<p>S and his two roommates are happily settled in the freshman dorm, but the place reeks! The carpet (wall to wall) appears to be the source – any ideas of a product that would neutralize the odor? They have myriad room deodorizers set up, fans, but haven’t started buying carpet products. I know there are lots of them out there, but many will just make it worse.</p>
<p>Any suggestions?</p>
<p>How bad IS it?</p>
<p>I would take my handy dandy carpet cleaner and use a solution of Petastic and water and wash the carpet. I wouldn[t use a commercial one because i don’t want to use their soaps … and also because I have my own. I would also spot treat with full strength Petastic any place i could identify as particlarly bad. And then … it needs to DRY … so fans runnign for 24 hrs or so to ventilate.</p>
<p>I have not actually experienced the sensation – his dad moved him in, and commented on it upon his return home. S noted it again today (three days later) when we spoke. On the bright side, “You get used to it after you’ve been in the room a few minutes!”</p>
<p>Doesn’t sound like they’ll be entertaining the opposite sex in their quarters anyway.</p>
<p>All boys to need to have a large supply of Febreeze sent to college with them.</p>
<p>Rent a rug cleaner.??</p>
<p>Only because I have a kid with allergies, the first thing that comes to my mind is possible health problems lurking in that smelly carpet (water, beer, mold…who knows what could be festering in and under that rug). I thought most dorms came with tile floors to eliminate the whole stinky carpet dilemma. There must be a maintenance organization on campus, contact them and report the problem.</p>
<p>Another thought; is the carpet supposed to be there or could it have been left from last year’s occupants? Do the other rooms on the floor have carpet? </p>
<p>If all else fails, a liberal dose of Febreeze and a lot of ventilation.</p>
<p>Agree with dogwood, call maintenance and report it. I say this after dealing with environmental health over odor in my son’s dorm room that ended up (we think, final tests not back yet) being mold growing above ceiling tiles. Did get them to replace ceiling tiles and clean everything with a fungicide.</p>
<p>I don’t know who decided it is a good idea to carpet dorm rooms. I know they are probably a tiny bit quieter, but really, that has to be such a small incremement. They really seem dirty. All of my son’s college dorms are carpeted. It’s gross! The kids don’t even have vacuum cleaners handy. And clearly they are not cleaned between years.</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions! I will pass them along to S, and we’ll find out if he’s just whining to me, or he really wants to make the problem go away.</p>
<p>At the very least, I’ll probably include some Febreeze in his first care package, whenever that may be.</p>
<p>A suggestion would be to go to PetSmart/Petco and get a spray bottle of Simple Solution Carpet stain and Odor Cleaner. SPRAY the area as they leave each morning for a day or too. This is one of the best carpet cleaners as it is an enzyme product which works on the cause and destroy’s it. Works for most any manmade stain as well as pet stains. It however does not work as well if area has been overly treated previously with chemical based cleaners.</p>
<p>Moms</p>