Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cleaning and smell

Faint of butt

ignignokt — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:14:09 -0800

While I was driving him home from the vet yesterday, the cat took a dump in his carrier, which was made of cloth. (He was in the front passenger seat.) After taking care of that, I noticed it still smelled like cat feces in the car. I didn't see any stains on the seat, and I had to go, so I just rolled down the windows and went to work.

Later that night, it still smelled like cat poo in the car, but I had a bad, tiring day, so I left it alone and hoped it would be better today.

Unsurprisingly, it's not. So, I guess some secret poo liquid got onto my car seat. What method for getting rid of it and the smell maximizes efficiency and minimizes effort?

Renting in New Zealand - Pets urine on carpet. Smells. Pet hair

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 08:13:10 -0800

I'm currently renting a flat unit in New Zealand which I will be moving out next month. My current rental agreement states that I do not need to have the carpet professionally cleaned before I move out. I have two cats in the house and the question was raised with the property agent before I moved in. They have agreed to let me have the pets in the house and on the rental agreement, it also states that they are okay with it. The property agent did an inspection of the house recently and they have asked for me to have the carpet clean by a professional carpet cleaner because they can smell cat urine. This was not raised previously in the previous few inspections. I suspect this could be due to the fact that I'm moving out for good. I do know that my cats have made a few accidents on the carpet which I have already tried my best in cleaning up the area. The smell does remain but it's not strong. the carpet is discoloured slightly as well. My questions are: Is it reasonable for the property agent to request for the carpet to be professionally cleaned? If I disagree, am I in any way in breach of the tenancy agreement? I am thinking that since the property agent allows us to keep pets in the house, wouldn't the cat 'accidents' be the normal wears and tears of having a property rented out?

Sandalwood cheese? Bleargh.

aubilenon — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:37:05 -0800

How do I remove the smell of aromatic oils from my fridge? Baking soda & activated carbon don't cut it. Three years ago, my roommate stowed some aromatherapy oils in a compartment in the door of the fridge. The compartment has a rubber gasket and is sort-of airtight. Evidently a couple of them (tea tree and sandalwood) leaked. About a year later I noticed my cheese & butter had started getting gross. We cleaned the fridge a few times, but mostly I just started sealing stuff very carefully AND still having to throw out the first few slices of cheese.

Finally a month ago, we figured it out was the oils. We took them out and sealed them in a proper container, and washed out the whole fridge.

But the compartment they used to be stored in still is super smelly. The smell is slowly taking hold in the rest of the fridge again. I think the oils may have soaked into the plastic or rubber some.

I can remove the shelf/compartment bit and clean it in any way possible: What should I do to get the smell out?

I have a Tub o' Carbon in there which doesn't seem to be sufficient.

Funky (smelling) fibers.

the luke parker fiasco — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:34:44 -0800

How do I de-stink the armpits of my sweaters? I tend to wear sweaters frequently in between washings. Recently I've been wearing a couple of heavier-weight sweaters pretty often, in and out of significant temperature changes. This, combined with prolonged use, has caused the armpits of a couple of these sweaters to remain stinky, even after washing.

Any tips or tricks to dissolve the funk? I've seen this thread, but as all the sweaters in question are black, and a myriad of fibers (one is acrylic/cotton, one acrylic/mohair/nylon, one acrylic/nylon/wool), I want to use something that won't bleach, fade, shrink, or otherwise damage the fibers. I assume vinegar would be safe, but other remedies like peroxide are a bit more questionable.

Also, I don't have access to Febreze, Oxy Clean, or any other spiffy US-oriented cleaning agents, so simpler remedies appreciated.

I have a car! But it smells funny. How can I fix it?

MadamM — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 22:19:18 -0800

How can I make my car smell better? I have recently been passed partial stewardship of a family car and I want to fix it up. It's a good car, but recently it's had some window issues that have, in turn, led to some smell issues. Basically the windows wouldn't stay up, so a certain amount of water would get inside it when it rained (especially because we park it outside, uncovered, sometimes). Not a lot of water, because the windows were never stuck more than an inch or two open, but over the course of a few months I think it's made the car smell sort of... funny. Add to that the fact that my father smoked in it when he was the primary driver, and you get a car that smells somewhat unpleasant- not awful, but it definitely has a musty funk that I would like to keep from getting any worse. The windows are fixed now, which should help, but I'm worried about mildew.

I'm going to have access to the car this week because my brother, the other driver of the car, will be out of town. I have plenty of time and effort to devote to this project, but unfortunately not much money or other resources (including any knowledge of cars or how they're made). I can maybe spend/convince my mom to spend about 30 bucks on supplies beyond what we already possess, but not much beyond that. I want to make this thing smell good. What do I need to do? What parts can I easily clean without having to dismantle the car beyond what I'm comfortable with? I want to do the best job I can.

(I did search for and find other questions about wet cars, but they didn't really apply to this situation because most of them dealt with soaked cars. This is more a matter of dampness.)

Ambient bad apartment smell?

everichon — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 14:28:22 -0800

We just bought a house with a separate, finished apartment. The apartment turns out to have a smell, and we can't figure out where it's coming from. The smell is bad: part must, part mildew, and part warmed catfood. So my questions are: 1. Does this smell sound familiar to anyone? (As in, "Oho, that's plainly mildew he's talking about; he should check the blah blah!") 2. Ways to pinpoint an ambient smell? I am going under the apartment this afternoon :( but if I i don't find any carcasses under there, I am out of moves.

Turpentine Smell-Be-Gone?

tiny crocodile — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 09:42:08 -0800

How to get turpentine and its smell out of a worn-out old cork floor? So, this weekend my mother decided some shelves in my house needed painting. She splashed paint everywhere then scrubbed the floor with what we think is turpentine - actually a mystery liquid left behind by previous owners, orange in colour and very smelly. The floor is covered in worn out cork tiles which have lost their film of varnish. So they're extremely porous. The house stinks now. I've washed the floor twice and it still stinks. The obvious solution is to rip up the tiles but they're glued to the concrete floor and it's a bigger job than I want to take on in Christmas week. I want to have people over on Friday. It also stings my eyes and nose and I'm suspect it's very bad for my asthmatic boyfriend. Please help! Is there anything that neutralises or removes a turpentine smell?

Smoke From The Squatter

fandango_matt — Thu, 26 May 2005 07:35:46 -0800

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?

Second-hand Smoke Filter

grouse — Sat, 04 Dec 2004 09:58:02 -0800

FabricSoftenerFilter. Will using fabric softener reduce the tendency of my clothes to pick up particulate matter from secondhand smoke? I usually avoid the stuff since I'm told the extra chemicals aren't necessarily good for you, but neither is tobacco. Any tips on the relative effectiveness of fabric softener/dryer sheets/vinegar/a piece of aluminum foil appreciated.

Getting stinky rotten milk smell out of a refrigerator

Flitcraft — Sat, 18 Sep 2004 13:50:47 -0800

Fridge disaster filter A pint of milk left without my knowledge in my fridge went seriously off. So I could clean the fridge without throwing up I put a saucer of mouthwash in there to deodorise it a bit (bad idea - yes, I am domestically clueless). The result even after defrosting, cleaning with bicarb and putting activated charcoal in there (tips derived from Google) still stinks - I think the door seals are holding a lot of the smell. I cleaned them carefully but no joy. The fridge is still quite a new one, I don't want to junk it - what can I try next?

Smelly Watchband

willpie — Wed, 25 Aug 2004 15:20:06 -0800

My watchband is starting to stink. This happens to all of my watches. I've tried many, many things including soaking them in bleach (I usually only wear metal-banded watches. Largely because they last longer before stinking). Nothing has managed to stop the stinking. I like this watch. What can I do?