CindyA

I change my vacuum bag regularly but still get (and HATE!) that stinky smell when I turn it on. It's that dusty 'doggie' smell. I've tried putting the powders on the carpets that are marketed for the purpose of making the carpets smell fresh but then the vacuum motor sounds bad when I'm vacuuming it up. Have you ever put something into the bag itself (when you're putting a new one in the vacuum) to help it smell fresh?

NJ Quilter

I remember years ago I had a vacuum cleaner that had a compartment for little air freshener pellets in the hardware of the machine itself. Didn't really use them much. If they are still available maybe drop one in the bag when you change it? Or, instead of the powders on the carpet, febreeze or some other such spray? I personally was never fond of the powdery things for the carpets - just seemed to trap the dirt even more to me.

quiltsRfun

I cut a fabric softener sheet into about one inch squares and vacuum up a couple.

TanyaL

I use Febreeze on the carpet and put one or more fabric softener sheets for my dryer in my dust collecter. Since I only buy ones with the scent I like this is a no brainer for me. You might try putting something below your nose like perfume when you vacuum if the odor doesn't bother anyone else in the family. It might be you, not the odor.

mighty

Cool idea about dryer sheet!!

nygal

Could it be a rubber belt broke and needs changing?

SunQuilts

When my vacuum began smelling bad, I finally took it into the repair man. He changed the filters and it made a world of difference.

QKO

You probably have filters that need cleaning or changing, as well as just changing the bag.

If that doesn't work, your carpets may need to be deep-cleaned...

RavenLunaStitch

I never found a really good solution to this problem when I had a vacuum cleaner with bags. Now I have a "bagless" one where you just empty out the canister and I love it. You can clean the canister itself, which helps a lot, but the real solution to the odor problem is that you can buy pretreated "Febreeze" replacement filters and they work really great! If they don't have the pretreated filters for your cleaner, I would suggest cleaning the filters and maybe spraying the filters themselves with Febreeze before putting them back in--maybe that would help.

Jingle

I solved that problem completely. We had SIL install hardwood floors. No carpets. I wonder if baking soda poured into a clean bag would help?