apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Er, does this mean you've tried all these and six days later you're still living with burnt popcorn smell? Or that after six days these are the things you're about to try? (Because obviously the first is not much of a recommendation!)

Either way I would add that sometimes fabrics absorb smells and they are the last to let go of them (if anybody has given up smoking they may have noticed this). So if you haven't done it already I would suggest you wash any washable fabrics like curtains, towels, anything that would have been in the vicinity of the odour-creator.

speaking of... any reccomendations for getting smoke smell out of a sofa?

Thanks for this! The lingering smell of bacon is my problem.

The lingering smell of bacon is never a problem!

But I too would like clarification on this post if the smell is still there nearly a week later.

kkbutler, put a dish of vinegar (or a few) underneath it, and/or spritz with the vinegar/water air freshener mentioned above. Wash all the cusions if you can. This worked for me.

i'm dealing with this same problem right now. there was a fire in my apartment building and smoky water came into my apartment and everything smells awful. here's what i've done to almost eliminate the odor:

1. mop floors and wipe everything hard down with vinegar/water (including floors and furniture)
2. mop floors with dawn dishwashing liquid/water
3. febreeze, febreeze, febreeze
4. wash all fabrics with a little bit of febreeze poured in with the detergent
5. baking soda in bowls around the room
6. vinegar in bowls around the room
7. fresh coffee grounds in bowls (absorbs odors as well)
8. baking cakes and cookies. unconventional and temporary, i know, but at least it puts a better smell in the air than gross smoke smell :)

i haven't tried the lemons but i guess that will be on the agenda for this weekend!

kkbutler- i've refinished some upholstered chairs that smelled of smoke and the only thing i found that helped was spraying them in febreeze all over and repeating several times(don't forget the underside)

"speaking of... any reccomendations for getting smoke smell out of a sofa?"

A professional steam cleaning - such as Coit.

I have stinky drains - anyone have a tip for that? Only in the bathroom sink. I have tried many rounds of baking soda and vinegar. I hate to turn to the toxic remedies...

asinner: mmm, bacon! :)

i had a similar problem when i had the roommate from hell (who happened to be a relative of a close friend of mine) living with me a few years back. he was somehow able to encrust the weirdest odor into his mattress. I tried srcubbing it w/ fabreeze everyday to no avail so i had to throw the mattress out (after throwing the loser out). i still cant decipher what it was! so thanks for the tips! will definitely keep it handy for future ref!

I've also heard that there's such a thing as a "chlorine bomb" for extreme cases. I don't know that chlorine is necessarily a better smell, but keep it in mind for cigarettes, etc...

I'm going to try the "Room Shocker" next week; will report back if it's any good...

We had a similar event happen in our office: someone burnt a bowl of ramen in the microwave without putting water in it...

...try as we might, there was no getting the odor out of that oven and the office - residue got inside and all over the internal ventilation system/fan blades, etc.

We eventually had to throw the darned thing out.

(Damn, I hate burned microwave popcorn - That's why i pop mine on the stovetop)

@cerrissa--we had a fire next door when we lived in Brooklyn that sent oily black smoke pouring into our apartment. Every piece of clothing, upholstered furniture, etc. reeked--lovely! The landlord called an eco-friendly service that does cleanup after fires and floods. I think she found them through her insurance company. They came in, steam cleaned every inch of the place and used an oxygen-based system (I think that's what it was) to clean the air. When we came home six hours later, the previously malodorous apartment smelled fresh without any chemical or smoke odor. Might be worth looking into since that smoke smell is pretty awful and very hard to get rid of (though I admire your efforts). Your landlord's insurance might even pay for it as part of the cleanup.

I have heard to rid the air of bad food smells, put some cinnamon in a pot of water on the stove and heat, not boil. I have not tried this, but many I know swear by it.

My dog got sprayed by a skunk and had to bring him into the house to wash it off. This was one of the most discusting smells, very different from what you smell when a skunk is near by versus having on you and your dog. I think I threw up about four times, sorry to be gross.
But the smell lingered for a month or so. I used this old fashion treatment on my dog but I kept using it all over the house. Eventually it went away.
Also, a defuser helps especially eucalyptus oil.


1 quart 3% Hydrogen Peroxide
1/4 cup Baking Soda
2 tbsp Dish Detergent. The stuff for washing dishes in the sink, not something for dishwashers.

Right when it foams up use to wash down the areas.

I have used this recipe multiply times to get rid of odors.
My ex use to fry food another smell I do not like so the kitchen would smell like a diner. I would open all the windows and then wash the kitchen with this and burn the defuser.

"My dog got sprayed by a skunk and had to bring him into the house to wash it off."

I thought tomato juice got rid of skunk-spray?

thanks liliZ!! i will def ask my landlord about something like that.

My cat has peed twice (large puddles) in the same spot on my carpet. I usually sprinkle baking soda then dump white vinegar down and scrub as it foams. The trouble now is that I associate the vinegar smell with cat pee and I didn't get any sleep last night cause I kept thinking that my cat was peeing on the rug again because I could still smell the vinegar. :\

OK, several things.

First, the most likely culprit for lasting odors is oil. (In the original example, the burning popcorn OIL carried the stench to other surfaces and held the smell.) To really eliminate the stink, you need to CLEAN and get rid of the oil, especially from fabrics. (For serious fires, a cleaning service, usually covered by insurance, is the most sane method.)

Next, for pet stains (including cat urine) get Simple Solution at the pet supplies store. It's an enzyme cleaner and a bit sickeningly sweet smelling at first, but it neutralizes the urine so the smell goes away AND the cat is unlikely to repeat the accident in the same place. Spray, blot with paper towels or clean white rags, repeat as needed. (Works for lots of organic stains, including blood, in case you slice your finger in the kitchen or something...)

For skunk smell, my brother (who has at least two large dogs all the time and has this problem often) swears by the anti-skunk chemicals you get at pet supply stores. There are a number of brands, and I don't recall specific ones, but you add them to water and bathe the pet with it. I think tomato juice does have SOME effect -- the acidity tends to neutralize the base of the skunk odor. But usually you need more, or every time the pooch gets wet for a good long time, some of the aroma comes back! (I definitely endorse bathing the dog outside with the garden hose if at all possible, at least for the first try!) (Maybe a self-serve carwash if you can get to one?! The hose variety, not the touchless type, obviously!)

You're so welcome, Cerrissa. If your landlord needs persuading, mention your efforts to remove the odor yourself, as well as any allergies or chemical sensitivities that would make it hard for you to tolerate living there without proper (chemical-free) cleanup. In the long run, it's in the landlord's best interest. Re-renting the place will also be harder if it's not properly cleaned. Good luck!

bepsf - tomato juice does not work very well, tried this before with my second dog. The skunk spray does ruin your smelling for awhile and the pungency of tomato can be detected as "stronger" than skunk but not for long.
The other solution is much better and your bathroom will not look like helter skelter.

If it's an organic odor just buy some Odor Mute (powdered enzyme concentrate). I've always been suspect of the "bowl of baking soda" trick. Just how do all the odor causing compounds move from where the are into the baking soda? Natural room air convection crossed with the available surface area of the dishes of soda just seems like it would take ages to absorb.

Hi all, Leah here.

Thanks for the additional cleaning tips.

Some clarification for those who asked... the smell is officially GONE--yay! Before we tried the tips mentioned in the post, the smell had lingered for 6 days. We tried the aforementioned deodorizing tricks on day 6, and on the 7th day we drew in a big (fresh) sigh of relief and rested.

I'm not sure if this works on all odors, but to remove that "fresh paint" smell when you repaint a room, putting coffee beans in bowls absorbs all the paint odor really fast. Someone commented on coffee grounds, but you can use whole beans without grinding. Of course, you have to like the scent of coffee and some people don't.

We use "Nature's Miracle" on pet stains and it works not only on the odor but takes any trace of stain away, too.

Repellant odors are definitely NOT good feng shui! ;-)
Katy
http://fengshuibyfishgirl.com

@CarolineK- any luck with the Room Shocker? I'm thinking of trying it in my basement. All of the reviews I've found online appear to be written by the same person (presumably someone with a stake in the sale of this product), so it makes me a little leery to try it.