Getting the Smell Outta your Home

[themack89]

So I rented a place from an Asian lady which smelled and it smells like your typical Asian home (I'm not being racist, you all know what I'm talking about... besides I'm part Asian myself :poosie: ).

She opts not to live here, and hasn't for a while, but the home still smells (there is carpet in most places).

First I tried leaving some Ammonia out, but not just overnight... I left it for a week. No dice.

I sprayed some de-odorizers on the carpet. No Dice.

I got some of those Febreeze wall plug-in's thinking it would remove the smell because Febreeze doesn't just cover up odors, it destroys them (right?). No dice.

And Now I have a bigger problem because I can't smell the Asian anymore nor can I smell the Febreeze air fresheners (it appears I have gotten used to both).

My issue is, whenever I have company over they say "wtf is that Asian smell". I do not wish for company to smell something unpleasant.

Please help me beyond

[BigDannyCool]

Give the walls a scrub

[anomaly2]

So what does an asian house smell like? Can you describe the smell?

[TomcoPDR]

^ think of powder of fresh urinal cakes blended with musky log cabin wood

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by BigDannyCool
Give the walls a scrub

And get the carpets professionally cleaned.

[jdmakkord]

Popcorn ceiling soaks up cooking odors pretty harsh too.

[roll_over]

Change the furnace filter, febreze sprays have alcohol that kills the bacteria that causes bad odours the wall plugin's I think only have scented oils

[Zhariak]

I'm not going to say why I know this...... but.....

SERIOUSLY DUDE, WASH THE WALLS!

There's two major components:
1) Use the De-oderizing carpet cleaning stuff that vacuums up.
2) Wash the walls with Mr. Clean (all surface), you'll be surprised what comes off in the pale when you ring the towel out.

It'll be night and day.

[themack89]

Hmm... Never thought about wall washing.

Any particular method or products to use? Type of cloth / sponge?

[ALBERTA_IS]

Try to find someone that has an ozone machine. Some building inspectors will have then for getting odors out of a house. You have to be out of the house for a day or two but it is supposed to get out any unpleasant smells.

[Zhariak]

Originally posted by themack89
Hmm... Never thought about wall washing.

Any particular method or products to use? Type of cloth / sponge?

I don't know if this is the best way, but I just used a pale with hot water, and a nice amount of the Mr. Clean all Surface. I had a towel dedicated to cleaning (just a normal huge bath/shower raggy towel).

Once you start doing it, you'll notice how much stuff is coming off the walls (I almost threw up the first time, it was brand new house I moved in to) and you'll figure out how much you have to do it.

In my case, I had to do it 2 times, but wow did it ever make a difference. Immediately the food smell I was dealing with was disappearing, while the smell of a new house was coming out. It was awesome!

The one thing that sucks, is you won't be able to touch the roof. So some stuff which is caked on you won't be able to touch.

If you're worried if this will work or not and the amount of work it'll take, try this in a single room first and see if it makes a difference.



Originally posted by ALBERTA_IS
Try to find someone that has an ozone machine. Some building inspectors will have then for getting odors out of a house. You have to be out of the house for a day or two but it is supposed to get out any unpleasant smells.

Seriously, make sure if you use an ozone machine, you don't come back until the instructions say you can. O3 can turn the lining of your lungs in to a black sludge like substance.

[tangj]

+1 for washing the walls.
Also boiling water and vinegar also helps remove the smell.

I just moved into a rental unit that smells, and i just used Lysol wipes to clean the walls, and it worked great.

[Seth1968]

Most of the odor will be in the carpets.

Don't use regular Febreeze for fabrics. That will just temporarily mask odors. Use the antibacterial fabric Febreeze.

If that doesn't work, get them professionally cleaned, but make sure they use an antibacterial agent.

[heavyfuel]

Scrub, wash, re-paint. Or don't buy an Ethnic house next time lol to call a spade a spade cleanliness in some countries is just not on par with Canadian standards and for what a house costs, previous owners' hygiene is worth taking into consideration IMO.

[A790]

We encounter this scenario fairly often. Things to look for:

1) As mentioned, wash walls top to bottom.

2) Grout in any tiles in the home. Wash them good.

3) Clean carpets. You want something big that will pull the dirt/odour right out. A few passes with a rented machine should do it, or you could hire a pro (like us!).

4) Clean your oven hood fan/fan filter. You'd be surprised how much this retains smells.

5) Clean behind appliances and do it well.

6) Interior of oven/fridge/freezer.

:)

[Tik-Tok]

Or just start dating FOB girls, they'll love it because it smells like home :rofl:

[FraserB]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
Or just start dating FOB girls, they'll love it because it smells like home :rofl:

Where's the upside to this? As far as I can tell, all this will mean that you still have a house that smells and no money left.:dunno:

[Mitsu3000gt]

Paint the walls, clean the kitchen top to bottom, and shampoo the carpets. I bet that gets rid of 95% of the smell.

[Xtrema]

Broil white vinegar, the help greatly when I burnt pots. So it may help.

Asian smell is oil+garlic+onion. If they never had a powerful hood fan and used it, it will stick to interior of the home.

You will have to repaint. Use lots of carpet cleaner and go thru it a few times, make sure to move funiture around. Grout, bleach that mofo.

[Tomaz]

Originally posted by FraserB


Where's the upside to this? As far as I can tell, all this will mean that you still have a house that smells and no money left.:dunno:


BAHAHA! Like an asian girl would stick around when the place is RENTED not owned. :rofl:

That, and your empty bank account into her LV bag...

Jokes aside, A790 hit the nail on the head. The only thing you wont be able to take care of is the popcorn ceiling.

[89s1]

If there is a space then clean the tops of the kitchen cupboards, any older home will have a greasy cooking film up there unless regularly cleaned.