We just moved into a new home (new to us, but not new). The house smells. The peole who lived in it before us were clean, but had a dog. And acctually the master closet is the worst even though it has a functioning window that I keep open. I've tried a few things; Renuzit airfreshiners, burn a candle, open windows, essensial oils. The problem is I hate smelling perfume (after a while it just makes me nauseous). Any brilliant ideas?
To clarify, its not a pet urine oder, I'm not even sure if its a dog oder. Since the smell is concentrated in the closet, I think it may just be a people smell. Every house has a smell, and we don't smell our own house smell. But I'm smelling these peoples house smell. Aslo we rent, so no chance of pulling up carpet.
I would try a special paint, you can get at home stores, that is used for houses with smells such as cigarette smoke. We've had to use it before and it worked for us. Hope you find something that works!
Place a few small dishes of coffee (the ground beans) in the closet.
bowls of vinegar (don't tip them!!) or those enzymes for pet messes. I hate perfumy things too.
I think you have a bunch of great responses. I wanted to add my past experience with pet smells. We moved into a house and we had a similar problem. Of course my answer was to clean the carpets. Again, like you I didn't think it was urine oder but I just couldn't get the smell out of the house. We had/have a great Hoover Steam Cleaner and went to work. Problem almost solved until we reached the area that had the worse smell. You mentioned your closet ours was the hall carpet near the bathroom. Once we got it wet... OMG the smell was terrible. It didn't matter what kind of stain/oder removers we used it was just awful. Within 2 days we purchased new carpet. The company came and tore out the old carpet and the pet stains had soaked through carpet and padding all the way to the cement. Just be ready to replace if you start cleaning because the smell when we moved in was nothing compared to the awful oder once it got wet.
You can buy their products from the website or Bed Bath and Beyond sells them too. They're all natual and have a very light scent.
If it's carpeted, you may need to rip it up and replace it. Pet odours are REALLY hard to get rid of once they've soaked in there. Also, a fresh coat of paint wouldn't hurt.
Try pans of rock salt. Rock salt absorbs smells. It has worked for me, in that past.
HI Heidi,
If it is pet odors the only thing (other than the removal suggested which is guaranteed to work) that will remove it is something that has a natural enzyme base. Essential oil cleaners might work but the oils themselves won't saturate the area well enough to remove the odor without a great expense. Febreze does nothing except trick your brain into not knowing that there is an odor. It does NOT remove anything. It only adds a toxic neuro-poison. I agree with Leslie, pull up the carpet, clean it as well as possible and then paint with KILZ. If you need to find the specific odor go to Petsmart and buy a black light. It will identify any bodily fluid that will cause odor....
Good luck!
M.
yeah. the previous owner lived here for 6 months. we found dog hair even in the OVEN. the carpet smelled for YEARS. I would try natures miracle (has no smell) and just soak the carpet and then steam clean. over and over and over and over if your nose is sensitive like mine. but also the neutralizer plugs ins are good (that's why we didn't smell it) but there's the risk of fire w/those. oh. or those citras pet sprays. those smell like fruit : )
If it is carpeting you will have to go and get a cleaner that breaks down the enzymes in the urine. I had to buy a kit at a pet store ( with a black light) to show me where the pet "stains" were. They also sell special pet formula for carpet cleaners. But if the urine soaked down into the carpet pad/ floor then there is no real saving it.
Go to pet store and an enzyme cleaner and the walls and carpet. You can also try bowls of vinegar to help with the order until you clean everything. Good Luck!
If you have forced air heat (or air with a duct system), have the ducts professionally cleaned.
