The apartment smells bad - how to get rid of the unpleasant smell?

Extraneous unfavorable aromas that have settled in a living space for a long time can spoil not only the mood of the hostess, but also the impression of the most expensive renovation and exquisite interior. If you can’t quickly get rid of the unpleasant smell in your apartment with the help of deodorants and air fresheners, you need to take drastic measures. After all, there are many sources of air pollution: musty old furniture, a leak in the sewer drain, mold and mildew in the bathroom, and others. For every problem there is a way to solve it.

If the smell appears in the kitchen

Most often, an unpleasant smell in an apartment appears in the kitchen. Here food is prepared, which has the ability to burn, there is a trash can, food is stored in drawers and the refrigerator. All this can become a source of dubious amber spreading throughout the apartment.

To eliminate the unpleasant smell that has appeared in the kitchen, you must first determine its source and act according to the situation.

• Throw away the trash and wash the bucket well with detergent. You should never leave a full trash can overnight. Leftover food decomposes within a few hours, so the next morning there is a disgusting smell in the kitchen.
• When cooking food, you must turn on the hood.
• Kitchen curtains, towels, aprons and potholders, like all textiles, quickly absorb odors.Having discovered a dubious “smell”, you need to not only do a general cleaning, but also wash the kitchen textiles.
• Often the appearance of stench and stench is associated with an oven or microwave, on the walls of which there are particles of burnt food, fat and oil.
• The refrigerator can also cause trouble. Pieces of food can fall into a secluded place - for example, get under a compactor - and constantly emit a stench. In this case, you need to wash the refrigerator compartment with warm water and vinegar, clear the space under the seal from impurities and clean the tube through which the condensate flows.

If the problem with the smell from the refrigerator occurs constantly, you can purchase a special ionizer. This device generates streams of high-density negatively charged ions and produces active oxygen, due to which all types of bacteria die and the musty smell disappears.

Remedy for the unpleasant smell of dampness in the apartment

Dampness and the accompanying unpleasant odor and fungus usually appear in the bathroom or toilet. This problem especially often occurs in old houses with flooded basements.

To fix the problem, you can use the following tools:

• Place activated carbon in a room with high humidity. You will need 20 tablets per 10 square meters. m area. The absorbent will temporarily purify the air and neutralize odors. Instead of coal, you can take table salt or coffee beans.
• Walls, frames and floors are sprayed with a mixture of vinegar and essential oils. To prepare the solution, dilute 1 tbsp. l. acetic acid in 1 liter of water and add a few drops of fragrant oil with the aroma of pine, citrus, mint or lavender.
• You can use industrial products to absorb and destroy odors. According to buyers, the drugs Glorix and Mr. have proven themselves well. Proper, Dufta, SmellOFF.

No means will be able to completely get rid of the smell of dampness unless the cause of its appearance is eliminated.

When there are smokers in the house

Cigarette smoke quickly absorbs into curtains, carpets and furniture upholstery. You can ventilate the room as many times as you like, but the tobacco aroma will still hang in the air, and it can only be removed with special means.

• When doing wet cleaning, you can add a few drops of ammonia to a bucket of water.
• To quickly remove the smell of tobacco, you need to hang wet sheets or towels around the apartment.
• If you smoke in the room, you can place a scented candle next to the ashtray, which will outshine the specific aroma of cigarettes.
• Place vases with citrus peels or roasted coffee beans in different places.
• Bay leaves cope well with tobacco aroma. A pinch of dried leaves is placed on a metal stand, set on fire and the room is fumigated with smoke.
• To remove the smell of tobacco from clothes, you need to turn the product inside out, wrap it in a damp towel and wait until it dries.

If the entire room literally stinks of tobacco, and it is impossible to make cosmetic repairs, you need to contact a cleaning company, whose specialists will clean the apartment using “dry fog” technology. This treatment does not require removing or rearranging furniture, lasts no more than an hour and a half and solves the problem once and for all.

Chemical odors

When renovating modern apartments, synthetic materials are used everywhere, such as chipboard and fibreboard, linoleum, laminate, carpet and much more. Doctors say that they all emit harmful odors. Indeed, artificially synthesized materials may contain benzene, ammonia, and formaldehyde.

A photocatalytic filter will help remove chemical smells from your home. These devices consist of a plate made of titanium oxide and an ultraviolet lamp. As a result of titanium irradiation with ultraviolet light, all hazardous compounds decompose into three components: water, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. The filter not only helps remove unpleasant odors, but also perfectly deals with allergens and pathogens floating in the air.

Unlike an ionizer, a photocatalytic filter can work around the clock, while people and pets can remain in the apartment. However, you should always remember that this remedy only eliminates the smell, but not the cause of its appearance.

Pet odor

The fact that there are pets in the apartment can be determined upon the first visit to the home by the specific smell of fur and cat urine. It is almost impossible to radically solve such a problem, but there are several ways to mask the stench. Here are some of them:

• Use industrial products designed to remove traces of cat or dog urine. “ZooSan”, “Brovadez-plus”, and Nature’s Miracle have proven themselves well.
• Empty and wash the cat litter box and change the litter as often as possible.
• Treat fresh stains left by a prankster on the carpet with a weak solution of potassium permanganate or lemon juice.
• Mix baking soda and liquid detergent to form a paste and apply to the dirty surface. After drying, remove any remaining product with a vacuum cleaner.

Laundry soap will help get rid of the persistent odor from cat urine and marks. It contains glycerin, which can break down uric acid crystals. The source of the stench is treated with laundry soap dissolved in water, left until completely dry, and then cleaned with a brush.

Musty smell in the house

A house in which no one has lived for a long time is literally filled with the smells of mustiness and antiquity. An uninhabited aroma exudes from stale, long-unwashed laundry, old upholstered furniture, shoes, and curtains.

Here are some recommendations for those who want to put their old home in order:

• Wipe all interior surfaces of the furniture with a weak solution of potassium permanganate.
• Wash clothes and linen, initially throwing away everything unnecessary.
• Ventilate the clean cabinet well, and place aromatic bags filled with herbs, coffee beans, and dry orange peels on the shelves.

If folk remedies fail to cope with the disgusting smell, you can use a household ozonizer. This device generates ozone and is used to eliminate odors and disinfect air. The cost of the device is about 800 rubles.

An unpleasant smell in an apartment spoils the mood, disrupts the comfortable environment and harms the health of the residents. There are many professional and folk remedies available to cope with this problem. Therefore, you should not tolerate the stench. First of all, you need to destroy the source of air pollution, and then disinfect the room and fill it with the smell of freshness.