How Do I Get Rid Of These Smells?

[beaners]

Cat. Smoke. It's hopeless, right?

 

I don't have the time, energy, or money to repaint or replace carpet right now. So those suggestions may be the most effective, but I just can't make that happen right now.

 

The cat smell is outside. It's not from my own cats. I think my front steps may be a local marking post, but I've only seen a couple cats since we moved here. I've tried spraying with vinegar, but the smell returns. (Probably because the cat or cats keep coming by.)

 

The smoke smell is inside. I only notice it when we've been gone all day and I come back in, but I'm sure that's because I've gotten used to it. It's worst when the house has been closed up with the AC running, which has been more often than I'd like with the recent hot weather. I was planning on spreading baking soda over the carpet and leaving it overnight, then vacuuming. Is there something that would work better?

 

Does anyone have a brilliant idea that I am missing? Or am I doomed to live in a stinky house?

[Desert Rat]

You're not going to like my answer. Paint. And have the carpets professionally shampooed. Otherwise, any remedy is just masking the odor and it will return.

No advice on the outdoor cat spray. Mothballs? If you place mothballs strategically around the area, that might keep them out. Until it rains. I've never successfully kept cats out of our yard and I've been trying for 13 years.

Good luck!

[beaners]

:lol: I have a baby due in a week and we are still unpacking from when we moved here. I wasn't kidding when I said I couldn't do those things right now. My husband just finished painting the entire house we are trying to sell, so I'd have to pick him up off the floor if I asked him to buy some paint. Everything except the kitchen and bathrooms is carpeting, so I don't think I can work around bringing someone in to do the carpets in the immediate future. Both of those are possible options in a few months. I just can't do it right now.

 

I hadn't thought to try mothballs. I'll give that a shot. I hate the smell of them, but anything has to be better than the aroma of cat that rises into the air when the sun hits the front of the house. Phew!

[Dobela]

Bac-Out or something similar will work on the smells outdoors. We just buy the concentrate at Sam's. We had a horrible cat smell on our concrete garage floor and it really helped.

[Ruby Rose]

Rent a rug doctor for DIY carpet cleaning. Bleach the porch and put out moth balls. Set out some baking soda all over the house. You could also use baking soda on the carpets.

 

Here is a cute DIY baking soda air freshener.

[Tammyla]

You can wash the walls and windows. Febreez might work on the carpets & drapes. I'd wash all the curtains, bedding etc.

 

Animals hate balloons & foil ; you might try those on the steps.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Not sure about the smoke but Natures Miracle is a GREAT enzyme based cleaner for any pet odors! We use this for puppy training and our chickens and it works WONDERS!!!! It says it works for ALL animal messes/ odors.

[jenn-]

What kind of plants do you have outside your door? For the longest time I kept looking around trying to figure out where the cat pee smell was coming from. Low and behold the boxwood bushes naturally smell like cat urine. I have 3 large ones in the front of my house so on certain days, it is potent coming through the front door.

[melissad2]

Odo-ban...I buy it in the concentrate form from Sams!

[Penny from Tenny]

An Ecoquest air purifier - we have one for our whole house. It really works on any odor and it kills bacteria and viruses on surfaces as well as mold, etc. They aren't cheap but they work. Around $600 for one that will clean 3000 sq. ft. Our house would smell like a nursing home without it. I know from someone in my family who has one that it will take smoke smell out of wood furniture even. People with asthma and allergies really benefit from them.

[Firefly]

I agree with the person who recommended Nature's Miracle. Two thumbs up for that product.

 

For the smoke... maybe fight fire with fire-- burn incense? I also make a carpet deodorizer from baking soda and several drops of lavender essential oil (you could use whatever scent you want). Sprinkle on. let sit for a bit, and vacuum. This house had awful musty carpet in one area when we moved and that really helped. Fortunately the carpet it is gone now!

[amyco]

Occasionally we get the odd cat who thinks our garden is his box, and we use Critter Ridder, available at Home Depot. It is granular and you sprinkle it around the places you need it. It lasts for a good while, we usually only have to use it once or twice per summer. I think it has capsaicin in it (the chemical from chili peppers). Moth balls might be easier to find, though.

[4kids4me]

I didn't read the rest of the comment, so if this is a repeat, sorry.

 

When we moved into a smoker's home, we contacted a cleaning supply company (mostly for professional cleaners) and we got a cleaner that's used for cleaning homes that have had a fire. This worked well. I cleaned all the walls with it. Probably floors, too. I also cleaned the carpets.

[gardenmom5]

before you paint - kilz. Our neighbors had to do *four coats* of kilz to seal the smells before they painted.

[Sun]

Bac-Out or something similar will work on the smells outdoors. We just buy the concentrate at Sam's. We had a horrible cat smell on our concrete garage floor and it really helped.

 

Another vote here for Bac-Out or Nature's Miracle for the cat smell outside. Pour it around liberally. Then you can put some sort of spiky things (like those low plastic fences for garden edges) or a motion-activated sprinkler in the area to keep the cats from using that area.

[Sun]

What kind of plants do you have outside your door? For the longest time I kept looking around trying to figure out where the cat pee smell was coming from. Low and behold the boxwood bushes naturally smell like cat urine. I have 3 large ones in the front of my house so on certain days, it is potent coming through the front door.

 

That's a good point. To me, juniper bushes (I think) smell like cat pee. The smell is so strong to me that I can't figure out why anyone plants them--except maybe they don't smell like that to others?

[beaners]

I'm going to try a few of the products you all suggested inside and outside and see if they solve the problem for now.

 

Then you can put some sort of spiky things (like those low plastic fences for garden edges) or a motion-activated sprinkler in the area to keep the cats from using that area.

 

I can see the sprinkler idea working for a couple days. Then my husband will forget to turn it off one morning before he leaves for work. And thus the sprinkler experiment will be ended. :D

 

What kind of plants do you have outside your door? For the longest time I kept looking around trying to figure out where the cat pee smell was coming from. Low and behold the boxwood bushes naturally smell like cat urine. I have 3 large ones in the front of my house so on certain days, it is potent coming through the front door.

 

Now that you mention it, I think our bushes might be boxwoods. They are all along the front of the house, but I can only smell the cat smell in two spots. One spot is the front steps, and the other spot is where our chickens have scratched out the landscape rock and exposed the dirt. I might need to investigate the bushes a little more.

[hsmom2011]

This is all great advice I could use also. :bigear:

[Katy]

I grew up in a family that liked to flip houses. This is what worked when the carpets and walls looked fine but smelled awful. With no money for painting and replacing carpet, but maybe $25 for supplies, this is what I would do:

 

Buy a couple boxes of baking soda ($1)

A gallon of vinegar ($3)

Lavender essential oil ($12)

Orange essential oil ($8)

 

I would buy baking soda and some essential oils (lavender and orange), mix a box of baking soda with probably 25 drops of oil, put it in a jar with an old parmesian cheese shaker top, and shake it all over the carpets, then get a brush or broom and sort of brush it in. Then I'd keep everyone out of that room for as long as possible, maybe 24 hours, but if not you can probably do it at night and leave overnight. Slowly vacuum it all up.

 

I'd also get dawn dish soap, a few spoons full of baking soda, a couple drops of oil, warm water and a dishcloth and wash the walls, doors, cabinets, and trim. You'll be surprised that a brown film will wash off everything. If it was really bad you could strip everything with TSP (a detergent chemical people use before painting, but it's toxic so that would be a last resort).

 

When I was done washing, I'd fill a spray bottle with a mixture of vinegar and water and maybe 30 drops of oil, and spray the walls lightly with the mixture and let it dry. I'd take any leftover mixture and spray the carpets I'd already done the baking soda trick to, getting them lightly damp before I went to bed at night (so it had a chance to dry overnight).

 

Depending on how bad it is, you might need to repeat a couple times, or even wash the ceilings, but it should make a huge difference.

 

Boxwood especially smells like cat pee on hot dry days. Blech. I can't figure out why anyone plants it, ever. I'd get rid of it.

 

Edited to add: Carpet shampoo and any wet process will damage the carpet and the padding underneath over time. I would not recommend it. Also, if you're going to use a carpet cleaner anyway, it's really best to do rent a machine and do it yourself. One house my mom worked on when I was a kid had stained white carpets. She hired one of the carpet cleaning companies to come in, but the hoses from their truck tracked in thick black mud and ruined the carpets. The company eventually paid to have the carpets replaced because they couldn't get their own stains up, but it was worse for a while.

Edited July 25, 2012 by Katy