Q:In the corner of my bedroom the carpet smells musty, almost like this mildew moldy smell even the lower part of wall stinks. It has a wooden border (if that helps) the water heater is also on the other side (outdoor patio). I've used baking soda, carpet cleaning spray. The manager had them remove the pad under the carpet only and had it steam clean but all this only seem to mask the smell for a few days. Today the supervisor came and said something about painted the walls. I know what mold/mildew smells like (for I lived in a place that had it for over 3 years) . But the management and there clean crew insists that its nothing. I even had a few friends come over smell the carpet they said it stinks. I don't know what else to do.....any suggestions?

check under the floorboards their may be a dead animal or a human being.

Q:I thre some milk on my carpet and i cleaned it up, now it smells horrible!!! How can I stop this?!!

If the spill is close to a wall, carefully pull the carpet back from the wall and allow the pad under the carpet to dry. With the pad exposed, you will be able to clean / deodorize the pad, which is likely the source of the odor. Keep in mind that it is easy to damage carpet when doing this, but it can be done. If this sounds like too much, rent a steamer and see if that does the trick.

Q:Our cat who is not declawed, will pick at anything. What carpet would be best in the den?

I think you mean Berber carpet. Why don't you simply go to a carpeting warehouse place and see if they have remnants and get them to bind the edges and then lay it down on the good carpet as a large area rug? I did that one place I lived and it worked out quite well. I also went to a place like Bed Bath and Beyond and looked for large area rugs that they have for kids going into dorm rooms and bought two rugs and laid them over my carpet. They were good for several years and when they got bad I rolled them up and threw them away and unrolled some new ones. I think they ran about $30 per rug.

Q:What causes carpet around the edges to turn grey in a stairwell?

The technical term, as used by the carpet cleaning industry, is Filter Dirt. This term refers to soil/dust that has passed through the furnace duct work, and the furnace air filter, and has now attached it self to the carpet fibers. When this dust is circulating through the house, from the cold air return to the heat/air ducts, it picks up an electric charge which makes it difficult to remove from the carpet fibers. When it shows up on the edge of each step, it is thought that the dirt/soil is coming up from the under side of the steps, through the small crack in the wood base holding up the steps. Some people plagued with this problem, have replaced the carpet ,and prior to this, caulked the seams between the steps and the wall. You need to look at getting your air ducts professionally cleaned. They should be cleaned every 5 years, anyway. also, you may need to consider replacing your furnace air filter with a paper pleated style. Do not purchase the 3 for a dollar fiberglass style. The cheap filters have the ability to only trap golf balls and pop cans. They allow most soil and dirt to pass right on through the system. Change your furnace air filter every 4 months religiously. Use a black marker to write on the duct work near the furnace of your change out dates. This gives you a written filter change out record in an appropriate location. The carpet cleaning industry does have a solvent based product to help clean the filtration soil from the carpet. One is called Filter Out. from Pro's Choice. Sometimes the stains are permanent, as the soil while traveling between the air ducts is picking up cooking oils from the kitchen, making for a difficult oil/dust, electrically charged stain to remove. These stains are also found around furniture setting right on the floor, and under doors that remain closed. Hope I've given you some guidance to help deal with future filtration soil problems in your home. (3M makes the best paper pleated air funace filters)

Q:I was hoovering today and I took a closer look at the carpet when I realised my carpet is full of little white cm long bugs. I searched on google and they are saying it is carpet bettle larve. But looki g at the pictures of these beetle larve they look nothing like them. To give you a picture they are pure white cilinder shapes that have a sort of tuft on each end. They are a cm long and I'd expect a mm in diameter. Please help

Carpet beetles and clothes moths attack fibre of animal origin, avoiding the synthetic fabrics. Even synthetics may be attacked if they are soiled by food or animal excrement. The blending of animal fibres and synthetic fibres is now commonplace and make such textiles susceptible to carpet beetle and moth damage. Both carpet beetles and moths prefer secluded areas such as behind curtains and furniture where they are seldom disturbed. In each instance, it is the larva that will cause damage to carpet and other fabrics. Prevention Some carpets are treated during manufacture and should give protection against infestation until the chemicals are removed, either by cleaning or have lost their effect due to normal chemical breakdown. Prevention and correction of carpet pest infestations require special skills and extensive knowledge of the problem and careful workmanship. Protection of carpets and fabrics with high animal fibre content is an ongoing challenge which is now not always possible with the range of safer, less persistent formulations in use in the marketplace today.

Q:i have just bought a thoroughbred who has a very fine coat despite the fact it is winter, he lived out at his previous home but with 2 rugs on. i want to continue having him living out but with so many rugs out there and not having to rug previous horses i am a bit confused! do you have any brands you recomend? how many rugs do you think he will need?i live in england so it can get a bit cold in the winter, i want to rug him because i would rather he keep his nice thin coat and also he is sued to being rugged and what with moving home and meeting all the new horses, not having a rug on might be a bit of a shock to the system!

I would definitely say that Weatherbeeta are the best brand for affordable but comfortable and hard wearing rugs. I've had my weatherbeeta rugs for two years and only had them washed, not reproofed even though one of my horses is a rug wrecker. I have a TB myself and I know how much of a pain it is to rug them! They are very prone to chills and don't really grow an incredibly fluffy coat. Here in scotland its already reached only 4 degrees at night and my hands are frozen, and plus the wind chill makes it a very cold night. My boys are both in mediumweights without necks at the moment at night and lightweights during the day. However this is also because they are getting clipped next week and I want to prepare them for that and not let them get too soft beforehand! For my TB I have this wardrobe - 1 x Lightweight (Mark Todd brand - very good durable, I would say the best out there) 2 x Mediumweight with and without a neck (both Weatherbeeta) 2 x Heavyweight with and without a neck (Mark Todd and Rambo - very good but very expensive brand) The two of the mediumweight / heavyweights mean that in the midst of winter when it gets absolutely FREEZING I can double rug, putting a mediumweight over a heavyweight or vice versa. I also have stable rugs but that depends on whether you are stabling them or not.

Q:my son just spilled 18 litres of paint on his bedroom carpet - I have scooped up what I can but there is obviously a massive paint puddle on the carpet - it is emulsion (non-oil based) - and suggestions?

You can try vinegar, that is what people use to get wine up. The best would be paint thinner but it would probably bleach the carpet.

Q:My horse lives in a paddock all week round and with the current climate in sydney its hot one day and raining the next. I live in sydney and he lives 2.5 hours away. He is on an agistment property but i only see him on weekends and the people feed him for me. Are there any rugs that you can think of that are breathable but fairly waterproof and would keep him dry in this annoying weather. TThank you so much and also please only answer if you actually have something helpful to contribute.

It's NOT alright to leave a rug on a horse all winter long! the only time you should put any kind of blanket on a horse is if it actually *needs* it AND you can remove it as the weather changes. You can't do that from 2.5 hours away. Mother Nature has designed the horse to manage its own temperature and shed rain just fine, but as soon as you start putting clothes on the horse, you interfere with that wonderful thermoregulation system. If you can't put on and take off the clothes to keep the horse comfortable as the weather changes, you really shouldn't interfere with the horse's ability to keep himself comfortable. Really! Horses live in every climate on Earth, from subzero to burning hot, desert to rainforest and everything in between. It's only silly human arrogance and our concepts of comfort that make us think we can manage our horses' comfort better than they can.

Q:Does anyone know what a Shag rug is?

a rug with a long pile like a sheepskin type

Q:Can you use fabuloso in a rug doctor?

Don t use anything other than a rug shampoo. These are specially made to be low suds since its hard t get out of a rug. An left over shampoo actually attracts dirt so rinse well and get as much water out as possible so rug dries faster.GL