I’m confused about my apartment odors and how to address them.

October 25, 2017 11:27 AM

I have cats and of course litter boxes. The litter boxes are in the bathroom. The 2 bedrooms have carpet and I have rugs throughout the apartment. Sometimes the carpets feel somewhat damp. I smell the rug and it’s not cat pee and nothing has spilled. I also notice that the couch stinks! It’s only around 2 yrs old. I keep multiple throws on them that I wash regularly so I know it’s not the throw blankets.

I’m on the 4th floor in a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment. It’s approximately 1000 square feet. The windows are only on one side of the apartment. The bedrooms and living room have windows. The bathrooms are attached to the bedrooms and don’t have windows but they do have fans. The kitchen and dining room are attached to the living room. The stove has a vent over it. There is an air conditioner/heater unit below each set of windows. The apartment building is recently renovated and we are the first to live in our apartment. I have no idea what this building used to be. I haven’t noticed any mold anywhere.

I use Worlds Best Cat litter, unscented. I don’t use plug-in or sprays because I’m veryveryvery sensitive to chemical, artificial scents. They basically render me useless and ragey. I do use Fresh Wave odor eliminator gel next to the litter boxes and it’s inoffensive and seems to help. I have an essential oil diffuser that I use occasionally.

It seems like the obvious solution would be to get a dehumidifier. That’s where I get confused because I also have sinus issues and every doctor I’ve seen tells me to use a humidifier to help. Also I have very dry skin and hair as it is. Don’t I want some moisture in the air? I’m also always cold and don’t want to have to keep a fan on all the time.

My plans are:
Baking soda over everything, couch and carpets and rugs. I do this occasionally already.
Vinegar spray on couch.
Leave out a bowl of either regular or apple cider vinegar over night, probably right where the couch is and maybe in the bathroom with the litter boxes.

My questions are:

If I get a dehumidifier will my sinus issues get worse?
Will a dehumidifier make my humidifier useless?
Is the couch stench caused by the dampness?
Will the dehumidifier help address overall apartment odors?
What other solutions can I use to make sure air is circulating?

This is driving me kind of nuts because I want to have people over but I’m paranoid about being the cat lady with the smelly house. I’m probably driving my husband nuts because I’m constantly sniffing things and asking him to sniff things and if this or that smells. I don’t trust his nose anyways.

Bonus question – Is there some equivalent of a super taster (super sniffer) who can just come to my house and smell everything for me?

posted by mokeydraws to Home & Garden (12 answers total)

I've had sinus infections that have no other symptoms besides intermittently or constantly smelling something horrible, which I thought was something I was smelling from the environment. For some people, it's a gamey, rotting smell and for me it was the sensation that I was always smelling strong car exhaust fumes. Since you have sinus issues already, could it be that? Especially if your husband smells nothing? Taking lots of Mucinex over the course of a week or so or until the smell goes away takes care of it.

The only thing that gives me pause is the damp carpet thing. Are they actually damp or just cold? Are there other signs that your apartment has a dampness problem? Mold? Salt that clumps together? If you live in a damp climate or have a damp dwelling, a dehumidifier can be great. Maybe put it in the living room and put a humidifier in the bedroom since that's where you do a huge amount of breathing while you sleep.
posted by quince at 11:39 AM on October 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

Before getting a dehumidifier or a humidifier, I'd recommend getting a hygrometer to see what your humidity levels actually are. We have one that says the current humidity and the peak and nadir from the last 24 hours, which has been pretty useful to correlate to my allergy and skin symptoms.
posted by you could feel the sky at 11:41 AM on October 25, 2017 [6 favorites]

You will know your cats' behavior better than anyone here but I personally would not leave a bowl of smelly liquid out in the open overnight where 2 inquisitive cats could knock it onto the floor and then gallop through it in a wild panic.
posted by poffin boffin at 11:41 AM on October 25, 2017 [7 favorites]

Dehumidifier would not be the first thing I check unless the air feels humid. First thing first: get an air filter! Maybe even two, one near each litter box. Even cheaper hepa-like filters make a huge difference. If you are concerned the cats have been making messes somewhere other than the litter box, get a blacklight, bodily fluids will glow under a blacklight so you can find them and address the stains. Then for any messes that do happen, pick up Nature's Miracle if you don't have a bottle already.
posted by impishoptimist at 11:59 AM on October 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

I find that humid days tend to bring out the strongest version of smells that already exist, and all dehumidification is going to do is postpone the inevitable. You might look at enzyme-based odor eliminators for fabric and carpets. Keep in mind that with enzyme cleaners the smell generally gets worse before it gets better, so you will have to buckle in for a couple of 1-week cycles before you get overall serious reduction.

Nature's Miracle is no longer best-of-breed of those cleaners. Get some Odo-Ban or Anti-Icky-Poo.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:08 PM on October 25, 2017 [3 favorites]

Oh, I feel for you, because I've been in similar circumstances. I've used two low-impact solutions to the dampness/odor problems with very good success.

1. Activated charcoal sachets. You can buy these ready-made, but it is a lot cheaper to buy the activated charcoal in bulk online and just spoon it into muslin bags or nylon stockings. It works very well to get rid of odors and it doesn't have an odor of its own. You can even sprinkle some in the litterboxes, it's harmless.

2. A fan or two, on a timer. Put a fan in the area where you detect dampness and set the timer to let it run intermittently for an hour or two several times a day. Seriously, air circulation can clear up localized humidity/dampness problems. If it's really damp, yes, you may need a dehumidifier, but I'd try just a fan first. If you wanted to, you could supplement the fan with some chemical moisture attractants such as a bowl of silica gel (dry it out in your oven and reuse it) or containers of calcium chloride, sold commercially as Damp-Rid. Calcium chloride absorbs moisture and liquifies as it does so, after which you just pour it down the drain.

I'd also ask a friend or two to assess the situation. It may not be as damp and/or smelly as it appears to you. But if it is confirmed, another thing I'd do is discuss it with the building management or facilities people. Renovating old buildings usually makes them much more air-tight than they used to be, and warm air not only holds more moisture, it rises. If they haven't addressed this by improving the air exchange, the water vapor will build up inside the building. If you're on the top floor, it could be that trapped moist air is accumulating there. If the building has natural gas heating or appliances, that'll also increase the moisture content of the air, because gas gives off water vapor as it burns.
posted by Lunaloon at 1:21 PM on October 25, 2017 [1 favorite]

I'm unclear on something: you say Will a dehumidifier make my humidifier useless? Do you already have a humidifier? If so, how frequently do you run it?
If you're running a humidifier frequently/all the time, your problems do not seem mysterious at all; if you are constantly moistening your apartment, it's going to start smelling musty, I think.
posted by Krawczak at 2:40 PM on October 25, 2017 [2 favorites]

If any of your cats are males, even though spayed, they may continue to spray. Cat spray is not urine (or not only urine) and really stinks! Cats I have known tend to spray against something like a bush or rock outdoors or a couch indoors. If this is your problem you will need to find a way to change the cat's behavior.
posted by Hobgoblin at 3:16 PM on October 25, 2017

Response by poster: quince - The carpet does feel damp and not cold. The couch feels weird too. There are no other signs though. No condensation on the windows or wet walls in the shower even.

I'm definitely going to get a hygrometer! That never occurred to me.

It was rainy yesterday and I do feel like it's worse when it rains.

Krawczak - I don't run the humidifier regularly and when I do it's only at night. I was wondering if using a dehumidifier would dry out the air and exacerbate my sinus issues. If my apartment is actually humid, then how are my sinuses so dry?
posted by mokeydraws at 8:31 PM on October 25, 2017

Can you describe the smell?
posted by stray at 9:41 PM on October 25, 2017

I think the hygrometer is a good idea.
A dehumidifier would certainly dry out the air; that is its intended purpose. Running a humidifier and a dehumidifier simultaneously seems silly.
It's entirely possible that your sinuses want a different humidity level than your upholstery does. Air conditioning dries out the air and a lot of people spend most of their time in climate-controlled environments, so it's also possible that "run a humidifier" is stock medical advice but isn't actually appropriate for your environment.
posted by Krawczak at 1:43 PM on October 26, 2017

I have nothing useful to offer in the way of diagnosing the source of the odors, but I know of two products that might help abate the smell in the short term while you go about figuring out and eliminating the cause. The Bad Air Sponge is just a jar full of...well, I'm not sure, but all you do is open it and leave it near stuff that stinks. It sucks odors right in. The other product is this plug-in odor eliminator. It doesn't have a chemical scent - it's basically a tiny fan that sucks air in and passes it through a charcoal filter. Kinda loud for the bedroom but really great for a bathroom with a litter box in it, for example. Both get 'full' after a while and you have to either change out the filter or get a new jar, but they're pretty good smell-suppressors while they're working.
posted by DSime at 1:58 PM on October 26, 2017 [1 favorite]