Of course this isn t the only culprit.
What is new carpet smell.
While new carpet is a welcome addition to a room the odor of that new carpeting can be a distraction.
Vocs are what create new car smell new carpet smell and the smell that you probably don t enjoy so much after you paint a room.
People can get insanely creative when they describe the odour of their new carpet.
This way you know it s new they say.
Ask your carpet installer to vacuum the new carpet with a hepa filter and clean it with a hot water extraction immediately after installation to remove some of the harsh strong smelling chemicals.
The vocs responsible for new carpet smell are 4 phenylcyclohexene 4 pch and to a lesser extent styrene.
As a new carpet gradually releases or off gasses chemical residue the chemicals enter the air where we can smell them.
But if the carpet is new then why does it smell like a farmyard or like a sheep or maybe even like a fish.
Nylon polyester and other synthetic fibers dyes and adhesives used to glue carpeting down is loaded with chemicals.
Generally the new carpet odor is the off gassing of 4 pc which is found in the latex backing of 95 of commercial carpeting.
Within a few days to a few weeks these fumes dissipate and the carpet no longer smells.
Levels of 4 pc to 20 parts per billion ppb have been mea sured in new carpet.
This is the chemical that creates new car pet smell four days after installation levels fall to about 10 ppb and after about two months levels decrease to approximately 1 to 2 ppb.
Anyway here is what is going on.
There are many different types of vocs but the one related to new carpet odor is 4 phenylcyclohexene 4 pch a by product of the synthetic latex binders used to hold the carpet backing together.