How to Remove Common Household Odors

No one wants to live in or visit a house that smells bad. Mustiness, smoke, pet odors and other olfactory triggers can immediately turn off anyone who enters. Fortunately, you can remove most foul odors—from cigarette smoke to mustiness—without much effort or expense.

Smoke

Whether from cigarettes, other tobacco products or a small fire, the smell of smoke can be hard to cover up. Start by opening the windows and letting fresh air in. A box or two of baking soda placed in each affected room can help deodorize the area as well. While the room airs out, wash the curtains, blankets, bedding and other fabrics. Then, use a vacuum or steamer to clean the upholstery, mattresses and carpet. Finally, wipe all hard surfaces with a mixture of one part vinegar to five parts warm water.

Still smelling the smoke? Ramp up your efforts with commercial products. Zep makes an odor eliminator specifically designed to eliminate the smell of smoke. If the odor lingers even after using these commercial products, it may have seeped into the home’s paint, walls, carpets or carpet pad. Before you spend money replacing these, consider hiring a professional to pinpoint the problem areas.

Vaping odors

When a vape user exhales, he expels trace amounts of aromatic flavoring particles. Over time, these particles build and the smell becomes obvious. To make matters worse, the carrier liquids (propylene glycol and glycerin) take weeks, even months, to evaporate, so once you smell vaping odors, the solution isn’t as simple as opening a window to air the room out. Instead, you can eliminate much of the odor by wiping the room’s hard surfaces with a damp rag.

If you vape, do so only in a well-ventilated room and vacuum frequently. You may also want to invest in an air purifier. These efforts make it less likely the particles will settle on your home’s surfaces. To further reduce the risk of lingering odor, avoid more pungent flavors like vanilla, strawberry, banana, bubble gum and chocolate. Instead, opt for mint, citrus fruits or floral scents.

Pets

Usually caused by urine or fecal matter, pet odors can be more of a challenge to eliminate. Not only does the offending matter get into the carpet but it can penetrate into the pad, too. If you own a pet that has an accident, clean the spot immediately to prevent odors in the first place. For urine, blot the spot dry with a paper towel or towels. For fecal matter, pick up.

Once the spot is cleaned, sprinkle it with baking soda and vacuum. Better yet, keep an enzymatic pet cleaner on hand. The enzymes will actually “eat” away the odors and stain. This should eliminate the smell.

Enzymic cleaners are also your best option for cumulative pet odors. In some cases, particularly when dealing with cat urine, even the enzymic cleaners won’t work. The urine may be on the walls or may have soaked through the carpet pad and into the concrete foundation. At the very least you may need to replace the carpet and pad to entirely get rid of the odor.

Rotten Eggs

Although natural gas is odorless, gas companies combine it with a chemical, Mercaptan, that gives it a strong rotten egg or sulfuric smell to alert homeowners of a potential leak. If you smell rotten eggs, vacate your home immediately and call the gas company from a distance using your cell phone or a neighbor’s phone. The gas company can then determine if the smell indicates an actual gas leak.

If you get an all clear from the gas company, your drainpipes might be the culprit instead. Hair, lint and trapped contaminants deep inside the pipe can produce foul-smelling anaerobic bacteria that mimics sulfur. To get rid of the smell, simply pour bleach down the drain.

Mustiness

Basements, bedrooms and other areas that don’t get much light can develop a musty smell from mold spores. The best way to rid your home of both musty odors and mold is to use an ozone machine that can kill germs, mold and viruses. However, ozone is dangerous to breathe and should never be used when people, animals and plans are present. For this reason, it is usually safer to hire a professional rather than try to use one yourself.

As an alternative, mix ¼ teaspoon of oil of clove into 2 pints of warm water and spray the room generously. If you find mold, spray it directly. The mixture will kill the mold within 48 hours, and the odor will dissipate a few days later. You may want to leave any windows open during this process for added freshness.

Wet Dog

A musty odor that reminds you of a wet dog could indicate an infestation of rats, mice, squirrels and other rodents. These pests leave behind a musty odor in their tracks, but you may also catch a whiff of their urine. If you suspect these critters are the source of the mustiness you’re smelling, check for droppings, gnawed wires or torn packages as further proof. Then, call a pest company to rid your home of the infestation quickly and effectively.

Rodents aren’t the only pests that emit a distinct odor. Roaches have a pungent, oily musk smell. Usually, you won’t pick up on it unless you have an infestation, but just one roach from certain breeds can give off a perceptible odor. Again, call a pest company to rid your home of roaches and their smell.

Kitchen odors

From pungent meals to gunk in the garbage disposal, kitchens can be an overwhelming source of household smells. If yours needs freshening up, start with the refrigerator. Throw out all food that is dated or has gone bad. Then, wipe down the refrigerator’s walls with a diluted vinegar solution. Move on to the microwave, wiping its interior with more of the vinegar solution.

You can purchase a commercial cleaner to run through your dishwasher or wipe its walls with the remaining vinegar solution. Then, clean out the dishwasher’s filter and soak it. Notice a smell around your kitchen sink? It’s probably the garbage disposal. Toss some ice cubes and citrus wedges down the drain and run the garbage disposal for a clean, fresh smell.

Before showing your home, give your kitchen an inviting smell by adding teaspoon of nutmeg and a tablespoon of cinnamon into a saucepan of water and letting it simmer on the stove. Or, add a sprig of rosemary, the juice of half a lemon and some vanilla extract to the sauce pan of water instead.

Random odors

Just because you can’t determine the source of a particular smell, doesn’t mean you have to live with it. To get rid of those random odors, purchase a bag of ordinary charcoal and place a few briquettes in a container behind furniture, under beds, in closets or other strategic places in the room. It also doesn’t hurt to open the windows and let fresh air inside.

The charcoal on its own should lessen, if not entirely eliminate, the offending smell. If it doesn’t, wash the all fabrics in the room and wipe down all hard surfaces with vinegar and warm water. Try vacuuming, too. If you still notice the odor, hire a professional odor removal company to tackle the problem.

Moving soon?

Whether you’re getting ready to put your house on the market or preparing to move into a new-to-you home with a few lingering odors, make the transition easier by hiring professional movers. We have an extensive network of reputable and reliable movers who can pack and move your entire home. And, because their licensed and bonded, you don’t have to worry about your belongings arriving at your new home in their best condition.