Can’t get rid of odor

[Ohiosnowbird]

I do, but I have taken every rug, linen, bath towels out and the smell continues. All surfaces have cleaned and floors cleaned. Completely emptied under storage that is accessible under bed.

We had mold and mildew develop on the underside of our mattress. It put off a weird smell and we couldn’t figure it out a first. Used Bacazap and fans to dry it. We check it periodically. Bacazap does a pretty good job getting rid of odors. We use it quite a bit at our farm.

 

[CharlesinGA]

We had mold and mildew develop on the underside of our mattress. It put off a weird smell and we couldn’t figure it out a first. Used Bacazap and fans to dry it. We check it periodically. Bacazap does a pretty good job getting rid of odors. We use it quite a bit at our farm.

Mold and humidity is a real problem under mattresses, truck campers are the worst as the mattress is exposed to the cold of the outside. My trailer has a storage compartment under the bed so I put HYPERVENT AIRE-FLOW™ MOISTURE BARRIER under the mattress to space it off the wood. Other ways to do this include the Froli Sleep System but it was too rich for me. The Hypervent does the job just fine.

Charles

 

[CRB]

Mold and humidity is a real problem under mattresses, truck campers are the worst as the mattress is exposed to the cold of the outside. My trailer has a storage compartment under the bed so I put HYPERVENT AIRE-FLOW™ MOISTURE BARRIER under the mattress to space it off the wood. Other ways to do this include the Froli Sleep System but it was too rich for me. The Hypervent does the job just fine.

Charles

Hadn’t thought about that. We do have storage under our bed that is exposed to the outside storage.

 

[CRB]

Have you cleaned out your hot water tank?

I haven’t cleaned except to flush it several times each year.

 

[Rene T]

In nearly 50 years of RV use and more than 25 years active on RV forums and RV clubs, this is the first time that I have ever heard of using Downy in a waste tank. If the tanks are properly vented, all that you really need to use is generous amounts of water.

I’ve been rv’ing for 44 years and I never heard of it either

 

[Ray-IN]

I have a cousin that buys old cars and fixes them up for re-sale, he swears by this product: StarBrite NosGuard
CharlesGA, I'd forgotten about that issue, it occurs quite often with foam mattresses. For mold issues I use Concrobium Mold Control.

 

[stripit]

How were you able to clean your gray tank with a wand. Typically a wand is used to clean the black tank by going down thru the toilet

On my 5th wheel behind the sliding door that was in the front compartment I had access to the plumbing pipe that was under the bath room shower. The pipe had a cap and removing that cap allowed me to run the wand into the pipe and down to the gray tank. Just using the water pressure from a hose was strong enough to clean and flush the gray tank. Worked real well and was fast and easy.

 

[JudyJB]

Here is my dead animal odor story. Skip if you want to:

Way back when I was married, my husband and I took kids for a 3-week vacation. When we got back, found out that our kids best friends in the neighborhood (ages 10 and 11) had used key we left with their parents to go in and read Playboy books my ex had stuffed in his closet, plus they had raided gumball machine and candy cupboard. Parents told us about it, and punished them, as well as closed and locked back doorwall kids had left partly open for a couple of days.

Soon afterwards, we had a bad smell in the downstairs and searched everywhere to no avail. Finally smell went away, but a few years later, my then older teen son and his best friend helped me move furniture for the carpet layers that were coming. Behind and slightly under a big, two-piece china cabinet, kids discovered the desiccated body of a dead squirrel, which no doubt was the cause of our smell that year. Kids got freaked out because you could see from one eye socket through to the other, which was a good punishment since friend was one of the house-breakers several years before. Apparently, squirrel came in the open doorwall and died, but since he was behind and under the china cabinet, we never found him.

So, I always consider a dead animal as the cause of a bad smell, especially since I have had a racoon and several other small critters sneak into my RV, planning on setting up housekeeping in my basement storage areas.

 

[jackiemac]

I haven’t cleaned except to flush it several times each year.

You might need to.open it and let water and any build up of "stuff out" and flush again. It's amazing what comes out of that.

 

[Rene T]

On my 5th wheel behind the sliding door that was in the front compartment I had access to the plumbing pipe that was under the bath room shower. The pipe had a cap and removing that cap allowed me to run the wand into the pipe and down to the gray tank. Just using the water pressure from a hose was strong enough to clean and flush the gray tank. Worked real well and was fast and easy.

 

[Kirk]

We do have storage under our bed that is exposed to the outside storage.

That is a possible cause but under the mattress on the support can also be a mold issue, so check that also. I think that figuring out where the odor is coming from is probably the key to knowing what it is and eliminating it. Like Gary, I don't believe that an odor from either waste tank would be described as dead leaves but mold might be. We also had a mold problem once in the clothes closet too that tended to cause a smell in the bedroom. Are you certain that your water system is not leaking? Even a very small, intermittent leak in a hidden area could cause mold. Is the odor a strong one and does it get stronger with time? Is there any plumbing in the area you believe it is coming from?

 

[Ohiosnowbird]

Hadn’t thought about that. We do have storage under our bed that is exposed to the outside storage.

We installed the hypervent air flow (recommended by the folks on this forum) in addition to cleaning it with bacazap and it solved our funky smell problem.

 

[ziplock]

So many things to check............Shoo!

 

[CRB]

That is a possible cause but under the mattress on the support can also be a mold issue, so check that also. I think that figuring out where the odor is coming from is probably the key to knowing what it is and eliminating it. Like Gary, I don't believe that an odor from either waste tank would be described as dead leaves but mold might be. We also had a mold problem once in the clothes closet too that tended to cause a smell in the bedroom. Are you certain that your water system is not leaking? Even a very small, intermittent leak in a hidden area could cause mold. Is the odor a strong one and does it get stronger with time? Is there any plumbing in the area you believe it is coming from?

I don’t think I have any plumbing leaks. The camper only has 1 bath and a kitchen. I’ve checked all around those areas and under the camper. But I guess there could be a small leak somewhere. We have the water on 3-4 days every weekend in the summer months and I have saw no signs of plumbing leaks. I may remove the mattress temporarily to see if that helps. Just smelling of the mattress, it doesn’t seem to have a strong odor.

 

[826joey]

It sounds to me like you went the whole season with no odor, and if you have not changed your dumping schedule, nothing would have changed with your tanks. If what you do with your tanks has always worked for you then I would be looking for rodent. As you know a mouse can get in anywhere, but not have the brains to get out, and they stink real bad. Try to ventilate rv then use your nose to try and isolate odor

 

[Derby6]

Easy to leak check. Fill up fresh water. Maker air out of the lines using the pump. Leave the pump on and hang out. You’ll hear pump “bump” after a while if there is a leak.

 

[Ohiosnowbird]

Just smelling of the mattress, it doesn’t seem to have a strong odor.

It won’t smell on the top side, lift it up and get whiff of the underside , you’ll also see varying shades of gray, black, orange and green spots and streaks on the underside if there’s an issue.

 

[Ray-IN]

We had mold and mildew develop on the underside of our mattress. It put off a weird smell and we couldn’t figure it out a first. Used Bacazap and fans to dry it. We check it periodically. Bacazap does a pretty good job getting rid of odors. We use it quite a bit at our farm.

I had to search for Bacazap to learn what it is; I use nearly the same product, OdoBan. It was formulated for crime scene cleanup crews to use afterwards. Today that company has morphed into smell-good products for the house, but they still sell the
the original formula.
I bought 2 gallons 20 years ago and still have some left, as it is normally diluted for household type use.

 

[ziplock]

Just smelling of the mattress, it doesn’t seem to have a strong odor.

Have ya sniffed the underside yet? Hmmm, doesn't have a strong odor.....does that mean it has SOME odor?

 

[96bounder]

Have you tried an ozone machine,I'll admit I was skeptical about them but finally purchased one.it actually worked we purchased an winnebago adventurer that has been sitting for several years,needless to say it worked .

Told a friend about it and he borrowed it for use on his new to him company truck that previous driver was a heavy smoker
,,it removed the smoke smell from the truck