I like most everything about hosting… except that lingering smell which nothing can get rid of: Not washing all the linens, including mattress pad & pillow protectors & duvet cover. Not using essential oil diffusers after guests leave (which only works until the diffuser is turned off). Not airing the room out for four days with all the windows open. There’s not even a carpet in my guest space, nor any upholstered furniture – just hardwood floors. The bed even has two mattress pads. In other words, there is no physical material that the smell can cling to… yet there it is, hovering in the air stubbornly, perpetually. Since that smell seems centered in the bedroom, I believe that the unpleasant, clingy smell that won’t ever go away is stale testosterone. Female friends who’ve visited me have noticed it too, and commented with distaste about it – so this isn’t just my own nose. But I cannot get rid of it… and desperately need suggestions on HOW to get rid of it.
Have you washed the walls? Do you have air con?
I’ve cleaned the a.c.'s filter but the smell is there long past air conditioning season. Haven’t washed the walls because I’m convinced the smell isn’t on a physical surface… it’s in the air.
I love the smell of stale testosterone in the morning.
Smells like victory
Dia, how long has the smell been in the room?
Maybe you should just not host men and our clingy smells?
I think you need to embrace it, let go of whatever it is that repels you from this smell. Therapy and meditation come to mind.
RR
Jane, it has been ongoing ever since I started hosting 2.5 years ago. Not all males leave this smell in the space, but enough of them do that the smell gets recharged on a regular basis.
Since you cannot be helpful, you have no place on this thread. Go troll somewhere else.
No helpful contribution makes you an unwelcome presence on this thread.
Lighten up, clearly I have hit a nerve.
RR
Check this other recent thread The Human Smell
You are sure it’s on on a surface but have you checked all the drains and the ventwork for any central heating/cooling system you have? Is there a window AC?
It could be the Airbnb visitors, I don’t know about your speculation of stale testosterone. Studies say most women find testosterone to be an attractive smell. I haven’t noticed any such smell with my male guests. The only really bad smell I’ve ever noticed from some people is smokers, and not all smokers. But with some there is a smell that comes from them, not from smoking inside.
In addition to trying vinegar, baking soda, activated charcoal, etc. I suggest a HEPA air cleaner in the Airbnb room since you have a persistent smell. I put one in the room and run it on high between guests.
Let me add that I have had a lot of experience with smells, not because of stale males but because I board dogs in my home, sometimes I have as many as a dozen in my house at a time. I’m adamant that my house is not going to smell like dog and I ask all my friends to alert me if I go “nose blind.” I have 4 HEPA aircleaners in my 1700 sq ft home. I think they make a huge difference.
Thanks so much, K9KarmaCasa… and thanks for the link to the helpful thread. All of these options sound great.
Well, if you’ve “tried everything else” and it hasn’t worked, why not wipe the wall down – even if you believe it’s an airborne aroma. If the aroma has been there 2.5 years it certainly is NOT airborne. The air in that room is probably recycled every 20 minutes or less, so anything airborne would be long gone during a day between guests. It could be hidden mold of some sort, or something in the attic space, or something between the walls.
I bought an ozone generator from Amazon after trying everything else to get stale cigarette smell out of our house after we bought it. I had to use it a few times, but it worked! You can’t be in the house while you run it though or a few hours after. But it leaves the place smelling slightly like bleach. Now I just use it if I have any strong smells that linger after a guest leaves. I clean and then set it for an hour when I leave, then come back a few hours later and put it away.
What I’m not understanding here is why other hosts don’t really get this problem. As the ‘old-timer’ here I’ve never had this, despite mostly hosting men. I realise that you are touchy about this, judging by a couple of your curt responses above, but I have to ask - are you absolutely certain that the smell is coming from your guests?
I have a long and involved story - which I won’t bore you with - about a smell that was in one of our rentals recently which I was certain was caused by the just-departed guest. It wasn’t. Truly, I would have sworn it was, but I was wrong.
LOL, stinky stale males are clearly the problem here, or is it?
Hmm
RR
This sounds like phantom smell that is not there but you believe so, but assuming there really is the smell which gets recharged - that means there is something that generates it.
If another assumption is correct and it comes from males, then you need to rent ozone generator after each guest.
Wow, that’s a long time! It never reappears after renting to a female? I think all of us have had the “odor” issue a one time or another. My odors issues originate from different circumstances; reheated curry dish in microwave, the serial snorer and the latest, body odor guy. In each case it took a number of days to clear. I just ordered activated charcoal and eucalyptus oil to expedite the process. Hoping for the best!
Now getting personal! My husband manages to turn his side of the bed yellow as well as his collars on his shirts. Drives me nuts, but that is the way it has always been. I soak etc on every weekly change of sheets - and I like white!