What smells?

[Rose]

I'm usually a pro at cleaning but I'm kind of stumped on this one. I've been gone for a week at my mom's and came back to find the house a disaster area and it all smelled like feet, dog bo and cigarettes. Eww. Febreze doesn't seem to be a lasting solution and is only providing a somewhat fix for a few minutes. Both dogs have been de-funked but the spots where they lay on the couch still stink and the cushion covers don't come off. I'm pretty sure the stink is in the carpets too but I don't have a steamer. Any good products or DIY home fixes that might help my problem??

 

[AllisonWilder]

I'm usually a pro at cleaning but I'm kind of stumped on this one. I've been gone for a week at my mom's and came back to find the house a disaster area and it all smelled like feet, dog bo and cigarettes. Eww. Febreze doesn't seem to be a lasting solution and is only providing a somewhat fix for a few minutes. Both dogs have been de-funked but the spots where they lay on the couch still stink and the cushion covers don't come off. I'm pretty sure the stink is in the carpets too but I don't have a steamer. Any good products or DIY home fixes that might help my problem??

I love this stuff for cleaning all sorts of stains/messes out of our couches. It's much cheaper in the store, I believe but linked you so you could see what it is.http://www.amazon.com/BISSELL-Fabri...ef=sr_1_2?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1346177927&sr=1-2

I usually just spot clean floors with random floor cleaners but since yours is an all-over problem I'm not sure what to suggest besides lots of vacuuming and maybe one of those powders you sprinkle right before vacuuming?

 

[JickyJuly]

You can rent a steamer at your local grocery store. That's probably the surest way to go.

 

[Rose]

You can rent a steamer at your local grocery store. That's probably the surest way to go.

My mom has one that I can borrow but I didn't think to bring it home with me because I was expecting to come home to a clean house. :?

@Allison I have a similar one from Woolite that's for pet stains and odors so I may just try soaking the smelliest parts. Thanks for the link though.


Maybe I should just buy myself a gas mask until I get my house de-funked. Geez, what was the point of cleaning my whole house if I knew they were going to trash it while I was gone? Lol.

 

[Bocefish]

1800Steamer and give the bill to whoever made the mess.

 

[Rose]

1800Steamer and give the bill to whoever made the mess.

I wonder if my puppy can pay in cuteness. :lol:

 

[Bocefish]

Your puppy stinks like smelly feet and smokes cigs?

:lol:

 

[Rose]

Your puppy stinks like smelly feet and smokes cigs?

:lol:

Lol that would be the roommate who caused the majority of the mess. Puppy and Sadie both smell like dog bo though. I almost wonder if he let them both roll in a puddle or something and then let them lay on the couch. It definitely smells like it. :shock:

 

[Paulie Walnuts]

I use this stuff
http://www.scoe10x.com/

It works on cat and dog stank better than anything else I have used. I'm not sure about ciggarette but it says it does.

I've fogged sub floors where raccoons and cats have gotten into and wrecked, and it did an excellent job of deodorizing.

It's expensive but 80 bucks worth makes 5 gal of spray. It's worth every penny in my opinion. It's the only stuff I've ever found that will totally remove cat piss stink. Cat piss is like radioactive waste, you can't get rid of it with anything. :lol:

 

[Bocefish]

That stuff is spendy but probably worth it for those tough odors. I used to take my dog fishing and she'd occasionally find a few dead salmon carcasses and roll around in them. It was almost worse than getting skunk smell out!

 

[Rose]

Sammy still has accidents occasionally since he's still potty training so I bet that stuff would be super handy to have around. I wonder if I can suss out $20 before payday.

 

[Lintilla]

I always think that the stuff to clean up messes smells just as bad as the mess itself. So I usually alternate with spraying it down with diluted vinegar, waiting for it to dry, then either spraying diluted hydrogen peroxide/Oxy Clean or the like/sprinkling baking soda (then vacuum). Repeat until the odor is gone.

Though that SCOE 10x sounds like something I might try. My cat was half feral when we got her and she's never stopped spraying whenever there have been strangers around. Needs to reclaim the territory, I guess.

 

[Paulie Walnuts]

Use a UV light to hunt down all the kitteh piss shots. If you don't find them all you'll still be smelling the hidden ones and cursing the scoe10x for "not working"
:lol:

the stuff smells kinda strange, but it goes away. I think it smells kinda like stale beer.

 

[Rose]

Would a uv light work for puppy pee? :lol: I think I steamed all of his accidents out of the carpet finally but the area where I keep his puppy pad for accidents usually still smells funky.

 

[SoTxBob]

Would a uv light work for puppy pee? :lol: I think I steamed all of his accidents out of the carpet finally but the area where I keep his puppy pad for accidents usually still smells funky.

yes. uv or black light will find most any type of bodily fluids, human or critter.

 

[Paulie Walnuts]

urine is funny stuff, steam and other things just doesnt get rid of it.

you need a biological agent (like scoe) to break the urine down into something that doesn't stink.

Trust me, I have a barn full of cats, they piss on everything and I've tried it all from chlorine to peroxide. whatever stuff like scoe does, it breaks down the urine and it stops stinking.

other stuff that does work is stuff called OUT! you can get it in wal mart I think, it's pretty good. not much cheaper, but it does work.

Nature's miracle also does a good job. I got Scoe10x because I needed a few gallons to fog a sub floor space, and I just kept using it for everything else. I used to spray it on my old stinky dog, it made her smell good. She was old, and blind and slept 23 hours a day so both she and her bed stank like old dog. I used OUT! on her also, it worked pretty well.

I prefer the scoe because the OUT! smells kinda like baby powder and it makes me sneeze.
:lol:

 

[Rose]

My nose has been particularly sensitive lately so I may try the Out! and if it bugs me too much then I'll just pass it on to my mom or something. If Kroger carries it that might be better than ordering the other stuff online. Thanks for all of the suggestions too by the way. The next time I have a stinky dog/roommate problem I'll just post here first before I pour two full bottles of new febreze all over the couch and carpets. :lol:


Edited to add: This is the stinky little shithead that's the majority of the problem. His sister doesn't smell as bad and has been letting me spritz her with smell me goods and squeaky clean bath stuffs so she smells yummy. He smells like ass but he still wants to kiss your face....

 

[LolasLiger]

Most commercial carpet cleaning products are based on sodium bicarbonate but then charge a small fortune for basically adding a nice smell. So just buy bicarbonate of soda/baking soda crystals, which are dirt cheap, and sprinkle them all over the carpet and leave for 15 or so minutes. Then vacuum them up. For a particularly funky carpet, repeat. (google "bicarbonate of soda" + carpet cleaning if you want to double check its safety etc).

The stuff is pretty pet-safe, though there are rare allergic reactions.

I am also a fan of using essential oils as roof fresheners rather than the commercial chemical ones like febreeze or glade etc. Firstly, you aren't breathing in all that shot. Secondly because the smell seems to linger longer. Essential oil burners are dirt cheap (though I am super tight so i just use a tea light under a small bowl of water and oil mixed together...as the water warms up, the oils start evaporating)

 

[Rose]

I have an essential oil burner and a wax warmer but neither seems to work for the whole room. :/ It's nice if you're sitting right next to it but that's about it. My Sadie is allergic to tons of stuff and gets skin rashes easily like I do so I'm iffy about things that are known to cause allergic reactions.

 

[Wabi_Sabi]

From someone who has 4 cats and 2 house rabbits some bicarbonate of soda shaken up with a few drop of essential oils sprinkled about the place before a vacuum works a treat when there's a tense atmosphere, and smell, about the place.

 

[Paulie Walnuts]

If you use sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) its a lot cheaper t feed store or a place like tractor supply co.

They sell it in 50# sacks, it's used as a rumen buffer for cows and goats. The feed grade type is slightly more gritty and coarse, so it makes a better carpet deodorizer.

I rub a pound or 2 into my truck carpets and seats now and then, and then use a car wash vacuum to suck it all out a few days later. It does a decent job of taking the stink with it.

and, on a big plus side, it'll also kill flea larvae in the carpet... the coarse soda is kinda like broken glass to something that small. So yeah Bicarb soda is also a good alternative.

Since it's just baking soda, it's non toxic to the dogs, if they get the dumb idea to lick the salty stuff off the carpet.