I don't know what the smell is?

Question

my bathroom smells like moth balls. it is very clean. i don't know what the smell is. I don't have any mothballs in my house.

someone told me i could have a dead squirl or rat in my walls. the odor just started this morning.

do you know what it could be?

Answer 1

I don't know what a dead squirrel would smell like, but years ago I did have the unpleasant experience of a dead rat in the wall. It did not smell like moth balls. Maybe you have some musty towels that someone just used.

Answer 2

Just a thought but maybe the kids put something down the air vent (assuming they are located on the floor).  If you live in an apartment maybe the neighbors are stocking up on moth balls.  I used to live next to an elderly couple that used them liberally.  You could actually smell them next door.

Answer 3

You might have mold somewhere on the walls (mold can get inside walls too) or around the showers. Check around there and see.

Answer 4

You would know if it's a dead animal.It probably is mold. I tore out a tub enclosure and found the insullation in the walls had gotten wet at one time and slipped down the wall in a pile. After cleaning with bleach and replacing insullation everything smells good .

Answer 5

Trust me girl, dead animals do not smell like mothballs

Answer 6

We are having the same problem. Our fan in the master bathroom quit working and now we have mold on the ceiling and tops of the walls. We will have to scrub the walls with mold/mildew remover (Tilex) and get the KILZ primer. This will properly seal the walls to keep any mold from seeping through the paint.