amyece
New Member
Joined: December 2009
Posts: 14
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Post by amyece on Dec 22, 2009 5:50:13 GMT -5
Ok, when I am in the apartment I dont notice it too much. But when I am away and come back as soon as you open the door the odor hits you. Its a weird odor. It smells like some sort of cooking food. fiance says it smells like fried chicken....
No matter if the kitchen is freshly cleaned and the trash taken out it always smells like this.
Also we live in an apartment right above another apartment. EVERY SUnday they cook some sort of greens and it mixes with the odor already in here and its just horrible!!!!
I have wondered if its grease ont he stove, or somehow the smell of the houseplant we keep inside, or the odor is from downstairs. I just dont know what it is.
One thing we are good about is always taking the trash out. Any ideas?
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Post by limegreen on Dec 22, 2009 7:46:13 GMT -5
Could be the stove, especially at this time of year when the windows are closed the air doesn't circulate much, and I can still smell last Friday's fish. I also get cooking smells from my neighbours.
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Post by howardsgirlfriend on Dec 22, 2009 11:40:42 GMT -5
If it smells like fried chicken, you're probably smelling some sort of fat. When I worked in fast food many years ago, I could never get the odor out my all-polyester uniform. Whatever you clean, use some sort of grease-cutter if possible, such as vinegar or ammonia. Dish soap or dishwashing detergent also has grease cutter, so use that whenever you clean hard surfaces or textiles.
Could it be coming from your plumbing? Consider giving all your sinks and toilets this easy treatment: pour about 1/2 cup baking soda down them, followed by about 1/2 cup vinegar. Allow it to work for a few seconds, then flush with hot water.
Do your neighbors also have this odor? Might help you pinpoint the source.
Do you have a friend with a sensitive nose, who could help find the source?
If the above suggestions don't help, you should probably clean the oven, and move the stove and fridge and clean behind them, if possible.
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Post by charis on Dec 22, 2009 12:07:05 GMT -5
Have you taken out and rinsed the filter of the ventilator fan above the stovetop? They can be very greasy. Only thing I can think of that hasn't been mentioned.
I would indeed be afraid that the neighbors below you are the originators of the odor if you can smell their cooking odors so strongly.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2009 15:26:47 GMT -5
I had to deal with a similar odor when I moved into a former apartment. It was grease, mostly in the kitchen. It was all over the walls and cabinets. I had paneling on the walls, so I washed down the walls and cabinets with a Murphy's oil soap solution and a plastic dish scrubber. I washed the formica counters and backsplash with an orange-based degreasing cleaner (Citra-Solve). I think I washed the floors with bleach, but that was probably overkill. I bought some of those solid Renuzit air fresheners to put in the smelliest cabinets (under the sink, in a broom closet). The super-odor-fighting ones did not have the nicest smell, but they worked best. The living room and bedrooms had been painted, so there was no grease to clean up there. I did use a powdered carpet freshener on the carpet and vacuumed. But in the bathroom, I noticed that same dingy-looking grease residue on the tile, so I scrubbed down the whole bathroom too. It wasn't fun, but it was worth it. The odor did go away. While I lived there, I always thought I was messy but the landlords repeatedly commented on how much nicer my apartment was than the others in the building. I think it was because it smelled better.  EDIT: In my current house, I used a diluted solution of Formula 409 cleaner to clean the grease off my formica cabinets and it worked really well too. |
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Post by lizzie on Dec 22, 2009 23:14:56 GMT -5
Once upon a time I was standing at the kitchen sink, gazing meditatively down the plughole (as you do), and idly one part of my brain thought, 'I wonder why the plastic drain pipe isn't white on the inside as well as the outside...' and then another part of my brain thought 'Hmmm...'
and I got a skinny paintbrush I had handy and poked it down the sink drain pipe and gave it a little wriggle around and pulled it out - and it was brown with stinky gunk. Ewww. After that I found a bottlebrush and really got into scrubbing the gunge out, and also did the bathroom sink and bath drains as well. Because it was such an unusual (and small) task I found it quite engaging. Then on this site I read about bicarb and vinegar, and REALLY enjoyed using that.
Now when I stand at the sink I can see that the sink drain is a light colour... but I keep the bottlebrush under the sink because it still amuses me to use it.
So - have a look down the sink drain, give it a bit of a scrape with something, see if that is the source! And then follow Howardsgirlfriend's tip and get some bicarb and some vinegar and make a volcano with it in the sink drain!
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