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I can’t find the exact post that someone put up a while ago that might help. Anyway, I have had a business woman staying 5 nights pw for the past six weeks. Her personal hygiene was impeccable, but unfortunately, her bedroom now has a strange odour left behind. It’s hard to describe, except to say that it recalls visiting older patients in their homes as a rookie student nurse; not exactly unpleasant, a sort of sweetish body product(s) smell that has permeated into everything I suspect. Obviously I’ve done the obvious laundry/cleaning, left the windows open for several days at a time, sent the curtains to the dry cleaners. The only thing I’ve not done yet is have the carpet cleaned.
If the room is not too large, something that has worked for me is to just use a car deodoriser. One based on activated carbon (i.e. NOT one with a scent, which just “hides” the offending odour by overpowering it with another).
You can just leave it in the room all the time (somewhere inconspicuous). I got the idea after I bought a second-hand car from a smoker - the car REEKED. But after a week or two the odour was mostly gone just from leaving a carbon-based deodoriser in it.
Wipe down the walls with a bleach and water mixture then place fans to quickly dry the walls. Use Arm & Hammer rug powder, let it sit overnight then vacuum the next day.
Have you checked the mattress pad on the bed? We had an odd smell that we couldn’t figure out in my mom’s room and it turned out she was tinkling a little in a her bed. Not enough to smell like urine but it did have that sweetish smell.
Yes, I both checked, and washed it anyway after six weeks, plus pillows, cushions. Def not a wee smell, more older lady/talcum powdery/ perhaps dry skin products. Strangely, her shower room is fine, despite my always finding a sort of slimy product in the hair trap palavery thing when I cleaned.
Thanks! I’m off to see what they’ve got in the petrol station.
Today is not a good day… We all have hangovers from a Guy Fawkes party, including all the neighbours, Mr Joan was told to iron his bloody shirts himself (x 10), I’ve had an asthma attack from a cold, and now none of the wretched bloody irons will work x 3.
Amazon sells the activated charcoal bags for home use. I would think something larger than what they have for autos would be in order. I recently ordered some for my bedroom that gets that doggy smell in the winter when the room is closed up more and it does seem to help.
This post of mine had a great deal of advice re: smells, even though that wasn’t what I was originally inquiring about LOL
Update on that situation, the smell has been eliminated. We got a new air cleaner without the ionizer option. We also used a no scent air odor eliminating inside the main body of the antique piano and no more smell. We think the felt hammers were holding odors.
Brilliant! Thank you; on order… And thank you everyone else too. I now have a bowl of white vinegar, one of sodium bicarb and another with coffee beans. Overkill perhaps, and I won’t know which one will do the job, but I’ve had to close the listing until it clears.
LOL