I had a wonderful guest who stayed for over 50 days. Naturally I deep cleaned the whole place. The problem is that I can still smell his perfume as soon as I enter the house, on the sheets, blankets, couches… I aerated a lot, used neutralizers, washed everything and let them air dry in the sun, shampooed the carpets and sofas, washed the cushions… but nothing seems to be enough. I’ve never had this problem before that I couldn’t fix after 10 years of hosting. I’m suspecting it’s oud perfume since he lived in Dubai for a while. It’s a very nice smell but shouldn’t be there anymore. What else can I do?
Something similar happened to me once, I tried a lot of things but the one that worked best for me was to spray some 99% isopropyl alcohol, and let it sit until it evaporated (you’ll need ventilation, or just do small areas before moving to the next one). For upholstery or material make sure you test on an inconspicuous area first to verify it won’t damage the fabric.
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Thanks a lot. I’ll give it a try.
You could also try setting some bowls of vinegar and/or baking soda around the place. I’ve never needed to try that, but I’ve heard it works.
And you have a cooling/heating system in there with filters, you might need to change the filters.
Also ask someone else to go in there and tell you if they think it smells strongly of perfume. Our sense of smell and taste is a curious thing and tied to memory in our brains. The perfume smell might seem pervasive to you just because you’ve been dealing with it so much. I’m not suggesting you are imagining it, but it may be a lot fainter than your brain is registering.
My neighbor has a fridge with a water dispenser and one day he thought it tasted funny. He went to look in his well and found a dead frog floating in it. He removed it and poured some bleach in the well, and only drank bottled water for the next few days, but said it took 3 days before he could get the dead frog taste out of his mouth, even though it certainly was no longer really there.
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There have been posts before about ozone cleaners so look for those as that device might be helpful in this situation.
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Ozone machine. Works great for odors like that.
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I used baking soda like you suggested and washed all linen and towels back with vinegar and it’s working. You’re absolutely right about the smell memory. I let someone else in the place and it’s still there but it’s fainting. I keep ventilating and using a neutralizer. It’s much better now. Thanks a lot
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I’ve been reading about these devices. Thank you for suggesting
Maybe I should get one of those. Getting rid of perfumes after guests is becoming a bit of a problem. Thank you
Not sure if the machines you’re talking about have this issue, but if you’re prone to asthma attacks you may need to be careful.
Exposure to ozone irritates and inflames the lining of the respiratory system so it can worsen asthma symptoms, and may contribute to the development of asthma.
Then again, I suppose a really strong perfume smell that won’t go away isn’t great for the lungs either!
When you run an ozone generator one of the first things you need to do once you finish the treatment is to air out the room. I have a medium size bedroom 12 x 10 and I will run my generator for 20 or 30 minutes and then air the room out for 24 hours. Remember that the bedding etc. that has the perfume smell either needs to be completely stripped from the bed and washed or left in the room for the ozone generator to work it’s magic
I have strong asthma issues, and sympathize with folks who may have triggers from things like this, but I can assure you the benefits of the ozone generator getting rid of the odd obnoxious smell of Axe or simply body odors and foot smells are worth the extra effort. I use an aspirator mask for the one quick moment that I go into the room after the ozone has been generated to open the windows. Also has a half life of an hour meaning if you can leave the room closed up for the day by the time you open the door and windows most of it will have been dissipated.
Hope this helps.
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I feel your pain. I had a guest who bathed in AXE! That stuff is absolutely horrid and seems to want to hang on forever. I now have a note on my listing to state no heavily scented products “PLEASE.” I know getting strong odours out of my microwave with the vinegar in a bowl works, so setting out a bunch of bowls with vinegar should help, plus it is cheap as chips. Best of luck.
I had no idea what AXE smelled like, as no guys I know slather themselves in perfumed products, until I had a guest whose room and bathroom reeked of it. I knew it was AXE because he left the spray deodorant behind.
Luckily, I didn’t have a new guest arriving for a few days, so the smell disappeared by leaving all the windows open and fans on.
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Yes! That stuff is so gross. Teens boys seem to love that stuff, thinking the girls love it too…lol. I was told our local high school has banned it!
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Back in the stone age, when I was a teenager, the boys seemed to favor a cologne called Canoe, which I recall as being rather pleasant.
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Bahaha! I might be wrong, maybe the girls did dig it.