Can't air out this smell after months

I have a carpeted Airbnb guest suite. 2 years ago I had a guest who smoked in this room (against the rules) and 9 months ago I had guests smoking in there. This was a total of only 4 nights of stays. I have been closed down for the last 9 months, so nobody has stayed in there and I have left the windows open in this room for months. So it has had LOTS of time to air out. Yet as soon as I walk into this room when the windows have been closed for a day, I smell this smell. It kind of smells like linen to me. But perhaps I just don't know how to identify a musky mold smell. Not sure. It's not a really strong smell but I have a sensitive nose and so I smell it.
I tried removing pillows and linen out of the room. That didn't help. I have also tried removing the mattress. That's not the cause either. So it has to be the carpeting. The carpeting is pretty new too. People have only stayed in this room for a total of about 180 days with this new carpet. Any insight? And should I hire a professional to do a chemical clean or a steam clean? Will such cleanings even help?

 

Yeah, it's pretty hard to get smoke smells out of textiles without washing. The carpet cleaning may work, but first, try buying a box of that powder that you sprinkle on a rug (you'll find it either in the sprays or carpet cleaning section of a supermarket. Sprinkle it on, leave it sit for a couple of hours and then vacuum. It may (or may not) work, but it's pretty cheap and if it works, it'll save the cost of having it cleaned. Worth a try.

 

Are you talking about products like Love My Carpet? What I don't want is some perfumey product. Isn't it basically baking soda that is the active ingredient?

 

ServiceMaster or any similar business should be able to both carpet clean and do an ozone treatment. Ozone treatments are commonly done after fires to get rid of the smokey smell in a building.

 

For the record, this smell does not smell like smoke or cigarettes. Again, my best description is a linen-like smell. Maybe this is what cigarettes do to carpet? I don't know.
I think I'm going to give this a try.... Vinegar / water light spray mist followed by baking soda, sit over night, then vacuum. https://www.puroclean.com/blog/how-t...s-from-carpet/

 

Yep talking about that kind of product. That perfumy smell doesn't stay around long. It disappears after a few days (my experience anyway) but takes any smells with it.
Okay, I'm not really sure what linen smells like, but doesn't sound like it would be too bad.

 

Linen = Like sheets that have sat in the closet for 6 months. Again, maybe I just don't know how to identify the smell of mold.
I think I'm going to give this a try.... Vinegar / water light spray mist followed by baking soda, sit over night, then vacuum. https://www.puroclean.com/blog/how-t...s-from-carpet/

 

Maybe just try the baking soda alone. Might work. When you start mixing vinegar and baking soda (or a mix of anything for that matter) the smell starts becoming worse and worse. Then you have to use something else to get rid of that smell and so on.

 

This article claims that the smell will go away.
https://www.coit.com/blog/spot-remov...e-simple-ideas "Spray the white vinegar onto the carpet. Don't worry – the smell will disappear (and it will actually absorb any other bad odors you're trying to eliminate)."
I think I'll try JUST baking soda in this small hallway that is isolated from the bedroom by a door. I'll see if it works in there first. Then maybe I can try the vinegar, then maybe a store product.
Thanks!

 

Well honestly, it's written by a cleaning company. They figure after you've used all these things to try and get rid of the smell and it finally becomes worse and worse, you'll call them to get rid of all the smells.

 

Sometimes the paint absorbs the smoke smell.