Asked on Jun 18, 2014

musty smell in house

Dianne
by Dianne
We recently purchased a small home to be neat grand children.. or had not been lived in for quite a while.
It had concrete slab floors but no floor covering. The problem is it seems to have a musty smell all time. We tried the air fresheners etc..have newly painted everything...thanks for any ideas.
Any idea how to get rid of musty smell..
  8 answers
  • Claire Claire on Jun 18, 2014
    I had this problem, I set bowls of white vinegar around the room(my case finished basement) and in a few days it was gone
  • Diane Woods Diane Woods on Jun 18, 2014
    I have a dehumidifier running all the time in my basement, It really helps
  • Pamela Pamela on Jun 18, 2014
    Both ideas above are great to try. If you do run a De-humidifier you need to get yourself one of those instruments that tells you how much humidity is still in the air. I believe it is called a Hygrometer. We have to run a DE-humidifier constantly especially with all this rain. Another thing you can use is charcoal. Just plain charcoal, the cheap kind. Set it out in bowls and it will help absorb the odor as well. The other thing is you can buy one of those instruments at Walmart where they sell the filters and such. I hope all these suggestions help you get rid of the damp musty smell!!!
  • Sherry Omey Sherry Omey on Jun 18, 2014
    Check the grade around the outside of the house and where the gutters are discharging. If the odor keeps coming back you might have water standing under the slab.
  • Rosanne Rosanne on Jun 18, 2014
    we run our dehumidifier in the summer in the basement. It has a readout of % of humidity in the air. Right before it fills up, the % is as high as 85%!
  • Wanda sinnema Wanda sinnema on Jun 18, 2014
    also try REAL VANILLA,,,,its a naturalizer.... works for fish odors.... place an open bottle on the counter when you get it out the fish,,by bedtime no more odor...... I live in an area where there are latino grocery stores.....theirs is the best and at a reasonable....NOT imatition..... REAL VANILLA extract...YOU MIGHT TRY THAT....
  • Cynthia H Cynthia H on Apr 15, 2015
    I just recently started using Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products (they are sold online and in stores) and I can't get over how fresh and natural they smell. I'm also a big fan of baking soda and vinegar for cleaning. You might need an air cleaner if nothing else works. They actually cost less, for a good one than the dehumidifier, if humidity isn't the problem. You mentioned concrete floors - it shocks me how absorbent concrete can be. I made the mistake of putting the cat's litter box on our enclosed back porch - never again!
  • Leslie Leslie on Apr 17, 2015
    Dehumidifier and try to locate any possible water leaks. Musty smell should decrease dramatically with dehumidifier running.