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Housekeeping

Find cleaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Housekeeping forum.

Original poster

Inherited carpet in our tiny loo smells

21 replies

deliakate · 15/03/2011 18:37

.... we think of stale wee. The previous owner had a young son, and I cleaned quite a lot of sticky yellow wee spots off the wall behind the loo itself. He must have got some on the floor too we think.

Its a berber twist carpet, quite large twists. I think I am going to hire a carpet cleaner and give it a go myself - should I get a steam cleaner? Or a carpet shampoo-machine? Any tips where to get it from. Thanks, ladies!

OP posts:
BeenBeta · 15/03/2011 18:41

Take it out wearing a sturdy pair of rubber gloves, burn it, then lay some tiles.

A carpet in a loo is beyond my comprehension.

usualsuspect · 15/03/2011 18:42

Take it out

NorthernGobshite · 15/03/2011 18:44

Take it out and tile the floor instead. Carpet in a loo is just too nasty.

IngridBergmann · 15/03/2011 18:57

If it's a tiny loo, chuck it and buy a new one (if you must have carpet in the loo)

I would tile it or get some vinyl which should cost about 50p if it's tiny Smile

gregssausageroll · 15/03/2011 19:13

Rip it up!

We moved into this house and the first thing I do when I opened the door and put down the keys was to lift the horrific pink carpet in the bathroom.

Bleugh. Totally unhygenic.

Original poster
deliakate · 15/03/2011 19:18

I would dearly love to replace it, but that particular carpet has been discontinued. Replacing it with another kind/with tiles will look a bit bitty won't it.... the whole upstairs is in the same carpet - except for the two bathrooms, which have large terracotta tiles.

Although could be a good excuse to redo the whole room - DH will have kittens about me spending more £££

OP posts:
ginmakesitallok · 15/03/2011 19:19

dump it! If it's a tiny loo then it will be cheap to refit with lino/vinyl

noddyholder · 15/03/2011 19:20

Rip it out and bleach the floor and live with it until you canreplace it

ginmakesitallok · 15/03/2011 19:20

It won't look bitty - and it'll smell a lot better!

MaryMotherOfCheeses · 15/03/2011 19:20

Gosh I'd bin it too.

Don't worry about looking bitty and not matching rest of carpet - loos surely shouldn't have carpet at all.

ethelina · 15/03/2011 19:21

Rip it out and burn it. No self respecting toilet has a carpet. Bleurgh

Original poster
deliakate · 15/03/2011 19:27

Come to think of it, the boards might be quite nice underneath. I guess they'll need a good scrub/ bleach like noddy says.

OP posts:
BluddyMoFo · 15/03/2011 19:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

going · 15/03/2011 19:32

The underlay probably smells too, I would also just get rid of it!

IngridBergmann · 15/03/2011 19:40

If there are boards, bleach them, and wait for them to dry out (maybe don't let kids use it in the interim to prevent further accidents) and then fill between them with flexible filler, and then a few coats of nice varnish or somesuch so they can be cleaned easily and don't absorb anything.

Should be quite nice. Then if you decide to vinyl or tile it, lay hardboard first or you'll get ridges. I hardboarded our cloakroom last year and though a bit intensive it was an interesting job and I enjoyed the challenge. The vinyl though was v thick so I got some guys in to lay that and they turned up and said 'cor, that hardboard is better than wot we would of done' Hmm which turned out to be rather portentous of the appalling job they did with the vinyl. Grin But it's 'alright' as they said while reducing their fee by a fiver. So it'll do for now!

Bumblequeen · 16/03/2011 00:25

This reply has been deleted

Withdrawn at poster's request.

Dred · 16/03/2011 07:22

Definately throw it out. I put a small piece of carpet in my bathroom once & it started stinking in just a few weeks, mainly damp from the bath.

MrsSharp · 16/03/2011 08:31

I work in our family flooring business, and you would be surprised how many people still choose to fit carpet in their bathroom! Some people choose normal carpet but others chose special bathroom carpet with an impervious backing (and you can put it in the washing machince - if it's small enough obviously!). I think either is yuck, personally (but don't say that to our customers!!!). Having said that, my parents have always had carpet in their bathrooms and I've never thought anything about it, but they are v clean and careful about not dripping water wen they step out the shower etc. When you inherit the carpet you really don't know what's been on there do you??!

When we bought our house all three bathrooms were carpeted and gross, and water from the bath had seeped in to the plywood underneath too. We popped a bit of cheap vinyl down to do us until we remodel the bathroom later this year. A good fitter will use a sealant too to make sure there are no little gaps round the loo etc.

One thing I did notice when we took up the carpets in the bathroom is how much more echo-ey the room is - but it's a small price to pay for hygiene!

LIZS · 16/03/2011 08:36

Take it up, it will never feel truly clean ! One of the first things we did in this house was remove carpet in ensuite - bleugh.

allergyhelp · 17/03/2011 12:15

oh boak no..not a smelly carpet in the loo. dig it out and bin it.. dont let the neighbours see or smell it though.. tiles or lino way to go..

BeenBeta · 17/03/2011 12:20

Have you removed the offending article yet?

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