Top 5 Home Odors – And How to Fix Them

Whether you’re moving into a new home or apartment — or recognizing a certain stench in your own castle — few things are more frustrating than not being able to get rid of a bad odor.

Especially if you can’t find it.

Sometimes something simple is to blame, like a potato rotting in a dark corner of your pantry or a backed up garbage disposal. But sometimes, the smell is embedded in your house because of longtime exposure to things like cigarette smoke, stinky pets or mold.

Unfortunately, every single item in your home has to be cleaned and deodorized to completely eliminate the scent of cigarettes gone by. Dust, wash, launder everything you can, and steam clean the carpets. It can be done. Even drapes will need to be cleaned.

Before you clean your drapes, be sure to check the labels. See if the manufacturer recommends hand washing, steaming, vacuuming or dry cleaning. Some drapes can be washed in the washing machine on a gentle cycle, but not all can. If you do wash them in the washing machine, do a spot treatment beforehand to make sure the detergent doesn’t discolor them.

All other fabric will need to be laundered as well, including bedding, couch cushions and carpets. For fabric that can’t be removed, sprinkle baking soda or borax on things like bedding, a futon or mattress. Leave it overnight and vacuum it off in the morning. You can also wipe it with a sponge dampened with vinegar.

Burning candles, diffusers or using room spray will not work. That just masks the smell. Once you have deep cleaned everything, use an air purifier for a few days in all the rooms affected by the scent.

Vacuuming up dog fur is the easiest part of the cleaning process — finding the stink traps is the hardest. The best way to find old soiled areas in your home is by using a black light. Conduct the search at night so you can see the black light more clearly, then mark each soiled spot with masking tape. You may need a heavy duty enzyme cleaner to get carpet cleaned properly.

While steam cleaning carpets seems like a logical step, sometimes that can contribute to “wet dog” smell. There’s nothing worse than spending hours steam cleaning a carpet, or paying someone else to do it, only to have it smell even worse than before. Petfinder.com recommends using a wet vac, not a steam cleaner, since the heat from a steam cleaner can cause smells to set.

Sometimes that problem can be cleared up by sprinkling baking soda on the carpet and then vacuuming it up once it dries. But other times, it means that the problem is below the carpet, and you may have to replace the carpet and pad to get rid of the smell.

Clean upholstery just like you would for smoke smells, and then give your dog a bath. Wash his crate, bedding and whatever else he may commonly use. As for cats, consider using a self-cleaning litter box to prevent the urine smell from permeating your home.

Basic cleaning can eliminate the most common odors. For temporary bad smells, set out dishes of baking soda or white vinegar. Sprinkling some baking soda into the bottom of a trash can and the bag itself can help reduce odors coming from trash, and cutting a lemon in half and leaving it out can freshen up any room.

Refrigerators
Do you have to hold your breath when you open your fridge? Fridges often stink because of rotten food or spills. Once it has been cleaned out, wiped down, and refilled, set a box of baking soda in the fridge to absorb the rest of the smell. One box is good for three months.

Cars
Did you leave the windows down while it rained and now your car smells like death? Baking soda can take care of that too. Sprinkle it on the seats and whatever else got exposed to the elements and leave it overnight. The next day, vacuum it up and leave a box of baking soda in the car for a few days.

Old spills can sometimes smell bad long after the spill took place. If you have children, for example, the backseat can quickly become a cesspool of bacteria and odor. Cleaning spills immediately after they happen is the best way to prevent odor, but you may not know that someone spilled soda or, heaven forbid, milk.

A bag of activated charcoal works just as well as baking soda for eliminating lingering smells. You can also spray a solution of vinegar and water on the specific odor source and scrub it. A carpet cleaner made specifically for automobiles will work, too.

Garbage disposals
This one is usually easy. Pour a cup of ice into the disposal, followed by half a cup of rock salt or kosher salt. Then run the disposal.

Lemon or orange peels are also an easy way to freshen up the garbage disposal.

Trash cans
This is usually caused by gunked up food or liquid that has seeped through a trash bag. Once you’ve taken out the trash, take the garbage can outside and clean it out. Use kitchen gloves and a face mask if you need to. It’s not a fun job, but it has to be done sometimes.

Dishwasher
This is a surprising one. Did you know that gunk can build up in the drain? That can create a smell that you may never find simply because you don’t think to look there! Rinse dishes before putting them in the dishwasher to prevent this from happening to begin with, but if the damage is done, it’s easy to fix.

A dishwasher drain should ideally be cleaned out about once a month. Remove the bottom dish rack and inspect the drain. Remove any gunk or food caught there. Then place a cup of vinegar in the top rack of the dishwasher and sprinkle baking soda along the bottom. Run it through a hot water cycle and voila: clean, fresh dishwasher.

No matter what the smell is, once you’ve cleaned as well as possible and aired out your home, remember to change your HVAC air filter. Open your windows and let the house air out as much as possible.