Smoke From The Squatter

May 26, 2005 7:35 AM

One of my roommates put a pot of chicken on the stove and went downstairs to make some phone calls and answer email and while we were drinking beer on the porch we heard a strange, high-pitched, shrieking whine.

After speculating about what it could possibly be, I realized it was the smoke alarm, alerting my roommate that the pot of chicken he began cooking 90 minutes ago was done--totally, completely, really, well-done.

So now the entire place smells like a burned-down Kentucky Fried Chicken. How do we get rid of the smoke smell? It's in everything--the carpet, the blinds, the furniture, everywhere. Should we hire smoke-damage cleaning experts, repaint the place, or do we just need to leave the windows open for a few weeks and spend a weekend cleaning the house from attic to basement?

posted by fandango_matt to home & garden (17 comments total)

Well, Plan B is cheap. I would go with that. Try some Lysol and stuff too. My cat died under our bed this week and it got that bloated cat smell out of the room. It's worth a shot. (But then you're stuck with the Lysol smell.)
posted by Doohickie at 7:46 AM on May 26, 2005

Smells linger in fabric - like carpet and furniture. Try sprinkling it all with baking soda, than scrubbing the carpet, furniture and blinds down with white vinegar - it will bubble up and make you feel like you're accomplishing something. Yes, it will smell like salad, but that's better than burnt chicken. Leave the windows wide open for a couple days and see. If that doesn't work, you may be out of luck, as in, have to replace the carpet at least, but I've had good luck with the baking soda/vinegar combo.
posted by mygothlaundry at 7:46 AM on May 26, 2005

My Mom works for an insurance restoration specialist and I used to work with the construction crews as a young man. The general procedure for reducing smoke smell in fire damaged buildings was to seal things up pretty well in the affected rooms and then turn on an ozone machine, moving it from room to room over the course of a few days. They're not perfect, but they do significantly reduce the smoke smell. Call around to equipment rental stores and see if you can't pick one up for the day.

If you decide to use one, read the instructions very carefully. It's been a while, so I'm not certain, but I seem to recall that you cannot be in the same room as a running ozone machine for more than a minute or two without suffering serious health problems.

Good luck!
posted by saladin at 7:47 AM on May 26, 2005

I'd start small - with air freshener. Burnt food is rarely the kind of smoke damage that really, really needs to be powerfully killed off. If things aren't significantly improved by tomorrow (but go outside for awhile and come back, because you'll get used to it while you're there), then I'd move up to washing hard surfaces like walls, and spraying fabric refresher on soft surfaces like drapes and furniture. Again, leave, come back, check the next day.

If it's still a problem after that, you may need to consider steam cleaning for your furniture or other more hardcore suggestions like saladin's.
posted by jacquilynne at 7:58 AM on May 26, 2005

I'll second the vinegar suggestion. Works on removing smoke odors from clothes.
posted by AlexReynolds at 7:58 AM on May 26, 2005

Febreze on all fabrics, combined with a thorough airing out, has always worked for me.
posted by dersins at 8:02 AM on May 26, 2005

Try a steam cleaner on the carpets, furniture and curtains and wash all the hard surfaces with one of your standard cleaning products (Simple Green, Mr. Clean, etc.). Open all the windows, let things air out. Launder anything you can.
posted by electroboy at 8:03 AM on May 26, 2005

You could try this HGTV tip:

"Remove a burnt smell from the kitchen by boiling an apple, a cinnamon stick and water together on the stove."
posted by geeky at 8:13 AM on May 26, 2005

Make chocolate chip cookies!


no, really!
posted by jaded at 8:30 AM on May 26, 2005

saladin writes "The general procedure for reducing smoke smell in fire damaged buildings was to seal things up pretty well in the affected rooms and then turn on an ozone machine, moving it from room to room over the course of a few days. They're not perfect, but they do significantly reduce the smoke smell. Call around to equipment rental stores and see if you can't pick one up for the day."

If you can't find one they are pretty easy to make.
posted by Mitheral at 8:43 AM on May 26, 2005

Having lived in a tiny apartment wherein five people got the stomach flu in 24 hours and the ensuing quest to get the smell out ASAP, I have to say that Febreeze + vaccuuming everything + leaving the windows open for a day worked just fine. You'll want to wash curtains/anything that can be put in a washing machine, of course.

It's also my experience as the child of hippies that if you can tolerate the scent of insence, it will cover up anything.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 8:58 AM on May 26, 2005

This happened to me once. I just left windows open and used a lot of Lysol and about 4-5 days later, the smell was gone.
posted by BradNelson at 9:18 AM on May 26, 2005

I can't believe no one else has said it yet, so let me give you the miracle cure: Fabreeze. Works like a dream. Strong stenches might need a second application, but prepare to be amazed.

Fabreeze is an odor neutralizer, not a cover up, so it actually works.
posted by kungfujoe at 9:42 AM on May 26, 2005

i nuked popcorn in my old offices microwave for like, 4 minutes too long (the shit was actually ON FIRE when I came back to it). 3 months later when we moved out the smell was still not gone.

of course, I didn't do anything aside from just opening all the windows, so possibly if you get hardcore with the febreeze/vacuuming etc, you'll have better luck.
posted by fishfucker at 10:57 AM on May 26, 2005

I can't believe no one else has said it yet, so let me give you the miracle cure: Fabreeze.

I did, I just didn't mention it by brand name.
posted by jacquilynne at 11:20 AM on May 26, 2005

i'll second that burnt to shit food doesnt linger NEAR as bad as real plastic toxic smoke damage
posted by yeahyeahyeahwhoo at 11:51 AM on May 26, 2005

Febreze is totally just a cover up. I reccommend Zero Odor.
posted by scazza at 12:44 PM on May 26, 2005