Question from Celestine
I bought wool carpet for one room of a new house. However, I did not pay attention to the installation, and after it was done there was an unpleasant and suspicious smell. I got headaches, head pressures and stinging eyes and nose when anywhere around the area. The house has an open floor plan, so the toxic stuff disperses. So far I have had two rather weak ionizers in there, and have left doors and windows open around the house. There are three possible culprits: One is the carpet itself. A remnant I have smells bad. It is wool, but clearly there are toxic substances on it and behind it. Then there is the pad, which is recycled pieces of foam that the installer told me would have outgassed long ago. But I wonder what they stuck the pieces together with? Nothing friendly, I’m sure. Then there is the glue, which probably has a host of toxins, including formaldehyde. Short of tearing everything out and starting over (major $$$) I would like to find a way of taking care of this to make my house fully inhabitable! I saw a set of products on the internet that included a shampoo and two sealants to prevent outgassing. I would like feedback to see if anyone has used a similar product and whether it was successful. Right now the whole house is being affected. I want a green house, and this is way far in the other direction! Any suggestions?
Debra’s Answer
If the product you are referring to is AFM Carpet Seal, I used that product about 25 years ago and it worked really well to block the fumes from the carpet. You could try this, but the other alternative would be to somehow enclose the area and heat it to speed up the outgassing of the chemicals.
