My flat has a smell and im ashamed.

[Thetickleishone]

Hi there

I need some help advice or criticism.

I live in a ground floor 2 bedroom flat with other half and 8 year old girl.

When we leave we close all the windows and ive noticed when I get back in after a few hours theres a noticeable smell. Its not offensive but its quite musty and noticeable And I think about it 24/7. Admittedly the flat isn't spotless. The bedrooms can be cluttered. But living room and bathroom are always clear and clean. Kitchen is 50/50 depending on the situation but at the worst only yesterday's cooking items have been left out.

What am I or arent I doing to cause this. PLEASE HELP

The other thing to check is if there's a drip tray at the back of the fridge/fridge freezer which needs emptying.

Do you have pets? Their bedding may need a wash or one of them may have peed or left you a "gift"
If you have floorboards rather than a concrete floor then lift a board to see if there's a leak on the supply into the building.

Assuming you own (you mention a survey), it's usually possible to retrofit window restricters, which only allow the windows open a few cm, allowing them to be open during the day.

As a test, try a few weeks of taking your laundry to a laundrette to tumble dry.

Thanks ChatGPT I will let you know

All good advice above but as a little extra, I buy pure eucalyptus oil from home bargains for £1 and put a few drops on rugs, carpets and radiators. It’s better than using air fresheners as it’s natural and chemical free.

Next time, before you go out, close all the doors. Then enter each room one at a time and note whether it smells or not. If you know where the smell is coming from that will help.

Possibly damp? I stayed one night in a cheap Travel Lodge hotel last week on the way to Wales, and it had a musty smell. Almost like a dog.

Do you have any carpets and do any of you walk around in bare feet frequently? This can make carpets and rooms smell really bad - admittedly musty and sweaty aren't the same but it is another possible source of odours.

Do you have an unwashed dishcloth somewhere? Maybe under the sink?
Or does your kitchen bin smell, I swill mine with boiling water after removing the liner as the bucket just ends up stinking for some reason, even with no leakage into it.

Don’t feel ashamed! I once went on holiday and SIl scrubbed my kitchen out as she said it smelt. Never noticed!

have you recently cleaned the tops of kitchen cabinet, extractor fan grills and things like that? The kitchen bin under the kid can get rank quickly.

caustic soda down all the drains (follow instructions to the letter!), clean out shower drain and clean pedestal of the toilet and bathroom floor with shaving foam.

wash your cushion covers, blankets and any loose covers for the sofa.

wash out your linen baskets if you can.

I live in a 1960s flat, open windows and ventilation as much as possible even in a winter in morn for a hour clothes dried on clothes horse but towels and bedding in a dryer and loads of air fresheners and I a dehumidifier!!

Dehumidifier will help massively with drying indoors, speeds it up and will stop condensation on surfaces.

remember to put lids on all pans when cooking and run the extractors. When showering afterwards leave the extractor on and the window open as far at it will go. Squeedgy all the surface as you come out.

No damp on survey when we moved in only 3 years ago

I don't think you can rely on that for small water ingresses that could have started since or not been picked up at the time.

This is the biggie to rule out. Get a builder or similar to use a moisture meter to test your walls, floor (especially as you're ground floor) etc.

Absolutely the flat above could have a leaking sink, shower, bath, loo, slowly leaking into the floor/joists above you

Normally it is damp but also look out for
pet food/pet litter
bins
Towels or bathmats that hang about damp
area around cooker where grease spatters
any storage space for shoes and trainers
coats and bags that don’t get washed

I noticed a bad smell in our hall. It was the shoes. I put essential oil into baking powder and sprinkled it in all the shoes then hoovered it up hours later. I also put essential oil on a cotton ball and stuck it in the hoover bag . And I bought
new pillows . It may just be from drying clothes inside though, and there’s not much you can do about that

Awful smell in front porch turned out to be DH Karri moor sandals. Well I washed, disinfection the hell out of them. After a couple of days the smell was back. After googling turned out that it was a common incurable issue. So in the bin they went.