Help! Deodorizing ... Stuff?

kristina ftw!

Well-known member
So, I just took over our au pair room, because we're not going to have au pairs anymore.
This room is over twice the size of my last one (my last one being less than 8 m2), so I was THRILLED when my parents told me I could move in here.
This room also has a bathroom right across the hall, so that's a major plus (even though the lighting sucks, so I have to do my makeup in my bedroom
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).

Now, our last au pair had less-than-satisfying hygiene practises. (Mom actually had to ask her to shower more often, because everywhere she went, the smell would linger. Poor mom, she's so nice, it was horribly uncomfortable for her.)
The shower was GROSS, just awful, hairs everywhere (and not just head-hairs, either :|), brown, filthy stuff on the floor, clogged drain ... So mom and I spent an hour and a half fixing everything.
There was also hairs ALL over the floor and everything, and the sink was dirty and clogged as well. (Oh, and her hair was like, below her butt, so yeah, LOTS OF HAIR.)
Now, we were grossed out, but we understand that not everyone has the same hygiene practises, so we just cleaned and got over it.
Then I started moving into the room. The room also had her "scent". So what we did is, we opened ALL the windows, and let them stay open for a couple of days (so I had to stay in my old room for a while still, since it's really cold here) and then sprayed the room with those deodorizing sprays and a couple of spritzes of my lovely Chanel Chance Fraiche, haha.
All well and good, right?
Now, today I'm putting my clothes in here. Rather than a closet, it has this ... I don't know the english word for it, but it has drawers, instead of hangers and shelves and stuff. So, I open a drawer to put in my clothes ... WAWAWOWA! STANK GALORE!
I tried spraying it with deodorizing spray, but it WON'T GO AWAY.
I don't want my clothes to smell like death and perspiration
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What do I doooo, how do I get the smell out??

AND I'M SORRY THAT I SOUND LIKE A BITCH, but it kind of pisses me off that she was staying in our house, for FREE, and she couldn't even keep it clean.
I'm not even a bitchy person, I rarely get mad about ANYTHING, but this is GROSS. And I KNOW that not all people have the same hygiene practices, as I said before, but whatever happened to adapting? When you're living in someone's house, with 7 (!!!!) other people, PLEASE take a shower every once in a while so we don't have to walk around in ass smell all day.

The bedroom floor is covered in food crumbles and hairs too, but that's nothing a vaccuum cleaner can't fix. It's the lingering smell that gets to me
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Oh, and the fact that she just moved out, WITHOUT LETTING ANYONE KNOW. Just like that. Didn't tell anyone. Oh, did I mention mom and I were in London at the time (for a treatment program for me), and dad was away on business, so she was supposed to stay home so my younger siblings didn't have to be home alone for two days?
Again, I don't mean to be a bitch, I really don't, but that's messed up. She was still hired by us, we still paid her, the contract hadn't run out, UGH.

SORRY ABOUT THE RANT
I had to get it out
And also, any tips on the smell-issue, PLEASE let me know.
(And sorry about this being so messy too, but I just got more and more worked up as I wrote, haha.)
 

vocaltest

Well-known member
Whereabouts are you from? My question will make sense if you're from the UK! haha.
My mum works for a cleaning contractors company as their accountant, and they use Westbourne Hygiene products... they make an air freshener/deoderiser that literally will SHIFT the stink of anything.
If not, maybe try Oust? thats supposed to get rid of the smell not mask it. I'll ask my mum later for you, she's the queen of cleaning lol!
 

kristina ftw!

Well-known member
I'm from Norway! Thanks for the suggestions, I'll see if I can find those products. And it'd be great if you could get back to me after talking to your mom. I was actually thinking maybe trying vinegar?
 

*KT*

Well-known member
50/50 vinegar/water solution may help.

I'd clean them out and let them stay open for a couple days to air out. Before moving your stuff into the drawers, I'd shut them a couple days and then re-open and sniff. Just to make sure that the smell isn't still trapped in the wood.

YUCK!
 

Brittni

Well-known member
what about those liners you put in drawers that are scented to keep like your panty drawers etc smelling fresh?

i love me some febreeze, but i dunno if that's heavy enough duty for what you are talking. lol!
 

xtiffineyx

Well-known member
Baking soda should help. Get a bunch of the boxes (they're like 25 cents here, really cheap!) and open them and put them in the drawers and stuff. you could even sprinkle some in the drawers let it sit for a few days and then vacuum it up. Sprinkle some on the carpet and let it sit for a while, then vacuum up.
 

HeavenLeiBlu

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by xtiffineyx
Baking soda should help. Get a bunch of the boxes (they're like 25 cents here, really cheap!) and open them and put them in the drawers and stuff. you could even sprinkle some in the drawers let it sit for a few days and then vacuum it up. Sprinkle some on the carpet and let it sit for a while, then vacuum up.

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After vacuuming up all the baking soda, I'd also leave fabric softener dryer sheets in the drawers. Another odor fighter ( if you won't have pets or mall children in your room, is putting a cup or small bowl of vinegar in a discrete corner of the room or under your bed... it will absorb funky odors.
 

sharkbytes

Well-known member
Agree with all of the suggestions above, as well as this: Get a high-velocity fan, and keep it going in that room for a full 24 hours. Put a few open boxes of baking soda around to trap the odors, and keep the windows open as well.

I'd scrub out those drawers with a vinegar-water mixture, and then afterwards use a heavy-duty all purpose cleaner (like Pine Sol, if they have it in Norway)
 

katexlouise

Member
I agree with t the baking soda suggestions. I can't remember why, but our spare room smelt really gross, so my mum put a large-ish bowl of baking soda in the middle of the room for a week or so, cleared the smell right up!
 
This should help get it out and keep it out for a while. It might still have a slight smell, but it will eventually go away.

First, clean and sanitize all the shelves/drawers in the clothes keeping area you're talking about.

Get one of the refrigerator deodorizer things, they have charcoal inside them. I recently watched a tv show about stinky fridges, and that works better than baking soda with absorbing odor.

Lastly, fill a paper lunch bag halfway with coffee grounds. Leave this on the floor in the corner of the area. This will absorb and mask odor. I know this works, because my boyfriend left a bag of potato skins in my car while we hitch hiked across three states, during july, and when we got back to my car it smelled like someone had DIED in there. I tried all the deodorizing cleaning sprays, scrubbed it and put vinegar in there. Nothing worked... Then someone told me about the coffee grounds, and now it smells like nothing ever happened.

I hope that helps... And, the smell of coffee is always better than ass and death.

good luck
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Lapis

Well-known member
Quote:
Originally Posted by xtiffineyx
Baking soda should help. Get a bunch of the boxes (they're like 25 cents here, really cheap!) and open them and put them in the drawers and stuff. you could even sprinkle some in the drawers let it sit for a few days and then vacuum it up. Sprinkle some on the carpet and let it sit for a while, then vacuum up.

Baking soda lots and lots of it!
 

kristina ftw!

Well-known member
Thanks for the suggestions everyone!
Today I washed out all the drawers with water and vinegar mixed, and it helped tremendously. The smell still isn't completely gone, so I'm going to use baking soda as well ... I just have to buy it first, ha. And I'm going to keep my eyes open for those deodorizing sprays as well!
 

captodometer

Well-known member
First thing: open the windows.

2nd: Shampoo the carpets(not sure that the room is carpeted?) You have to get rid of all the organic matter before you can get rid of the smell. Then use a leave in carpet deodorizer: one of those that you sprinkle in, leave on for a few hours or days, and then vacuum up. Use the pet deodorizer formula: it's stronger than the regular ones. Use a steam mop if the room has sealed hardwoods or laminate. You also have to wash the curtains, if the room has any.

3rd: Wipe down everything that is washable with soap and water or the vinegar/water solution that other people have mentioned in this thread. Same thing: unless you get rid of organic matter, ie the microorganisms living in the filth, the smell will continue to linger. If you can't wipe it down. throw it out.

4th: Once the drawers of your dresser/wardrobe/closet have dried, put in the fabric softener sheets/baking soda/cedar chips/etc that other people have already suggested. And leave them shut for a few days.

5th: Place open boxes of baking soda all over the room. Leave them for a few days.

6th: Get one of the plug in air fresheners that goes in an electrical outlet. In the US, at least, they make ones that don't just pump out the scent of strawberries/whatever and are actually room deodorizers.

I have spent most of my career working in public health as an environmental health officer. If these steps don't work, you should probably give up on the room altogether
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