The Stubborn Carpet Smell That Wouldn't Go Away

We've rented for many years and would consider ourselves to be "good renters" - responsible and conscientious toward the landlord and his or her property. We have two young children so we're aware that spillages and damage are very real possibilities (likelihoods?). While it would be lovely to rent a place that didn't have carpets for this reason alone, the carpets also protect our little ones a bit more when they fall over (twins who are just learning to walk).

However, one spill meant that we had to get the professional carpet cleaners in well before the end of tenancy clean-up: a whole glass of milk spilt on carpet, unnoticed by an adult...for what might have been at least an hour. We never really thought it was a big deal at the time. We cleaned up the spill, and scrubbed away any noticeable stain. Job done. Or so we thought.

In fact, a lingering smell had taken residence in our living room. A smell that got worse with each passing hour. We aired the room - all the windows wide open. It didn't budge. We went to bed hoping the smell would be gone in the morning. Nope. In fact, it seemed to take on a more complex "bouquet" - one that shifted in aroma the longer you stayed in the room. We tried to vacuum the smell away. It wasn't having it. The only solution was to call up our trusty carpet cleaners. By this time, we'd grown a grudging respect for the smell. It seemed impervious to anything. We warned the cleaning company that this wasn't some ordinary clean-up. This smell seemed to have a life of its own.

Rest assured, the cleaning company eradicated the smell with their magic potions - not sure if they had to cast a spell, but if they did, it wouldn't have surprised me. Perhaps they put the smell in a box and released it into the wild somewhere.

Needless to say, no glasses of milk were allowed in the living room after that.

Article kindly provided by carpetcleaninginfarnham.co.uk