I need help with a stinky problem.

[mariolatry]

Get your mind out of the gutter!!

Actually, there is something in my bedroom that stinks. It smells sort of like a wet towel shoved down and forgotten somewhere. My first thought is that the kitties left us a little "present" somewhere but I have searched every corner, including the closets, and found nothing.

I've taken all the laundry and trash out of the room. I've taken all the linens out and washed them in hot water. I've sniffed tested all of the shoes and the master bath (definitely not either of those). I stuck my head up in the attic hatch over the bedroom, which is closed off about a foot into it, but there is no smell there. The smell seems to be getting worse.

Any suggestions? I told my husband that maybe something died in the walls but he said we wouldn't be able to smell it that much. Who would you call to check out a problem like this? We've only owned the home for 3 months.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

You need to get up into your attic. Maybe you have a dead animal there or water damage.

 

[MosMom]

Sounds like water damage somewhere.

 

[Fast Pass]

It seems to be almost like a mold or mildew thing.Is it a band new house?I would immediately have someone come out to the house and do an inspection. If you do have mold and mildew I would march to your real estate person and lodge a complaint. If the smell is even just in your room it could spread to other rooms.
I hope I am wrong because that is a very expensive repair. Maybe someone else on the boards will have a less frightening solution or reason for the odor.(Even if the odor is from the carpet you still might have mold or mildew under the carpet).
Good Luck, believe me I can relate. We lived in a house with mold and mildew for about two years before we realized what was making us sick(thank God we were only renting)!

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[Jynohn]

If you have cats then it's probably a dead mouse. I had a similar smell in my house a few years ago, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was. It smelled like that moldy odor that your laundry gets if you forget to put in in the dryer right away, only much stronger. I finally figured out it was coming from a laundry basket and emptied it out thinking that it was just some damp clothes in there that was causing the smell. Sure enough there was a mouse in the bottom of the basket. It must have run in there trying to get away from the cat and died.

 

[1rockinmamato2]

Pet urine/stool and dead animals don't smell like wet towels. Sounds like a mold issue to me.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We had a smell like melting rubber. It smelled EXACTLY like a pacifier or bottle nipple stuck on the heating element of the dishwasher, only we haven't had a baby in our house for 11 years and the smell wasn't coming from the dishwasher.

We thought it was part of the heater. We had the guys out to work on the heater. They replaced some parts, the smell got better. Then right before we were supposed to go to WDW the smell got stronger. It was most noticeable in the doorway of the master bedroom, usually early in the morning. We called the guys back out to check the heater because I didn't want the house to burst into flames while we were gone. The pulled out the entire heating unit but they couldn't find anything.

They were ready to give up when the guy on the ladder looked over to the side. He thought there was something funny about our light fixture in the hall. There was a foam cat ball in the light fixture, and the heat from the bulb had melted it into a black, sticky mess.

When I get up in the morning I turn those lights on, and the heat from the bulb would release that burning smell. The fixture is right outside the bedroom door.

I was SOOOO embarrassed. I'm sure the repair guys thought I was dumber than a box of rocks. I had a long talk with DS about NOT tossing the cat toys with so much vigor.

Good luck with your mildew smell. You just never know what might be causing a smell.