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Getting Rid of Pet Urine Odor in Carpet

November 27, 2012 By 7 Comments

Dear Home-Ec 101,

I recently officially moved out of my parents house. I was living in a condo while at school, but  got a house with my fiance, and have been moving a lot of my old stuff from their house into our new home. While I was away at college though, my sister’s cats turned my old room into a cat playground. Unfortunately, this lead to cat hair and urine all over my old clothes. I have been going through and washing everything with vinegar, which has mostly helped with the smell. The only problem I’m having now is that the carpet and the room near the hallway that I sorted through the clothes smells faintly of urine. I can smell it pretty strongly when I walk into the bathroom, though I didn’t ever bring any of those clothes into that room.

Any ideas on what to do?

I’ve vacuumed all the carpet in the area, but the smell is still there.

Signed,
Catastrophe in Catawba

Heather says:

Sisters, cats, what do you do?

As far as the bathroom, if this is your first time living with a man. . . try wiping around the base of the toilet with an acidic, all-purpose cleaner. Let’s see if that doesn’t solve the urine odor in the bathroom. It’d be nice to blame the cat, but. . . I have my suspicions here. I have a part time job in a pub and yes, we all take turns cleaning the bathrooms. The women’s restrooms do not smell like urine, it’s a guy thing from splashing. Yuck, I know. Clean it up (ask him to clean it?) and carry-on with your day.

As far as the odor in the carpet, your best bet is to get an enzymatic carpet cleaner like Kids N Pets and rent a steam cleaner from the hardware or grocery store. Since the pet was not actually in your home, I doubt that any urine has wicked all the way to the padding. If that were the case, I would highly recommend hiring a professional carpet cleaner as their machines are generally in better condition, with more powerful extractors AND they often guarantee their services.

Just make sure you follow the directions on the steam cleaner AND run a fan, box or oscillating, over the carpet until it is completely dry. You do not want to remove the pet urine odor and replace it with the odor of  mildew. Bleh.

Good luck!

Submit your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

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Potential Sources for Mildew Odor in a Bedroom: A Friday Ask the Audience

September 9, 2011 By 7 Comments

Dear Home-Ec 101,
There is a musty / mildew smell in my home, but I’m having issues locating the source of the smell. As far as I can tell, it’s restricted to one bedroom. I’ve examined all of my clothing, removed the air conditioner, checked all of the furniture, and even the air ducts. I’m guessing it might be in the carpet? Any ideas? The mildew smell is driving me crazy, and I’m sure the bleach fumes aren’t great for me either.

Thank you for any and all suggestions help!
Signed,
Musty in Muncie

Heather says:

First of all, you are right to not ignore a musty or mildew scent in a home. While the chances are that it’s cause was rather benign -not thoroughly drying carpeting after cleaning up a pet mess- there are chances that the smell may be your first clue to a more serious problem.

The sniff test is one of the less than fun homeowner chores, but get ready, you’re going to try to find the source of the problem. If you have central AC, turn it off and turn off any fans in the room. What you’re going to do is try to zero in on the source of the smell and we don’t want anything stirring the air, making that more difficult. Enter the room and shut the door.

Begin trying to find the source of the smell by following the mildew.

Mildew is likely to be found around sources of moisture.

Check your windows as a potential site for mildew growth.

Sometimes condensation occurs due to temperature differences between indoors and out. If the blinds are never opened this moisture may take a long time to evaporate, especially if the window is on the north side of a home.

Sometimes there is a problem with the flashing around a window that has allowed rain or melting snow or ice to seep down into the walls. If this has occurred, mold may be growing inside your walls.

Remove switch plates and outlet covers.

Is the air trapped in the walls musty? Is the room adjacent to the bathroom, kitchen, or laundry where there may be a hidden, leaky pipe?

Check the HVAC vents.

Sometimes, especially homes on crawl spaces, it’s possible your duct work may have a leak. If this is the case, stale or musty odors may be drawn into your home. (We actually had this issue and our only clue was a musty odor in a bathroom;  I’m just so thrilled we spent part of the summer air conditioning the crawl space.)

Look up at the ceiling.

Look for any discolorations that may hint at water damage.

Finally get down on your hands and knees and check the most likely source, your carpeting.

Work your way around the room. If the smell is isolated to a certain spot and you know that there is ongoing problem exacerbating the situation (a leaky pipe, window, or toilet) then first dry the area thoroughly. A shop vac is great for extracting any water. Then lightly spray the area with a dilute solution of white vinegar (about 50:50) and set up a fan to dry the area thoroughly. If after two applications this has not taken care of the mildew odor, it’s time to ensure that mildew is not growing in the pad or the subflooring. If this is the case, the carpet and pad may have to be patched or replaced (depending on the size of the mold growth).

If the subflooring also shows signs of mold / mildew growth, it will need to be sanded and sealed to prevent recurrence.

Home Eccers, have I missed any potential sources of mold / mildew growth in a bedroom?

Send your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

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What to Do About Stinky Shoes?

April 19, 2011 By 12 Comments

Dear Home-Ec 101,

I got my favorite pair of shoes wet last week and now they stink to high heaven. Is there anything I can do to save these shoes?

Signed,

Smelly in Smyrna

Heather says:

I’m going to let you in on a secret. Last week was not the first time your shoes have gotten wet. Sure, it may have been the first time they were drenched in a puddle and soaked, but your feet sweat about a cup a day. That is a lot of funk fueling power right there. It’s not actually your feet that are the odor problem. It’s the bacteria that like to hang out in damp places. If your shoes don’t get a chance to dry out between wearings, the bacteria in your shoes never have to pause their growth, reproduction, and waste production. This waste is what causes that oh so familiar foot odor. Well now there’s a pleasant thought, no? Mmm bacterial waste.

If the shoes have a removable insole, remove it. Insoles are usually fairly inexpensive and that’s probably where the majority of your funk is hanging out.  Go ahead and replace them. Allow the shoes to dry thoroughly in a well-ventilated area. This is actually a good use case for Lysol, just be sure to let the shoes dry thoroughly before wearing again. If you’re anti-Lysol for any purpose whatsoever, you could wipe out the inside with dilute tea tree oil or rubbing alcohol, but be aware that either of those may damage some materials. Again, allow the shoes to dry throughly.

Alternately you can give activated charcoal, loosely crumpled newspaper, or kitty litter in old pantyhose a try.

If the shoes are still funky, there’s one more last ditch effort to try. Clean and condition any leather parts of the shoe. Put the shoes in a paper sack and place the sack in the freezer for 72 hours. Don’t crush the shoes while they are still cold, any leather may be brittle. Allow them to come to room temperature before wearing.

With shoes, the key to odor control is prevention. Always let shoes dry fully before wearing again, this usually means alternating your shoes with another pair. If your shoes do get wet, dry them as thoroughly as possible, as quickly as possible without exposing to excessive heat.

Submit your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

 

Filed Under: Wash It Tagged With: ,

How to Remove Poop from Upholstery and Fabric

December 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dear Home Ec 101,

Do you have any tips for cleaning poop off of the cover of a cloth bean bag chair? The tag reads “Do not open under any circumstance.” It’s a $20 bean bag chair from Target and I don’t just want to “get anodder one” as my toddler suggests. As you may have guessed, the toddler was the poop culprit.

Signed,
I signed up for this?

Heather says:

Yep, you sure did, it was in the fine print.

I remember once my younger sister DID open the bean bag chair. Those teeny-tiny styrofoam pellets are a nightmare to clean up. Do yourself a favor and listen to the tag.

Arm yourself with some gloves. If there is a lot of fecal matter on the fabric use a disposable plastic knife (like from take-out) to gently scrape off as much of the solid matter as possible. Be careful to not push the mess into the fabric.

If you have a wet dry vac or a carpet cleaner with an upholstery attachment, great! Spray down the area with a product like Kids N Pets. Then use the upholstery attachment to suck up the liquid. Do NOT use the upholstery attachment to scrub the stain INTO the fabric. Clean your equipment when you are through.

If  you do not have access to an carpet cleaner or even a wet dry vac, arm yourself with a bunch of rags or paper towels -please use chlorine bleach in the washing machine,  if you plan to reuse the rags. Alternate blotting and wetting the stained area, working from the edge of the affected area to the center. Continue doing this a few times even after the stain appears to be gone. Finally, give it one more thorough spray with blot with the enzymatic cleaner and allow the affected area to air dry.

Isn’t parenting fun?

Send your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com

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How to Store Blankets Without Inviting Mildew

July 15, 2010 By 6 Comments

Dear Home Ec 101,

I have a serious problem with the old lady, musty laundry smell. I keep my sleeping bag, electric blanket and my baby blanket in a chest at the foot of my bed. Since these are all seasonal items, they quickly get musty in my chest (which isn’t cedar). I’ve tried potpourri, but it’s really too little. I’ve also found that a quick run thru the dryer will freshen them, but that’s irritating because my stuff is dry and clean.
Is there a secret to keeping this stuff smelling fresh? Some kind of super potpourri, perhaps?

Signed,

I Want My Blankie

Heather says:

Sleeping bags are notoriously difficult to dry completely. Folding or rolling it up and placing it in a virtually air tight box is rolling out the welcome mat for mildew, the source of your musty smell.  Mold and mildew are both fungi that love damp environments. While mold can grow inside walls and ventilation systems, mildew is more often associated with fabrics. This is especially true if you live in a humid environment.

You can add a bag or two of chemical desiccant to the chest. Silica gel is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs moisture from the air.  If your chest is not packed tightly, this should suck up the moisture and reduce the growth of mildew, eliminating the source of smell. When adding items to your chest, be sure they are packed loosely, rather than crammed into every last nook and cranny. If air can’t circulate at all, mildew will have a field day.

One last thing, if the chest has picked up the scent of mildew find some activated charcoal, place this in the chest and lock it up tightly for a a few days. Activated charcoal adsorbs -yes, that is a word, it means attracts chemically, a slightly different mechanism than absorption- some odors. Once the chest itself is fresh smelling, it’s safe to store your dry, clean blankets with the chemical desiccant.

Without mildew in the odor competition any potpourri should be up to the task.

A final few tips:

Line wooden storage boxes and chests with acid free paper.

Roll linen rather than folding.

Cloves, rosemary, thyme, lavender, and dried orange peel all make excellent potpourri, just ensure they do not come in direct contact with any fabric to prevent staining during long term storage.

Good luck!

Send your household questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

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Musty Odor in a Home

July 9, 2010 By 13 Comments

Dear Home Ec 101,

Here’s my dilemma. The house is clean, but there is a fusty, musty odor, like a large dog is secretly living in our house. We have an older, small house with the kitchen being basically open to everything. Sometimes I think it is cooking odors that are being trapped in the rest of the house. We have hardwood floors with some area rugs, and currently, no pets. I don’t like to use room fresheners or febreze products, because then it just smells like flowers and the underlying odor. Like shampooed skunk odor.
Any other helpful tips on keeping the house smelling like fresh line-dried laundry? (I know, I know..I can dream)

Signed,

Musty Muffy

Heather says:

Our air conditioning stopped working on Tuesday, as I live near Charleston, SC this would make life pretty annoying until nearly October.  While the most excellent repair guy was under the house (contact me if you are local and need a repair guy -good ones can be hard to find), he noticed there was a leak in our duct work. Not only were we air conditioning the crawl space (ack!) there was another leak causing air to be drawn in from the crawlspace in addition to the intake. We had noticed a musty odor in the master bathroom and have been running a dehumidifier constantly thinking it was due to excess moisture. The duct work has been repaired and the smell is gone. Awesomesauce.

I contacted Musty Muffy  to see if her problem could be similar. She does not live above a crawlspace and does not have central air, only heat.

Musty odors are most often attributed to mold.

It’s important to note that not all strains are dangerous and the presence of an odor is not necessarily a useful indicator of the type of mold present. There are home test kits that can be used and mailed in for identification. Make sure if you use a testing service that they are unaffiliated with a repair service.

It is important to locate the source of the odor.

Mold smells can be faint and will often only show up when the air hasn’t been circulating or when the humidity is high. The short term solution is to open the windows and turn on the fan, not the central heat, and move the air in the home. This will help disperse the odor.

Make sure none of the home’s vents are blocked.

This requires going on the roof to check. Houses must breathe.

If the home has had water damage in the past, wood is notorious for holding odors and it may be an expensive fix or something you learn to live with.

Have the roof inspected for water damage and inspect the flashing around all the windows and doors.

A leaky door or window could cause water damage behind the drywall. Other possible but not obvious locations for old water damage are near washers, dryers (the vent could leak condensation into the wall), under sinks, near the hot water heater, and around the base of showers, tubs, and toilets -a leaky wax ring could cause significant damage to the subflooring.

Another potential cause is a dried out trap under an unused sink, shower, or tub. If a sink or shower is unused for long enough the water seal in the pipe can evaporate allowing sewage gases to enter a home. This is actually a potentially dangerous scenario as sewer gases are no joke. Run some water into all rarely used fixtures from time to time.

Wash all the curtains and drapes or have them cleaned. These fabric panels are grease and odor magnets. If they have gotten damp from really high humidity after washing and drying it may be wise to lay the curtains out in the sun for a few hours (not too long sunlight can bleach some fabrics).

If you’re sure it is odors from another cause, such as cooking:

I also hate air freshener sprays, plug-ins, and discs. A deep cleaning of the cabinets in the kitchen may eliminate a lot of the funk. Grease particles float the air, land on solid surfaces and go rancid. Typically that smell is more like a restaurant first thing in the morning. (If you’ve ever worked in food service, you know the smell of trapped kitchen grease).

Two final  funk sources are, a potato that escaped the bag and rolled somewhere. A rotten potato can create an unholy odor and often draws flies. And last but not least is the dreaded dead animal in the walls or attic. If it’s inaccessible time is the only cure.

Good luck!

Send your domestic questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

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Sour Smelling Towels

May 25, 2010 By 29 Comments

Dear Home Ec 101,

Why do towels and washcloths smell sour and how do I get rid of that funky odor?

Signed,

Sour in Soux Falls

Heather says:

High on my list of most favorite thing ever is stepping out of the shower and drying my face with a sour smelling towel. Yeah. Absolute favorite thing ever.

How do towels get that sour smelling funk?

Mildew is the common name for a variety of fungi that enjoy growing on damp fabric, among other things. This happens when towels are thrown into the laundry hamper -or onto the floor- damp. Sometimes it happens after they are left in the washer for too long.

While some fungi are fab as a side dish, this variety is anything but appetizing.

Sometimes a quick rewash and thorough dry is all that is needed, but if the home has a front load washer, there’s a chance part of the cause of the funk is the machine itself. Follow the steps in this post on fixing a smelly washer before addressing the towels themselves.

If the smell lingers after a rewash and you’re certain the the washer isn’t re-fouling the towels -oh a rhyme, that costs extra- it’s time to address the underlying cause, detergent buildup. This is pretty common, but it should be noted that the solutions can sometimes fade the color of bright towels. Of course when given the choice between a sour but bright or faded but fresh, the choice is obvious, right? I mean, seriously, who wants to use a faded towel? How gauche..

Run the load of smelly towels on the hottest setting available with 1/4 – 1 cup borax , depending on the size of the load. Give the towels an extra rinse and add a cup of white vinegar to the rinse water.  If the humidity is low, hang the towels to dry in the sunlight, if not dry thoroughly in the dryer. Sunlight is the sworn enemy of mildew and it’s not because the sparkling would give it away.

Reduce the amount of detergent used and consider adding white vinegar to the rinse cycle of all towel loads, this is especially helpful in areas with hard water.

Send your domestic questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

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How to Get Rid of Fish Odor in the Kitchen

May 11, 2010 By 5 Comments

Dear Home Ec 101:

Help!  How do I get the fish stink out of my kitchen?  I’m trying to encourage an elderly dog to eat and someone recommended canned mackerel.  It worked a treat but now my kitchen stinks like fish.  Mom suggested boiling white vinegar on the stove, but since I can’t stand the smell of vinegar either I’m not sure that is the best option for me.

Signed,

Mindy Mackerel

Heather says:

Since your fish wasn’t cooked, only served. I bet a few drops of the foul smelling liquid are lurking.

Wipe down the counters and mop the area around the dog’s dish. It’s possible Fido didn’t use his napkin and dribbled fish juice. If the dog’s bowl rests on a mat wash this, too.

Is it possible you wiped fishy hands on a kitchen towel? Toss that in the wash.

Did you drain the can in the garbage disposal without running water? It’s possible some of the stinky liquid splashed up onto the sides of the unit. I’ve written about how to fix a stinky garbage disposal before.

Good luck with your smelly situation.

Send your domestic questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

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How to Remove the Stink from Plastic Storage Containers

October 28, 2009 By 6 Comments

Dear Home Ec 101,

My spouse, it’s not me, no never me, has a bad habit of leaving his dirty plastic containers in the back of his car. I have to tell you, they are FUNKY. How do I remove the bad odor?

Signed,

Smelly in Smyrna

Heather says:

I feel your pain.

First let’s talk prevention. What I have done is convinced my husband that the first rinse out is HIS problem. I was pretty sensitive to smells during all three of my pregnancies; after losing my lunch a couple of times I flat out refused to be the one to crack the seal. Once he was hit with the funk a few times he began rinsing out the containers at work. With few exceptions -road crews being one I can think of- most people have access to running water on the job. Ask your spouse to rinse out the container before packing it to take home.

Once a plastic container has a bad smell, the cure is simple and Tupperware fans swear by it. First, wash it thoroughly in the hottest soapy water you can stand this will help get rid of any oils that may be part of the problem. Dry the container well, then crumple some newspaper, place it inside and close the lid tightly. Let the sealed container sit for a day or two, then discard the newspaper and give it a sniff. If the odor is gone, wonderful just wash it before reusing it. Otherwise, wash it with a diluted bleach solution and repeat the newspaper trick.

If you have it on hand, activated charcoal may work better than plain old newspaper. I never have it on hand, so I don’t really see it as an option.

Good luck!

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Removing Cigarette Smoke Odor From Couches

December 9, 2008 By 8 Comments

Dear Home Ec 101,

I recently purchased a sofa and loveseat from a lovely couple who listed the furniture on a popular online auction site.  The set appeared to be in great shape, and I got the furniture for what appeared to be a bargain.  When I got them in place in my basement rec room, I noticed a horrible odor of cigarette smoke emanating from both pieces of furniture.  They are upholstered pieces with foam cushions.  Do you have any idea how I can get rid of the cigarette smell?

Fondly and Fetidly,

Smokey Lonesome in Couchville

Ivy says:

Cigarette smoke is one of the most devilish odors ever. I remember when I bought my new house and issued the edict that there would be no smoking in the new house for any reason, my grandmother (who wasn’t even a smoker) thought I was being snotty. “I’m not being snotty,” I told her, “I’m protecting my investment.”

The funny thing is, cigarette smoke is about a million times easier to get out of walls, than it is to get out of couches. You can pile Kilz on the walls, but you can’t Kilz a couch, sadly. With a couch, it’s going to take some work.

If you have a carpet and upholstery cleaner, good deal. Use it to clean the couch with a mixture of about half vinegar and half water. You may have to do this several times to get the full effect. Using a nice smelling cleaner (preferably one that’s meant for kid and pet odors, which seems to work fairly well) between each vinegar cleaning will keep your couch from smelling like “feminine cleansing products.”

If you don’t have one, my suggestion is to have it professionally cleaned. Normally, I’d have you rent a Rug Doctor to clean something, but cigarette smoke is so hard to remove, you’d have to rent it so many times, it would be cheaper to get it done professionally. Make sure you get a company that has “satisfaction guaranteed” so if it’s not completely clean, you can call them and have them come back out to do the job again. But make sure you let the company know when you first have them out that you are trying to remove cigarette smoke smell so they can use the best products for the job.

Happy couch surfing!

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