Carpet Care Solutions: The store had smelled so bad they were actually using candles!

Clean Interiors

We received an urgent spot cleaning call to help a retail store with a smell by their front doors and windows. They had an apparent mildew problem. The employees had been burning candles during store hours to help mask the awful smell! It had been making them sick.

On first inspection the carpet tested wet all around the main entrance doors and there was visible white powder all along the window sills. I removed a small section of carpet from the floor to inspect for mold.

However, instead of being a major mold problem, the carpet seemed to be filled with road salt, preventing it from drying. No wonder with this being one of the worst winters and snowfall in years here in Pittsburgh.

This resulted in a noticeable smell from mildew on the surface of the carpet. Unskilled carpet cleaners would have simply extracted the carpet at this point --- but regular carpet cleaning detergents would act as “padlocks” on the road salt, leaving the road salt imbedded in the carpet. The carpet would take even longer to get dry and the smell would continue to worsen.

So what could be done? I chemically neutralized the road salt turning it into more of a table salt that could then be extracted. I ended the treatment with a premium odor remover that is designed to eliminate mold, mildew, & other odors. The manager was so happy, she said we went above and beyond, and that the service was far exceeding their expectations.