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Post by momof3boys on Jan 20, 2010 14:22:32 GMT -5
How do you get rid of smells in your apartment/house? I had cat accidents in the carpet that were not found because we have dark carpet and I can't find them now. Dirty dishes are also smelly. I have a candle burning but it still smells.
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eternal
New Member
Joined: September 2008
Posts: 57 
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Post by eternal on Jan 20, 2010 14:50:15 GMT -5
I think that odour neutralisers work better than fragrances. There are also cleaners specially for pet urine that you can buy from pet shops. I haven't tried it, but apparently it's possible to get a black light to show up hidden accidents. The other method is to crawl around sniffing the carpet  . |
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Post by Looking_Forward on Jan 20, 2010 15:19:25 GMT -5
Enzyme cleaners work better than anything for natural smells (pet accidents, sick kids, old food etc)
There isn't anything that can cover up a smell, until you find the source and get rid of it odor neutralizers are your best bet.
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Post by AnnieOkie on Jan 20, 2010 15:51:32 GMT -5
Momof3boys-Love your name, as I am the mother of 2 teenage boys. First, the dirty dish smell will go away when you wash the dirty dishes!  Be sure and rinse them before you put them in the sink if you can't get right to them. If you have a huge backlog, some people here have even gone to the extreme of throwing out some of theirs just to get a handle on the situation. On the cat odors, I would follow advice given here. There are many threads referring to products to help clean and remove the source of the odor there. Now, if you can tell me how to get rid of "boy smell" from my living room furniture, I would be so happy!!  It is 17-years-old and has grown up with my sons. Febreeze helps for a couple of days, but I think I just need to get new furniture when I can afford it. |
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Post by handymandy on Jan 20, 2010 17:30:39 GMT -5
A dirty microwave will make your house smell bad. I have been vacuuming more often and I thought my house smelled better, until I realized a medication I was taking had stollen my sense of smell. Now the whole place "smells" better.  |
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Post by binky on Jan 20, 2010 17:38:06 GMT -5
Use a good steam cleaner on the carpets first, and then sprinkle baking soda on the carpet and let it sit for a few hours before vaccuuming it up. This might help for the pet odors.
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Post by Butterfly on Jan 20, 2010 17:41:29 GMT -5
...pour some bleach into the dirty dish water. if there is no water, then pour it down the drain. you can also do your other drains or toilet while you're at it. it keeps things from growing in there... I did this in the past, and still do occasionally. You're right, there's nothing that works better than bleach. But, a word of warning if you have a septic system instead of being on a city sewer system. There are helpful bacteria that live in your septic system that need to be there for that system to work properly and waste to be broken down. (sorry for the distasteful image) And, if you kill those bacteria by adding a lot of bleach then you will cause yourself a lot of unintended, bad consequences such as your toilets backing up and, of course, more gross odors. In fact, there are even inexpensive products that you can buy to pour/flush down your drains each month that add these helpful bacteria back into the system. So, if you're going to use a lot of bleach, I'd suggest you also take steps to add back in the helpful bacteria. |
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Post by Magpie on Jan 20, 2010 20:45:25 GMT -5
If you can get to it, pull back an edge of the carpet a good 3-4 feet; you'll see on the backing and possibly on the padding underneath the carpet (if there is any) any pet stains and can treat them. If you are using an enzyme product, thoroughly wet the area, then cover with plastic while it works. The enzymes will break down the odor source. Repeat if needed. Be careful about oversaturating the padding under the carpet. It typically rests on top of wood, which will warp with too much moisture. It may be easier to replace the padding than to treat it.
Bakin soda, activated charcoal, and zeolite adsorb (not absorb - actually chemically bind with) the odors. You can find pads of activated charcoal &/or zeolite which are used in the hoods of some litter pans at most large pet stores or online. Just set a pad or two wherever it seems smelliest. Replace periodically.
Note that humidity seems to bring up the odor when it comes to cat pee; thus, keeping it dryer in the area may help reduce odor.
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Post by CourageouslyLion SeeksSerenity on Jan 20, 2010 21:01:22 GMT -5
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Post by rickie on Jan 20, 2010 21:37:05 GMT -5
I've had great success with good ole white vinegar (diluted with water) both for sopping up the actual accident on the rug, and removing the smell (has worked for cat pee for me).
You can actually use it in a carpet cleaner (like a Bissel or whatever) added to the water compartment, skip the detergent. When I moved in there was a carpeted room where the previous resident's cats had a litter box which they apparently ignored. Whole room smelled like cat pee so I did the whole carpet with diluted vinegar. Yes it smells like a vinegar for a while. When it was dry it smelled like nothing at all. It's also quite environmentally benign, and cheap.
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