<p>I just moved into a new apartment this semester and I was wondering if you parents had any tips on removing moldy mildewy smells from an apartment. It’s a mid-year sublease, and it turns out my new roommates aren’t the cleanest guys in the world (I didn’t know any of them previously). I mean, I’m not a neat freak, but I have limits. </p>
<p>I’m pretty confident I can deal with the people problems (i.e. telling them I think we should keep the apartment cleaner without calling them the slobs I think they are–also the RA is an old friend if it needs to come to that), but right now I want to deal with the immediate problems of the smell. Neutra-air and like products work temporarily, but I think the smell is in the carpet. Should I borrow my dad’s carpet shampoo and cleaner/vacuum? Or do you all have any other suggestions?</p>
<p>My girlfriend refuses to hang out at my apartment unless I clean it up. She wouldn’t even come inside to help me unpack–just stood outside the door watching my stuff.</p>
<p>Any help is appreciated.</p>
<p>The problem is probably in the carpet, or actually in the carpet pad. Liquids spilled on the carpet spread around under the pad and grow mold if they contain any nutrients (can you spell beer?)<br>
I googled mold carpet and got some helpful answers… if you can isolate it to one area perhaps you could pull the carpet in that area and replace the pad. Spray that area with vinegar, pull the carpet and spray under the pad with bleach, etc. All depend on it being in one isolated area. If it’s the whole apartment, you can’t really do that yourself. Using your dad’s cleaner might help short term but will put more moisture into the pad and might just make it worse.
Are you on the lease officially or only taking over someone’s slot? That will make a difference in whether you have any legal claim to ask the landlord for a remedy.<br>
Worst case, weigh if you would rather put up with the stink and girlfriend not visiting or break the rental agreement and try to find another place.</p>
<p>If you have mold in the carpet then that is probably too big a problem for you to tackle on your own, but if you’re just looking for something to help the smell I suggest a product called “Fresh Wave Odor Neutralizing Crystals”. You can buy it at Ace Hardware stores or probably order it online. I leave an open jar in my unfinished basement and it really absorbs the musty odors from the sump pit and crawl space. I know it sounds hard to believe, but my basement really does have a funky smell unless I have an open jar of it down there. </p>
<p>Can you request a professional carpet cleaning? That would probably work much better than a do-it-yourself carpet shampooer because I have one of those and even the best does not have great suction. The carpet will smell even worse when wet, and if you clean it yourself it will take a long time to dry. The professionals use hotter water and have much stronger suction so your carpet will dry a lot faster. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>The crystals sound like a good fix–when the semester starts I’ll ask the RA about other cleaning options. The lease is officially mine now. Part of my lease stated that I accepted the apartment as my lessor left it, but I don’t want to be charged at the end of my lease for the replacement of moldy, smelly carpet that was like that when I arrived.</p>
<p>Thanks for the help!</p>