apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I have an old pan that I pull out to occasionally to boil cloves, cinnamon sticks and rosemary. My husband is "senstitive" to incense or perfumes.

There is a difference between masking a smell and actually removing the bad smell. To remove smells I use two things that work very well, baking soda and bleach.

I sprinkle baking soda liberally on my pillows and mattress (did this much more often back in the days when I was married to my sweaty ex!), I'd let it sit for a while, then either vacuum it off or in the case of the pillows, shake them out the window. Works wonders.

For the kitty litter and other smells, nothing works like bleach. Bleach kills odours 100% on contact. You have to rinse well after the bleach, of course. I use this whenever I'm cleaning a surface that can take bleach, like a plastic garbage can or my sink. It isn't gentle, but I never really wanted to be that gentle with urine. Sorry.

Once the bad odours are gone, you can use candles, cinnamon etc. Personally, I hate the combination of a nice smell over a bad one. It's like using perfume when what you really need is a shower :)

Smile--I totally agree that litter boxes have to be dealt with as a special case (same with toilets). However, I tend to line my cat pan with two trash bags so that I can just remove one with everything in it (the other one is there in case he scratches through the first). That way, no cleaning of the icky remnant is required. Some animals (much like humans) are very sensitive to chemicals. A lot of sick kitties or behaviorally problematic kitties (scratching themselves, pulling out their hair, licking until they are raw) is because of allergies to things the owners use in the home.

As for my remedies:
Dryer Sheets Baby-
*Dryer sheet in the trash liner
*Covered cat box with a dryer sheet lodged in with the filter
*Dryer sheet under the car seat (car salesperson trick to making the car smell fresh and new)
* Dryer sheets under drawer liners or hung (not touching clothes) in a closet. Clothes always smell like they were just put through the wash.

Also, I tend to like incense. I'm probably just delusional but I feel like the smells don't get covered up but rather completely killed in the air.

Spices and things of that nature are bacteriostatic (one big reason why spices were first incorporated into foods). Lemons in the fridge, heated lemon or spice water in the microwave, boiling a pot of lemons or spices to remove fish odors-->All worthwhile ideas

PS-

UV radiation (sunlight) is a natural way to freshen up linens. Just pulling down your covers and letting some sunlight in helps make your bed linens smell better, helps curb germs (man alive are pillows sources of germs), and some feel it helps lower dustmite colonies. If you have a clothes line, put your curtains, table linens, bed linens, etc. out there to freshen them up.

Lastly, with bleach and a littler box, the source of the smell is less often bacteria (killed on contact but their smelly byproducts may remain) and more often ammonia (from urine). Ammonia and bleach are a naturally bad combo.

I wash my pillows (feather/down) in my washing machine. Also opening windows is a great way to get rid of unpleasant odors. Also using the exhaust above my stove. A cup of ammonia left in an inconspicuous courner of your kitchen or bathroom will effectively deodorize a relatively large space.

I lived in a loft in Manhattan where the bedroom was right above the kitchen. My boyfriend loved to roast a chicken in the oven, but the smells seemed to permeate the upstairs bedroom and, maybe I imagined it, even the sheets smelled chickeny. Even with the fan on and the windows open I would have difficulty sleeping in the thickly scented chicken air. I tried the vinegar in a bowl trick, but that didn't really help so one night I simmered cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, a dash of vanilla extract and fresh sliced ginger. The exotic scent wafted through the whole house and smelled a little like Christmas and made sleep that much sweeter.

There is a brand-new product on the market that I swear by calld Room Shocker.
I manage a large apartment building. Every month I get one or two apartments that vacate. Some apartments are left in better condition than others. I have been able to eliminate pet odors including cat urin, cigarette cigar smoke, mold and mildew smells, and just plain nasty body odor.
The product is not a masking agent. It gets rid of the older at the source and not only takes a smell away, but it disinfection Decontaminates the entire room. It leaves the room smelling crisp and clean, and it's nice to know that all the surfaces are disinfected. The best part is I don't have to sit and scrub anything or pay anyone to do it. It comes in a cup. you put a little water in it and leave it for four to 24 hours depending on how bad the smell is you come back and the room smells great. You can find it on a website called BiocideSystems.com. And it's not expensive.