Removing Odors from the Home: Tips & How To's

Sour towels fresh out of the dryer. A damp basement note that shows up every August. Cat urine you can smell from the hallway but cannot find. A washing machine that hands back clothes smelling worse than they went in. Air freshener buys ten minutes.

Almost every one traces back to something simple: moisture sitting where it should not, bacteria feeding on body oils or old food, a pet accident that soaked past the surface, or smoke that bonded to paint and upholstery. Each wants a different answer. Dried cat pee only breaks down with an enzyme cleaner. A refrigerator or microwave usually needs a wipe down and an open box of baking soda. A garbage disposal or laundry drain has a film of gunk that has to come off physically.

Name the surface next, because material decides the method. Hardwood and concrete are porous and hold urine deep below what you can see. Silicone lids and bakeware grab food odors and keep them. A couch, a mattress or a pair of work boots has to dry all the way through or the smell returns in a week. Cars are their own case, since the vents recirculate whatever is living in the cabin filter. Once the source is gone, a plug-in or a homemade citrus simmer keeps a room pleasant. Used any earlier, it is just perfume over a wet dog.