Looking For Info On "Earthy" Smell in Bedroom

last year

Hello All,

As the title suggests, hoping to get some pointers here regarding an issue I just ran into in one of my bedrooms.

I had some folks renting out a bedroom, and once they moved, I went in and cleaned the room, top to bottom. Last thing I did was shampoo the carpet with a Hoover shampooer. Once that was done, and the carpet started to dry, a very noticeable "earthy" smell become very prominent (there was no odor prior to the shampooing). "Earthy" is the best word I can use to describe it. It just sort of smells like old carpet + dirt.

After shampooing, I left the ceiling fan on throughout the day, and left the single window open as well (small room, ~10x12). The carpet was pretty much dry in a few hours, but the smell lingered. So I went over the entire thing again with the shampooer, again leaving the fan on and the window open, and same result.

Fast forward a few days, and I hired some carpet cleaning folks who do Chem-Dry treatment. When they arrived, they pretty much told me that they would likely not be able to remove the smell, as it was likely in the carpet padding. Still, I had them do their thing, and, as they suggested, the smell remained. Carpet looks great, though.

So today I had a team come out and replace the carpet pad. The smell is *still* present.

About an hour ago. I went ahead and pulled the carpet back myself, one corner at a time, and ran my nose around nearly the entire room. The underside of the carpet has no smell (or, if anything, is has a faint smell from the cleaner the Chem-Dry guys used), and the carpet pad itself just smells...like carpet pad. Maybe with a slight hint of the glue they used. There isn't even a hint of this Earthy smell that fills the room anywhere around the floor. So I'm pretty much confused at this point.

Underneath the pad is the foundation / cement.

I'm trying to narrow down the source of this smell. I live in southern California. I definitely don't have an issue with humidity, and my water bill suggests that I have no mystery leaks anywhere. In any case, there was no Earthy smell in the room until I shampooed the carpet, so I would reason that if it was an issue with moisture or mold/mildew, I would have noticed it before?

The Chem-Dry team suggested that whatever the smell is may have clinged to all the walls and possibly ceiling. I did scrub all of the walls, from ceiling to floor, with warm water and Dawn dishsoap, + a citrus kitchen degreaser made by Zep..but I certainly did not soak the carpet whatsoever. The rag I used was wringed-out well prior to touching the walls

So the TL:DR version:

-No smell in room until I shampooed the carpet (Earthy smell, like old carpet + dirt)

-Chem-Dry treatment to carpet

-Carpet pad replaced

-No Earthy smell when pulling back the carpet and smelling the underside of the carpet and the new carpet pad

-No issue with humidity or water leaks

-Earthy smell remains despite the above

In any case, looking for any and all suggestions and recommendations. Thank you in advance!

Shaun

Featured Answer

Shaun Ketterman
Original Author

last year

Thanks for all the replies everyone. Going to have it steam cleaned once more, and if that doesnt do the trick, getting it replaced. Thanks again!

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Comments (8)

Kendrah
last year
Have you run any air purifiers? I have a nose like a dog, unfortunately, and am super sensitive to a lot of odors. I have an Air IQ hospital grade purifier with multiple charcoal and other kinds of filters. I can often really help with eliminating odors. Rather expensive though.
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Mrs. S
last year
last modified: last year
My handyman had a moisture detector gadget that he recommended I purchase, at Home Depot. He said it wasn't much $$. Perhaps you have a ceiling leak that you don't know about.

I see you said "no issue with ....water leaks" but how do you know that? Perhaps there's a pipe in the ceiling that has sprung a pinhole leak....

But I think maybe it's just old carpet smell, that is more prominent when wet. Might be some kind of mold in the fibers? I don't have expertise in this, but those are the things I'd be thinking about. New carpet for one room isn't going to break the bank, right?
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Olychick
last year
Is there furniture in the room? An adjoining bathroom? Forced air heat/air conditioning?
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Shaun Ketterman
Original Author
last year
@kendrah No, ideally I would in the future, but I don't believe a purifier would remove the source of the smell?

@Mrs. S While I have not gone up into the attic space to confirm, I would imagine that if water was, in fact, leaking up there that I would see signs...flaking / bubbling paint, water stains, etc. Also, since the smell was not present until I shampooed the carpet, I don't think it would be a leak up there. The carpet does not smell like the room when I put my nose down to it, even when I pulled it back and gave the backing a smell. The fiber side and the backing both smell 'clean', and the carpet pad smells like carpet pad. The room, thought, smells like dirt.

@Olychick - no, there was nothing in the room when I started to clean, and nothing has been put in there since. The closet in that bedroom shares a wall with a bathroom. I did not shampoo the carpet in the closet, and there is no smell in the bathroom whatsoever. Yes, forced air does circulate in that room.

Thanks to everyone for the replies. When I got home from work today, I pulled the entire carpet out of the bedroom, closed the window, turned the ceiling fan off, and shut the door. Just went in a few minutes ago and the smell is appreciably better. Now the room just kinda smells like the padding and a little bit "fumy" from the glue. I'm going to wait until the morning to confirm, but for now, it seems like the carpet is, in fact, the problem.

Shaun
Shaun Ketterman
Original Author
last year
It is 100% the carpet.

So now Im thinking of making a cleaner (maybe 3% hydrogen peroxide + baking soda), soaking the carpet in the mixture for 30 minutes, then using a pressure washer to rinse it completely. i just need to let it air dry for a few hours. hopefully that does the trick. would that all be a good idea?

A bit irritating that the chem dry cleaning did not remove the odor from the carpet though.
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G & S Floor Service
last year
There might have been a chemical reaction with the cleaning product to cause it to gas off. Check to see if, the cleaners has any limitations to specific types of carpets.
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cat_ky
last year
Thats not a huge piece of carpet. Could get a remnant, for not a lot of money. I would replace the carpet, so I could be done with it.