Stairwell carpet stinks after being shampoo'd with machine.

dekaspace1

Thanks, well it's not worth it to hire someone as it's a rental property (carpets are mine) and ideally don't want to live here another few years if not less.

The carpet was cheap and already wearing out so don't want to pay for it to get done as well, just the front door area gets muddy easily so want to make sure it's clean.

elsien

Have you got a washable doormat down? It won’t stop all the mud coming in, but it will help. I make mine come in and sit on the mat and I then wash his feet in a bowl before he goes any further. 

ButterCheese

Any fabric that gets wet and is not dried out quickly will smell.  You are basically introducing a wet environment for all the bacteria to thrive whilst it's drying out.  As above, use a dehumidifier to get it done quickly after washing.  You can also use antibacterial spray to help neutralize the bacteria and thus the odours.  If it gets really wet then you can use those absorbant sheets from a hardware store.  If you can take the carpet and underlay up, you may be able to tell what state the floorboards are in and act accordingly.  

In summary, if it's still smelling in a weeks time then you may have to start again but this time dry it out quicker.  Dehumidifiers are expensive but a worthy purchase, as you can use them at home to dry clothes etc, and creating drier air means it's easier to heat up in the winter

dekaspace1

Hi, well the smell went away after a few days and I know for the future to not soak it,

I used to have a mat down at front door but the ones I got weren't that thick so kept curling at corners and thicker ones meant door couldn't open right, kept meaning to get one for outside my front door instead.

BlueonBlue

Old synthetic office carpet tiles with rubber backing sit flat an heavy and come in larger sizes.
When dirty they can be picked up taken outside srcubbed and hosed down then left to dry outside.
Probably dont look great as a protective measure but you can often pick them up for free as it costs to dump them when people change floors.
Another option are commercial rubber backed runners as they also sit flat .