Have you ever walked into a beautiful, well-maintained home only to be put off by a pungent odor? That was my experience a few weeks ago. As a result, I started a discussion on LinkedIn to get some ideas from other stagers as to how they get rid of them. Knowing that we all run into this problem from time to time, I wanted to share what I learned with you. Here are the results:
- Nancy Lee - Replace all air filters and clean all sink traps. Saturate and resaturate the room with an enzyme spray (meant for pet odors). Set up a hepa air purifier and run it once the spray has dried (and on and on). Insure that carpet padding is replaced when the carpet is replaced, as the odors can seep down deep. And finally, change the air filters!
- Andy Capelluto - Recommends a non-toxic product called Biocide Systems (www.biocidesystems.com). She's had very good results with it.
- Heather Stewart - For general purpose household odors, she uses Fresh'n Home (www.freshnodorfree.com). Her second recommendation was for a home spray she makes from distilled water, lavender, eucalyptus and lemongrass essential oils. It seems to not mask odors, but to absorb them. (Interesting!)
- Mary Habres - Pure Ayre. (I think most of us are familiar with this.) It's organic and guaranteed to get rid of tough odors. It also is supposed to prevent them from returning. You can purchase it on Amazon.com.
- GraceAnn Simoni - A carpet cleaner once suggested to her that the carpet be pulled up and just the padding be replaced! Then the carpet was cleaned. Quite a money saver! Also, she has used KILZ on the subfloor after replacing both carpet and padding to take care of "puppy" odors and prevent the stains from resurfacing.
- Louise Henry - Charcoal!!!! Buy a 10 lb. bag, open it, and leave it inside the front door to get rid of odors. (Can't wait to try this one!)
- Michele Rose - Have the air ducts cleaned. This freshens the whole house.
- Veronica Vera Sarkissian - If the home has been closed up and there are mildew odors, use Damp-Rid. She has put some of the white crystals inside vases and plastic containers and scattered them around the house.
- Linda Schleihauf - Open the windows and give the home a good airing out. Try a Lampe Berger (???) and use an unscented fragrance to purify the air. Check the floor vents and clean the microwave.
- Darla DeMorrow - Fresh Air by EcoQuest (www.ecoquest.com). This is sold as a single unit, which is about the size of a small sound system. After the home has been treated, it will have that "fresh air" smell, like after a rain storm. She used it on one of her problem homes inhabited by two chain smokers. They repainted, replaced carpet and padding and removed all belongings. Still the house smelled of smoke. Two weeks after using Fresh Air, the home was completely fresh and had a "For Sale" sign in the front yard. (This sounds fantastic!)
Okay, that's it. Please let me know if you've tried any of these methods or have others to share.
Patsy Overton, ASP, CNRCP
Accredited Staging Professional * Certified Color Consultant
Patsy@SSSHomeStaging.com 770-843-2307 www.SSSHomeStaging.com
Patsy, those are some great ideas, thank you! I have tried vinegar, although it smells like a salad for a bit... later on its pretty good! One of the toughest things I have smelled, minus animals, is cooking smells, like curry. That is a tough one.
Patsy- good post and we're always looking for ways to get rid of odors. Airing out the house; changing the air filters; cleaning the carpets and/or replacing the pads are all good. I've heard of using charcoal as well as vinegar to absorb odors. I run club soda and vinegar down the drains too.
I've tried Pure Ayre but not recently. Did not help with cooking odors. Lampe Berger is often sold in candle/gift stores and you buy different fragrance oils that burn. The scent can be heavy.
Can't wait to see the other responses.
Andrea - I'm with you! Curry is the toughest odor to get rid of. To me, using vinegar is sort of like cooking cauliflower -- you're just swapping one odor for another!
Kathy - I've used baking soda down the drains, but not club soda. Thanks for your comments.
I used wintergreen alcohol one time where a tenant had let a tomcat spray in the house...supposed to be no cats. I put it in a garden sprayer and sprayed everything after she moved...it worked. Of course I had the carpets cleaned first.
Great post...very informative ideas, I will bookmark to use in the future..thanks for sharing
These are all great tips. Unpleasant odors are a constant problem in the real estate industry and most of us will try anything that helps to make our listings more attractive and appealing to the buying community.
The Fresh Air machine worked for us when we needed it the most. The homeowner was heeding my suggestion to do his smoking outside, away from the house when he was visited by a skunk. Needless to say, the smell of the spray got inside the house and after running the machine for a couple of days, the smell was gone. After that, he just ran it continually in the garage, which is where he went to do his smoking.
Great information...I am bookmarking. There are several here I wasn't aware of. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the bookmarkable and re-blogable post. Great advice.
Keeping the microwave clean is a great idea. So many splatters and spills in there that add to the odors in a home.
Wintergreen alchohol? Another new one. Thanks for the tip!
I'm glad you all (I'm from the south) are finding this helpful. It's definitely information I'll keep handy.
I lov emy ozone machine-it was one of the best investments I made when I started my business!
Thanks for all the great information Patsy! I will bookmark your post!
Cheryl - thanks for another recommendation for the Fresh Air machine. (I had to read your comment twice to make sure the skunk wasn't IN the house!) I'll definitely purchase one.
Cathy - Tell me more about the ozone machine. Do you have a brand name? Where did you get it and what's the cost?
Thanks for compiling this list Patsy. There is NOTHING worse to me than odors!!! I to am interested in Cathy's ozone machine. Will check back...
Love this - thank you for sharing these fabulous ideas! It is definitely bookmarked!
Thanks Patsy - What a perfect "item of value" for us to forward to our clients - love being able to drop info like this on them from time to time! These are great ideas. You are a wizard! :-) D
Slightly off topic -- but a lot of people really like using bleach-based cleansers. And if you don't use gloves, your hands will reek of bleach -- a smell that WON'T wash off with soap and water. How do you get the bleach smell off your hands? Used coffee grounds. I swear by it -- it really works!