Oh god, my house smells like a youth hostel

[putyourhatonsweetie]

Any help much appreciated - have recently moved to the tropics and while it has many advantages my house errr smells. that sort of muggy wetsuit smell I associate with weeks at pgl with teenage boys. This is not sustainable.

Am keeping windows open as much as possible (though not much air gets through due to mosquito screens ...), changing the beds often and, where possible, trying to get dh to hang out elsewhere (joking, ish). anything else I can do?

cheers x

Do you have carpets? You could try having them steam cleaned. Or having them removed altogether in favour of tiles or some other hard flooring.
How "tropical" is your area? Are you in Aus? I am in SE Qld, but spent some time further north too.
We have just moved but the house we rented while building this one was very musty.You could smell it as soon as you opened the door. It helped a bit to keep the bathroom doors closed while showering so that the steam couldn't get to the rest of the house/wardrobes etc.

Had your house been unused for a while before you moved in? If so, the fusty smell will probably disperse soon now that the place is occupied.

I'm in Malaysia. I can imagine that some places here would be as you describe. We're in a purpose-built flat, though, and when I open the doors and windows the air does pass through. Putting on the ceiling fans helps ventilate the place. Also we've got hard floors throughout and not too much in the way of soft furnishings.

Might be worth buying some dehumidifiers. They're available here in the supermarkets. Cheap plastic boxes with granules in - throw away after use. Probable there are higher tech versions also.

Good luck! Cannot be fun living somewhere that smells like pgl/youth hostel/scout camp.

I didn't mean to write purpose-built flat, doh. I meant ninth-floor flat. As in up high off the damp ground. Better ventilated than a low-lying house.

thanks so much for replying - we are in central qld.Its particularly noticable when it rains so i reckon it'll get worse!

we have carpet in the bedroom and that is the smelliest room - so could be the problem. hard floors everywhere else. will give it a really good clean and see if that helps - can't remove as renting for now. will also try the dehumidifiers.

thanks again xx

Hi OP!

If it's the bedroom then try to ventilate it as much as poss. Hang the quilt over the balcony railing in the morning. Put the aircon on at night. Close the bedroom door when the bathroom is in use. Keep the place cool and aired.

Final thought: Investigate ALL the shoes (from experience I know that some are worse than others, and trainers or certain types of sandals are the worst).

:)

aaah - the bathroom could be a big part of it - children coming in and out when we are showering and certainly not consciously closing the bathroom doors. and we often leave the door open when we bath them as well. But yep - can certainly see if that helps.

don't think shoes will be the problem as they don't often make it to the bedroom.

thanks all - operation fresh house starts tomorrow morning....!

Bicarb of soda sprinkeled heavily over the carpet, leave it as long as you can bear and then hoover?.

My sympathies. Something I don't miss about living in Qld!

We found the older houses we lived in were far worse than the newer ones.