How to remove the smell of dampness in a house (room, apartment), how to remove it from furniture, clothes, things using folk remedies and household chemicals?

An unpleasant musty smell is a signal that there is a source of dampness in the house that needs to be eliminated urgently.
After all, the smell of dampness does not just disturb the comfortable living in the house. In damp conditions, mold and mildew multiply very quickly, causing great harm to human health. We will tell you in this article how to remove the smell of dampness in your home.

Causes of unpleasant odor in the apartment

The main reason for the smell of dampness in the house is high humidity, which can be triggered by the following factors:

Clogged ventilation ducts, lack of fresh air flow. It is especially important to monitor ventilation in the bathroom, where sudden temperature changes and hot water vapor provoke the appearance of condensation on the walls.
Lack of waterproofing of the roof and foundation, freezing of insufficiently insulated building walls. As a result, warm air in the room, coming into contact with cold walls, drops condensation, which leads to increased humidity and an unpleasant smell of dampness.
Flooding. It doesn’t matter whether the flood in the house was the result of leaking sewer or water pipes, or whether the apartment was flooded by neighbors, it is important to eliminate traces of flooding as quickly as possible so that they do not cause an unpleasant damp smell.

Also, the reasons for the appearance of a musty smell in the house can be:

drying wet laundry in the room,
constantly dripping faucets,
a huge number of flowers in flowerpots (frequent watering provokes increased humidity in the room).

Causes

Before starting a heroic battle against this phenomenon, it is necessary to study the possible causes of dampness:

Flooding of the apartment by neighbors above or roof leakage if the property is on the top floor. Often water accumulates on a suspended ceiling and cannot be visually detected, so many people do not take this factor into account. If the problem is obvious, you will have to make repairs or dry out the flooded room for several days.
Accommodation on the first floor. The situation is typical for owners of Khrushchev apartments: if a leak occurs in the basement, condensation accumulates there and settles on the walls, and subsequently a bad aroma penetrates into the apartment through cracks in the floor. Only major repairs and waterproofing of the floor will help.
Insufficient insulation of the intra-apartment water supply system. Condensation forms on the pipes, which contributes to the formation of plaque. To avoid this, you need to carefully insulate everything, removing the dew point inside the insulation.
Poor ventilation. During the process of life, steam accumulates in the kitchen, and if there is insufficient ventilation, mold forms, and along with it, it begins to smell musty.
Passion for floriculture. If people water flowers, but forget to ventilate the room, after a while, due to the moist soil, the house or apartment will begin to smell extremely unpleasant.
The smell of shoes will not add comfort to your home. Usually, the problem manifests itself in rainy times, when shoes or boots get wet, or if the owner’s feet sweat intensely. We recommend drying your shoes thoroughly and using special sprays.
If the bathroom smells like unwashed laundry, pay attention to the towels and walls (especially in the corners), apparently a lot of moisture accumulates on them. Liquid, even in microscopic quantities, provokes the active development of microorganisms. This often ends with the appearance of dark moldy spots. Before removing mold, we recommend that you clean up the room and carefully study the article provided in the link.

What to do first?

The first thing to do if there is a damp smell in the house is to thoroughly ventilate all the rooms . In the autumn-winter period - warm up the air in the rooms (add heating devices).

If airing and warming the air does not help get rid of the unpleasant odor, you should carefully inspect the walls, roof, foundation of the building, as well as the water supply and sewer pipe system for leaks.

Only by eliminating the cause of dampness can you begin to fight its consequences - the musty smell in the house.

How to avoid mold odor

The main reason for the appearance of fungus is high humidity in the apartment. It is possible to prevent the appearance of mold by creating an environment unsuitable for its development - dryness. What needs to be done to remove the fungus and avoid its re-formation:

check the ventilation and correct problems in its operation;
buy a dehumidifier;
ventilate the room daily;
try not to keep moisture-loving plants in the house, and also not to dry clothes.

Mustiness in clothing or linen closets due to moisture is easy to eliminate. To get rid of it, just put a few tablets of activated angle and a bag soaked in essential oil.

It is recommended to regularly inspect problem areas: corners, the floor under linoleum or carpet, the wall behind the sofa, under the bathtub, in order to notice mold in time. You may need to change your heating system if your apartment is constantly cold and damp. In non-residential premises, it is customary to remove moisture by placing a box with cat litter, soda or crushed activated carbon.

How to eliminate it using folk remedies?

Once the cause of the dampness has been eliminated, you can begin to combat the smell of dampness. First of all, they use accessible and safe folk remedies:

Baking soda solution (4 teaspoons of baking soda are dissolved in a liter of warm water). A soft sponge is moistened in the resulting solution and wiped all surfaces in the room (walls, floors, furniture).
Salt and activated carbon . The tablets are ground into powder and mixed with salt (proportion 1:1). The resulting mixture is poured into a glass container, which is left on open cabinet shelves, racks, or simply on the table.
Pomander is the fruit of an orange, lemon or grapefruit decorated with clove seeds. Little spicy stars are simply pricked onto the citrus fruit in a chaotic manner. Pomander not only perfectly neutralizes the smell of dampness, but also decorates the interior of the room. As the citrus fades, it needs to be replaced.
Lemon acid . Dissolve 1 tsp in 250 ml of water. citric acid, after which all surfaces in the room are treated with the resulting product.
Vinegar. It is ignited through a spray bottle onto the floor, walls and furniture. After thirty minutes, wipe the treated surfaces with a soft damp cloth.

After cleaning (especially with the use of strong-smelling compounds), the room must be thoroughly ventilated.

Features of treating various fabrics against mold

There are many ways to remove mold from fabric. However, each type of material has its own cleaning method.

Leather products may be processed:

soap solution;
diluted alcohol;
vodka;
water with the addition of ammonia.

You need to treat the affected area with one of the selected products and leave the product for 2 hours.

Cotton clothing can be cleaned using:

Onions. To do this, you need to treat the stain with vegetable juice and leave for half an hour. After the procedure, wash the item.
Curdled milk. Soak clothes in it for 12 hours.
Whiteness. Dilute the bleach with water and soak the clothes in the resulting mixture for 10 minutes.

To process silk and wool products you will need:

Using a cotton swab, treat the stain with turpentine, and then sprinkle it with clay.
Rub chalk onto the contaminated area and iron it through a sheet of paper.

Synthetic clothing is treated with a solution made from water and ammonia.

Special preparations

If folk remedies do not help to completely eliminate the unpleasant smell of dampness, re-treatment is carried out using special antiseptic compounds.

Before purchasing, you must make sure that the selected product is suitable for treating internal surfaces and does not contain toxic or caustic substances.

Universal antiseptic Dali

Destroys foci:

fungus,
mold,
moss,
dampness from any type of surface (brick, plaster, wood, cardboard, ceramic tile).

There is no need to dilute the antiseptic before application. Liquid without color. Economical consumption allows you to treat large areas of affected surfaces. The average cost is 600 rubles. (5 l canister).

Eskaro Biotol Spray

Designed for treating various surfaces in areas of high importance . Biotol spray is effective as a prophylactic agent, as well as as a composition that destroys breeding grounds for mold and moss (sources of damp odors). The average cost is 300 rubles. (500 ml bottle).

Protective composition Belinka

A product that quickly destroys mold and mildew spores and the smell of dampness in the room. Does not contain bleaching components, retains the natural color of treated surfaces.

Before use, the drug is diluted with water (concentration 1:4). The average cost is 350 rubles. (bottle 1 l).

Before applying any chemical composition, you must carefully study the manufacturer's instructions.

Traditional methods against dampness

Bleach

Bleach (chlorine) is very effective, but also dangerous for humans

It must be used carefully. The solution is prepared by diluting the product with water 1:10.

The following products are not as effective and are not suitable for removing stubborn stains from porous surfaces. But they are also less harmful to the health of residents.

Vinegar

Spray on the affected areas and wipe off with a damp cloth after a few hours. The procedure is repeated after a few days.

Baking soda

Not toxic to humans. To achieve the result, a concentrated solution of soda is applied to the rotten areas, after which it is not washed off with water.

Hydrogen peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide, undiluted, like baking soda, is applied to mold stains. But this method is only suitable for white walls and things, since peroxide discolors it.

Ammonia

Ammonia can remove mold, but the procedure is repeated several times. Prepare a 1:1 solution with water, apply to the affected area and wash off after a few hours. This solution should not be mixed with other products, as a chemical reaction may occur.

How to remove from various surfaces?

In the process of removing the smell of dampness in the house, it is important to pay attention to what materials the sources of the unpleasant odor are made of. For what type of surfaces is there a special approach to cleaning that allows not only to refresh, but also to maintain their original appearance.

Furniture

In order to permanently get rid of the musty smell of dampness from furniture, you must adhere to the following algorithm of actions:

Place several tablets of activated carbon or sachets of silica gel into a closet emptied of clothes. Salt, tea bags or baking soda placed on the shelves will also help to “pull out” unpleasant odors and moisture from the cabinet.
Wipe the cabinet walls (on all sides), shelves and crossbars with a rag soaked in a vinegar solution (2 tablespoons per liter of water is enough). After treatment, the cabinet must be left open for several days to allow the slight aroma of vinegar to dissipate.
If the furniture has been standing in a damp room for a long time, and airing and mowing solution cannot remove the musty smell, a steam generator will come to the rescue. Hot steam treatment will not only refresh, but also disinfect all surfaces.

After the smell of dampness has been removed from the furniture, only cleaned items without foreign odors can be returned to their original place.

Sofas, armchairs

Treating the upholstery with lemon juice or a weak solution of potassium permanganate will help
remove the smell of dampness from upholstered furniture . It is important to test the effect of the solution on an inconspicuous area of the upholstery before cleaning.

Leather sofas or armchairs are wiped with a sponge soaked in a soap solution with the addition of a small amount of ammonia (for one liter of water you need to take 1 teaspoon of ammonia and 50 ml of liquid soap).

After cleaning, leather upholstery should be wiped with a clean damp cloth , then dry with paper towels.

Clothes and other things

The first thing to do is hang things out for airing. Fresh air and sun rays will do their job and there will be no trace of the smell of dampness.

If ventilation does not help and the musty smell does not completely disappear, you can use the following methods:

fur and knitwear products wrapped in polyethylene are placed in the freezer for twenty-four hours;
clothes made from natural fabrics (cotton, linen) are ironed at the highest temperature setting. Additionally, perfumed water is poured into the iron;
clothes made from expensive silk fabrics and wool products are processed using a steamer;
white items are treated with a cotton swab dipped in a solution of alcohol and ascorbic acid (2-3 tablets per 100 ml of alcohol are enough).

To ensure that clothes never smell damp, they can only be stored in a closet when they are well dried.

Carpets

to eliminate the unpleasant smell of dampness from carpeting :

We use baking soda (the powder not only absorbs unpleasant odors, but also moisture).
The soda is carefully spread over the surface of the carpet in a thin layer and left for at least twelve hours. After using a vacuum cleaner, the soda is collected from the fleecy covering.
A weak solution of vinegar will help clean the carpet not only from the smell of dampness, but also from traces of mold.
Table vinegar is diluted with water (1 tbsp of vinegar is enough for 500 ml of water). The resulting solution is sprayed onto the carpet. After the coating has dried, it is thoroughly cleaned with a vacuum cleaner.

To enhance the cleaning effect, you can add 1 tsp to the vinegar solution. hydrogen peroxide. Before applying any product to the carpet, it should be tested on a small, inconspicuous area.

How to get rid of damp smell on furniture?

If the smell of dampness is observed in the closet, then you need to resort to the following methods:

First, remove all things from the closet. Open all the drawers, place inside a mixture of activated carbon and salt
Leave it on for a few days. You can put silica gel instead of this mixture
This mixture is left for several days. These bulk substances absorb excess moisture, so the damp smell disappears
After this, you need to take the peel of an orange, lemon or tangerine, stick a few cloves into it
Spicy herbs do not need to be removed from the cabinet; you can immediately add laundry and clothes
It will smell pleasantly of citrus fruits and herbs.
It is also worth noting that upholstered furniture is often saturated with the smell of dampness.
In this case, you need to take it outside for a few days, perhaps to the country house.
In direct sunlight, upholstered furniture will dry completely to the deepest layers
If this is not possible, then it is worth replacing the upholstery
If you can’t afford this option, we recommend scattering dry, green tea or coffee beans on the sofa
Leave for several hours. Such products absorb moisture well and impart a pleasant aroma to upholstered furniture.

Damp smell

Neutralizing amber in the bathroom

The smell of dampness in the bathroom is a signal that you need to check the operation of the hood . Perhaps the old fan cannot cope and it is necessary to replace it with a more powerful device.

Then you should fix any leaks, wash the dirty laundry accumulated in the basket, and freshen the shower curtains. After all possible causes of unpleasant odor in the bathroom have been diagnosed and eliminated, all surfaces are wiped with water and borax (a glass of borax is enough for 2.5 liters).

How to remove the feeling of dampness left after the flood?

If you still have to make repairs after a flood, then first thoroughly dry the repair area, remove mold and use a primer with antibacterial additives.

If the flooding is not severe, install a dehumidifier or heater, buy an odor absorber at the store, in most cases it is an aerosol spray. Check to see if there is mold under the wallpaper, carpet, linoleum or in other places. Additionally, we recommend drying upholstered furniture, rugs, shoes and clothes.

Prevention measures

You can forever forget about the smell of dampness in your home if you follow the following recommendations:

Rooms must be ventilated at least twice a day. It is especially important to open windows after wet cleaning and in the kitchen while cooking.
It is important to monitor the condition of water pipes, sewerage and ventilation in the bathroom. If any problems occur, repairs must be carried out immediately.
Do not put wet clothes and shoes in the closet. Wet bath towels should be immediately washed or hung on a heated towel rail.

Installing an air conditioner will help maintain a comfortable temperature and humidity and, as a result, forever forget about the smell of dampness in the house.

Features of cleaning different rooms

It is recommended to select methods for combating fungus taking into account the conditions in which mold appeared. In particular, you need to take into account the type of material on which the smelly stains appeared.

Living room

If mold appears in the living room, you will need to treat not only the walls, but also the upholstered furniture. To clean the latter and carpets, use a mixture of 500 milliliters of hot water, a tablespoon of dishwashing detergent (washing powder) and soda, and 100 milliliters of vinegar. This solution is then sprayed over the problem areas.

Bathroom

Mold appears more often in the bathroom than in other rooms. When carrying out disinfection in this part of the apartment, it is necessary to pay special attention to the seams between the tiles, scrubbing these areas with a toothbrush.

Towels and other bathroom items must be rinsed in a mixture of water and bleach.

Bedroom

To remove the smell of mold, it is recommended to put various flavors or citrus peels in cabinets. It is also necessary to regularly ventilate the bedroom, and periodically leave open containers of vinegar on the shelves.

Adviсe

A few secrets will help you get rid of the smell of dampness in your home as quickly as possible:

essential oils added to water for washing floors will not only eliminate the smell of dampness, but also fill the room with pleasant aromas;
By adding a few tablespoons of vinegar to the washing machine along with the washing powder, you can quickly get rid of the unpleasant smell of dampness on your bed linen;
treating books with tea tree essential oil will help eliminate the unpleasant smell of dampness from paper publications.

The pronounced smell of dampness is the result of damage to surfaces by fungal and mold spores. To prevent pathogenic bacteria from entering the respiratory tract during the cleaning process, the nose and mouth must be protected with a respirator.

You will find a lot of useful and important information about removing various unpleasant odors from objects and surfaces in this section.

Home remedies to combat fungus and dampness indoors

There are many industrial compositions for combating fungus, and how to choose them and how to use them, check with specialists. We offer inexpensive, but quite effective home-made products made from scrap materials:

Bleach will eliminate almost all types of fungi along with their spores. We must remember that under its influence some things may deteriorate. To treat the surface, use a mixture consisting of 10 parts water and 1 part bleach.
Hydrogen peroxide 3% solution, which is applied to moldy surfaces by spraying, and after 10 minutes of exposure, all covered areas are thoroughly cleaned mechanically.
Vinegar and soda: the affected areas are first covered with a layer of dry baking soda, and then filled with vinegar. At the end of the chemical reaction, all defects can be easily removed or washed off with water.
A mixture of water and laundry soap can also act as a natural antiseptic and be used to combat mold.
Tea tree oil, as well as soap solution, is used for minor problems. The method is to apply a mixture of oil and water in a ratio of 1:50 with a spray bottle and leave to dry naturally.