight without flushing.

    Also good to put in a cheap sprayer bottle, diluted with water again, and just spray it around the sink before you go to bed. DO that for 1 week, it'll solve the problem. Dont forget to do the same toshowers and bathrooms.

    Talking of showersd and bathrooms...thats where the most damp is, so thats where th emost windows need leaving open.

    If you'vew got wet washing to dry, do it on a radiator thats actually ON, or on an airer, but wherever it is, do it with a window open to let the moisture out.

    Air the house everyweek without fail, all the windows open for 15 mniutes, and get a jumper on and stop whining about the cold It's only 15 mniutes...ALL of them open, ...ya hear ?

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