I have been Cimexing several flood damaged commercial grade carpets (no pad). In every case what odor was left was NOT coming from the carpet. My guess is behind the sheet rock is where additional "sour" smell is coming from.

I thought I had read once where in impossible odor situations are concerned, ozone was the only sure solution. If this is so, I may invest in an ozone machine. Does anyone have any experience with ozone machines?

From the SARAN WRAP website...
Saran™ Original is the best choice in wraps from freezer to microwave. It's a tough, heavy-duty plastic wrap that seals in freshness, protects food from refrigerator odors, and prevents the release of food odors.

A similar principle applies with encapsulation cleaning where a crystallizing polymer is present. Whenever you wrap an odorous substance within a polymer, a barrier will naturally be produced that will block odor (just like like with the Saran Wrap).

In addition to the polymer, Releasit also contains Tea Tree extract that helps to impart a fresh scent to the carpet. Tea Tree is not an "odor mask", it's actually a highly effective malodor eliminator. (However the amount of Tea Tree in Releasit Encap-Clean is not at the level to fully eliminate odors)

I suspect it's the combination of these two properties in Releasit (polymer & tea tree extract) that contributes to its success in handling moderate odor problems.

BTW, Encap-Spot contains an even larger dose of Tea Tree and odor counteractants so it's able to tackle more challenging odors.




Rick Gelinas

I have been doing water damage for 12 years. First off if you have an odor then the place was not dried. In my experience most of the time the odor remaining is coming from the carpet. (Or more specifically the dirt in the carpet) When we find the odor coming from the wall then it has been wet for a long time or there is something holding odor in the wall. About two months ago we cut out a wall 4 feet high to find an odor and what we found was a pile of rat droppings that had gotten wet from the water damage. Now about the ozone it could help with the odor but I personally have never used one to correct an odor problem in a water damage. If you have an odor that bad isolate the odor and cut out the carpet and wall in that area and replace it. This could be costly I understand but it will be a sure fix rather than trying to mask the problem.

Kevin Pearson

I did water damage cleanup for 40 years. Many hundreds of jobs. Usually an odor would form after about 48 hours after the original water intrusion. An odor will form from many potential sources, and it is caused by bacteria in most cases. Drying the carpet, pad floor and walls, and ceiling if wet eliminates the odor.

Ozone will MASK an odor, eliminate it from the air, but will do nothing to eliminate the source. That has to be addressed separately.

I used ozone for 2 purposes. To prevent an odor from forming if odor was not present, and to remove an odor if present, for the benefit of the occupants.

But ozone does nothing to eliminate the odor source. Ozone is a gas, and will go anywhere air goes. An odor is also a gas, ozone breaks down the odor molecules in the air, thus eliminating the odor.

Ozone must be used with caution, too much can be hazardous, too little will be ineffective.

In my opinion, an ozone machine is a good tool to have when doing water damage cleanup, or smoke and fire damage work.
(I have written a manual on Water Damage Cleanup that explains a lot more)

Gary