Residents of an apartment or private house may often not feel that their home smells of unpleasant odors. This is due to the fact that over time they become habitual and even such a “smell”, the source of which is cat urine or household waste, becomes invisible. Guests can feel such problems when entering from the street. The stench can be removed by using traditional methods of combating it or using purchased household chemicals.
Before you get rid of the smell in the house, you need to identify the source of its appearance - this will be more logical and easier to deal with the hated aroma.
Causes of unpleasant odors in the apartment
Pungent odors can be emitted by many rooms and objects. Possible reasons:
- smoking and drinking alcohol in the home;
- living in an apartment for pets, having a regularly used cat litter box;
- expired food in or out of the refrigerator;
- untimely replacement of garbage bags, accumulation of garbage;
- poor exhaust;
- high humidity (dampness);
- storing dirty clothes;
- poor quality cleaning.
Places where unpleasant odors accumulate in the home
Most often, this phenomenon is observed in the kitchen, bathroom, toilet and basement. Dust also smells bad, and it accumulates in places where owners look least often: behind heating radiators, under the bathroom, behind the stove and washing machine, under the refrigerator, in the ventilation. Indoor plants, artificial flowers, figurines, and stacks of newspapers are real dust collectors that absorb unpleasant odors.
The inside of the refrigerator can also smell terrible if there is rotten or moldy food in it. Particular attention should be paid to the compartment for vegetables and fruits. In devices with a No Frost system, the drainage hole for condensate discharge is often clogged.
The bathroom may be affected by mold. In this case, cleaning the ventilation will not help; it is important to treat the room with special compounds.
Sewers are often the main source of bad odors in the home. Almost everything that a person flushes down the kitchen sink, shower or toilet ends up in the “magic” pipe and is discharged out. Dirt partially settles in siphons, corrugated pipes and on the inner walls of pipes - in such an environment bacterial colonies settle and multiply. If preventive cleaning is not carried out periodically, a terrible odor will arise, which will be very difficult to get rid of due to the presence of a large volume of deposits.
Effective methods of disposal
You can remove unpleasant odors from your apartment using both household chemicals and traditional methods. Homemade fragrances will help bring freshness back to your home and can be no less effective than professional chemicals.
Special means
The easiest and most affordable way to update a room is to use an air freshener.
There are many manufacturers of such compositions; they produce sprays and other products that can hide the stench in a matter of minutes. Many stores sell special sticks that, when lit, emit a pleasant aroma that lasts for quite a long time. Oriental products are especially popular; they are characterized by the greatest durability.
In recent years, ionizers have become increasingly popular. Such devices help keep the apartment fresh and fight mustiness.
Important! Air fresheners only hide odors, but do not eliminate them completely. Before eliminating an unpleasant odor in an apartment in this way, you should determine its source and get rid of it.
Traditional methods
Homemade products are much safer than professional chemicals. To prepare them, coffee, salt, oils, herbs, scented candles and other ingredients are most often used. Effective folk methods:
- Activated carbon and soda. The tablets are crushed into powder, soda is added to them in the same amount. The mixture is poured into a fabric bag, then it is hung in places where the unpleasant odor is concentrated.
- Candles. It is not necessary to use scented wax; regular wax will do. During the combustion process, the candle helps eliminate unpleasant odors from food, tobacco, and paint coatings. The longer it burns, the more likely it is that even the most musty smell will disappear.
- For regular cleaning, you can place a cotton pad soaked in essential oil in the vacuum cleaner each time. As a result, the cleaned apartment will be filled with a pleasant aroma.
Do-it-yourself natural home fragrances
To add freshness to your apartment, it is not necessary to purchase industrial air fresheners; you can make them yourself:
- Fill a spray bottle with water and add a few drops of essential oil or perfume. The liquid is sprayed around the room.
- If you don’t have a spray bottle, you can dip cotton pads in the aromatic mixture and place them around the room.
- Fill bags made of natural fabric with aromatic tea, citrus fruit peels, and coffee beans and hang them around the house. Spices such as cinnamon and vanilla are also suitable for this.
- Weak green tea with lemon juice is sprinkled around the house. Particular attention is paid to places that emit a terrible odor.
Fast but expensive
Now let's look at what purchased products will help eliminate the unpleasant stench in the apartment.
Dry fog
The innovative dry fog odor removal technology is very popular. It is carried out by professionals using special equipment that spray liquid from cylinders. So, upon contact with air, the composition is converted into smoke, binds and precipitates suspended particles. The procedure is quite expensive, but very effective. It is more advisable to use dry fog in critical cases when the problem cannot be dealt with on your own.
Zoovorsin
The product “Zoovorsin” on the market effectively copes with the destruction of stench from cats and dogs. It fights any stains and their consequences on carpets and fabrics. Its serious competition is Natures Miracle, which is popular all over the world. For its price, it does the job perfectly and doesn’t give musty aromas a chance.
Chlorine-containing substances
As mentioned earlier, chlorine-containing products will help in the fight against such a problematic phenomenon. Separately, it is worth highlighting two brands Domestos and Sarma. They are distinguished by affordable prices, a diverse product line and high efficiency.
Sources
- https://chistotainfo.ru/zapah/dom/izbavitsya-v-kvartire
- https://adella.ru/home/cleaning/nepriyatnyj-zapah-v-kvartire.html
- https://sovremennoedomovodstvo.ru/lifehack/nepriyatnyy-zapakh-v-kvartire/
- https://tvjam.ru/livehaki/kak-izbavitsya-ot-zapakha/
- https://mirndv.ru/blog/borba-s-nepriyatnym-zapahom-v-kvartire/
- https://BestLavka.ru/kak-izbavitsya-ot-nepriyatnogo-zapaxa-v-kvartire-narodnye-sredstva/
- https://uborkapro.info/borba-s-zapahami/v-kvartire.html
- https://hozzi.ru/zapah/v-kvartire-chem-ubrat
Getting rid of odors in the kitchen
The kitchen is the main source of unpleasant odors, since it is here that food is regularly prepared, the sink is used, and garbage accumulates. The most accessible method is to pour vinegar into a saucepan and bring to a boil. The room will be filled with a vinegary smell, but it will soon disappear, and others will leave with it (garlic, fried onions, soot).
Fridge
Before getting rid of the smell in the refrigerator, the shelves and walls must be thoroughly washed and dried. All spoiled food and other sources of stench should be thrown away. Pour some freshly ground coffee into different levels and leave there overnight. By morning the device will smell pleasant.
In devices with No Frost and a drip system, sometimes the drainage hole to remove excess moisture becomes clogged, resulting in a bad smell. As a rule, equipment manufacturers include a special cleaning brush in the kit, which should be used periodically.
The smell of sour foods can be eliminated with oatmeal. Dry cereal is poured into a saucer, which is placed on one of the shelves. Oatmeal will absorb all unpleasant odors, but it is important to change it every 2 days.
Oven
If your oven is causing an unpleasant odor, you can freshen it up as follows:
- wash and dry the oven;
- place a heat-resistant bowl filled with water and dried citrus zest;
- close the door and turn on the oven, after the water boils, wait about 15 minutes and remove the container.
Microwave
The most effective ways to clean a microwave oven:
- Rub the inside walls of the device with coffee grounds, then remove coffee particles with a damp cloth and wipe dry.
- Apply toothpaste to the walls and bottom. After a few hours, rinse off the teeth cleanser and wipe all surfaces with a clean cloth until dry.
Cleaning upholstered furniture
You should always pay attention to upholstered furniture
, which often bears the brunt of the impact from older people, since waste products of older people very often end up on the surface of sofas or beds.
When treating any upholstered furniture, it is recommended to always open the windows wide.
To prepare the solution, mix well one teaspoon of citric acid with two glasses of water, one teaspoon of vinegar and one tablespoon of liquid soap or any detergent.
When you prepare the mixture, a thick, stable foam will form.
, which must be applied with a sponge to the upholstery of the sofa. After approximately two hours, the surface should be thoroughly cleaned with a brush.
Bathroom and toilet odors
In a humid environment, fungi, viruses and other harmful microorganisms multiply quickly, the colonies of which cause a stench; their removal is quite labor-intensive. This is exactly the atmosphere that reigns in the bathroom and toilet. Activated carbon quickly absorbs extraneous odors, so it’s enough to spread whole tablets around the room, and over time it will smell much better. However, before removing the smell, it is worth finding and, if possible, eliminating its source.
Fighting cat urine odor
Cats that have not gone through the castration procedure mark their territory, and it is simply impossible to stay in such a room. Helpful Tips:
- use special household chemicals to eliminate the smell of animal urine;
- mix liquid soap and baking soda in equal proportions, apply the mixture to the urine stain and cover with a clean, dry cloth, after several hours, vacuum or remove particles of the product with a wet cloth;
- Mix baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and lemon juice in equal proportions, spray on the stain and wait to dry.
Important! The cat's litter box should be cleaned regularly. Otherwise, the odors will spread beyond the bathroom and permeate the furniture, walls and textiles.
Mold
Mold is a living organism that develops and reproduces under certain conditions. It appears in rooms with high humidity and insufficient air circulation. As fungi grow, a sickening odor appears. You can get rid of mold on your own:
- mix chlorine bleach with water in a ratio of 1:10 and apply the solution to areas where harmful organisms accumulate;
- dilute 1 tbsp. l. vinegar in 1 liter of water, spray on the mold, wait a few hours and wash off with soap;
- mix 1 tsp. soda with 1 tbsp. water and spread over the moldy surface with a washcloth; do not rinse off.
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Important! If mold occupies a large space and leads not only to mustiness, but also to a deterioration in the well-being of the residents of the house, it is necessary to contact a professional disinfection service to poison the fungus.
Sewage smell
At first, the smell appears only in the room where there is a toilet, sink or bathtub. Gradually, the stench spreads through the ventilation system to the rest of the rooms, and it becomes unbearable to be in the apartment. This problem can be eliminated with the help of professional pipe cleaners, since general aromatization of the room will not help in getting rid of the source of the terrible odor.
After you have managed to remove the area where the odor is concentrated, you can refresh the bathroom or toilet with any professional fragrances or those you prepare yourself at home.
Getting rid of the musty smell of old age and dampness in the house
Damp and old rooms are often sources of bad odors. Fungi multiply in them and dust accumulates. If a smoker lives in the house, all rooms regularly absorb tobacco smoke and acquire a corresponding smell, which can sometimes be very difficult to get rid of, even if you completely get rid of the bad habit.
Eliminating tobacco odor
Every guest of a house in which a smoker lives is immediately struck by the corresponding smell. Effective methods:
- Wet towels. They are hung throughout the apartment, the windows are opened wide for ventilation. After a few hours the smell should go away.
- Dried bay leaf. It should be set on fire, then it is necessary to fumigate the foul-smelling rooms with the resulting smoke.
- Aroma oils. It is better to use citrus and coniferous fruits. You can light a special aroma lamp with their addition.
- Spring-cleaning. In order to get rid of the unpleasant smell of tobacco or fumes both in the apartment and in the house, you should thoroughly clean all moisture-resistant surfaces and wash textiles (curtains, tablecloths, bed linen, bedspreads, removable furniture covers). It is better to replace old pillows and mattresses, but you can use professional dry cleaning services.
- Redecorating. Nicotine is quite corrosive, so it may happen that none of the remedies will help and you will have to resort to re-sticking the wallpaper and completely replacing carpets and other textiles.
Freshening up your home furniture
In the case of furniture, you will have to work especially hard, since it is not so easy to clean, it absorbs all odors and accumulates them over a long time. Sometimes it is enough to take the sofa out into the fresh air and leave it for a day for the stench to disappear. At the same time, you can place bags of flavored tea or bags of dried herbs on the upholstery, which will draw in odors and get rid of dampness.
If there are stains on your furniture, you can apply effective home remedies or professional chemicals locally. If mold is present, the upholstery and other parts should be replaced, and if this is not possible, it is recommended to get rid of such furniture.
Cleaning cabinets
Most often, a musty smell appears where dirty laundry or old clothes, sneakers and other sports shoes are stored. Effective methods:
- wipe with a solution of 1 liter of water and 1 tsp. potassium permanganate on all shelves;
- hang fabric bags with dry orange peels or lavender sprigs;
- The closet must be regularly ventilated; a constantly locked space will accumulate mustiness.
Important! Before removing the smell from the closet, you should take out and sort through all the things in it, wash and iron them.
Removing the old smell with vinegar
Best for room treatment
for those with old odors, vinegar is perfect. This is an indispensable tool for removing all unpleasant and heavy odors.
To do this, mix two tablespoons of vinegar with a glass of water.
, moisten a rag in the resulting solution and very carefully wipe every wooden element in the house. After about a week, this procedure must be repeated.
Vinegar removes odors very well
, and disinfects the room. For more convenient use, it can be poured into a spray bottle.
How to neutralize external sources of odors
Smoke and fumes, exhaust gases, tobacco smoke enter the apartment through open windows and doors and cause a lot of trouble. It is important to prevent them from entering your home. Clogging doors and windows is not the solution; you need to get rid of the problem using other methods. First of all, it is important to ensure control over the quality of air entering the room. Supply ventilation copes well with this. The unpleasant odor is retained by special filters and does not penetrate into the rooms.
Eliminating unpleasant odors in your home is not difficult if you approach this issue wisely. Having identified the sources of stench and gotten rid of them, it is enough to use professional or folk fragrances to give the room a fresh aroma.
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Dry fog generator
This device allows you to permanently and completely get rid of the smell of antiquity. It is capable of spraying small particles that envelop molecules and can irritate our sense of smell. The particle size can penetrate even the deepest structures and layers.
Why does it have this name? When the process of spraying particles with a generator occurs, a kind of cloud is formed, which is very similar to fog.
This device was invented in the USA. The substances obtained there have the ability to penetrate into the most inaccessible places. It’s hard to imagine, but they are able to penetrate even the pores of any materials. The device is able to capture odor and remove it permanently.
