My wife and I just moved into a new house. It is a great house, but it smells. Now here is the "strange" part; it doesn't smell like dog or skunk. It smells like we're living in a candle store. It's not the best of scent choices and it's overpowering.
My wife and I both get headaches if we're inside too long. We can't seem to find a source for the problem (air filters, carpet, floor, etc.). It's like the previous tenants painted the walls with scented oils. We would greatly appreciate any help!
Thank you.
By Chad
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It seems like it's just going to take time. Since it's still summer time, I would air the house out. open all windows and doors. Keep using the air filters and purifiers, eventually, the scent will die down.
For many of us who are sensitive to chemical fragrances, perfumes, odors, really need to start harrassing these companies who manufacture these items. Let them know it effects so many. Get them to stop making so many products laced with heavy artificial scents.
The problem with those scented candles and plug in air fresheners is that they have oils in them. These oils are released into the air with heat, Not only do they put a fine layer of these oils all over everything but they are extreemly hard on the lungs of asthmatics or anyone with breathing problems.
Have you tried washing down the walls with maybe a lemon scent Pine- sol cleaner? When you clean the carpets, put something with a fresh clean scent in the liquid as well. Good luck!
I also agree with thoroughly washing down the walls and cleaning the carpets. I have a neighbor who has plugins in every single room of her apartment and I can't even go in there because it's so strong I can hardly breathe. I've even run into her in the corridor and will be talking to her and she even smells like the plugins :-o When her sliding glass door is open (and mine too) I can smell it wafting through the air and I live three apartments away from her :-o
You might check your filter (a/c or furnace), and see if the previous people hung one of those air fresheners on the market which hang on the filter. It might be that they did, in which case, hopefully just removing it should take care of the problem for you.
Good luck! Pam
I would suggest eliminating your allergy to the 'candles' by seeing an NAET practitioner (www.naet.com). I was allergic to perfumes and got headaches, but no longer do.
You can try setting out little bowls of lemon ammonia. I do this every time I fry fish, boil cabbage etc. Works like a charm. For some reason the ammonia absorbs odors. Hope this helps.
Washing walls, air filters, etc. all take time and if this is giving you headaches now, I guess you want a now solution. Leave small dishes of coffee beans around.
My husband at one time worked for the housing authority. There was a time or two that people had passed away in the apartments, and no one had checked on them such a family and friends. When someone did finally check on them they had been dead a week. You can imagine the smell in that amount of time in the heat of summer. He put out charcoal in tin foil pans and left them in there for a week, and it removed the smell completely.
My husband also did a job for family that bought a house that a man had passed away in. He hesitated about buying the house because they could not remove the smell. My husband told him to buy it because it was a bargain and that he could remove the smell. He place charcoal in the house and left if for a week. The smell was completely gone also. So try this but get the charcoal that has no "fuel" added, just plain charcoal.
I know this is a problem for me too. That is why I bought out further so I could get new without someone else. I figured I would need to change out the dryer exhaust vent and wash either vinegar or bleach before the load of laundry.
Can you use bleach water to get rid of a strong plug in scent by washing the walls down
It stays the only way is to wash the walls with alot of rags and dawn but the scent will transfer back if the rag has the scent on it. Paint, really need to get new carpets i will not come out of the carpets. I went to visit someone with a glade plugin came home all my clothe s smelled like it I washed them the clothes stilled smelled and then my other clothes smelled like it and the washer and dryer what a night mare. And any where I sat it kept transferring I let my sweater sit sor 5 months it stilled smelled and my car seat. And I only visited a friend I did not use it.
It stays the only way is to wash the walls with alot of rags and dawn but the scent will transfer back if the rag has the scent on it. Paint, You really need to get new carpets it will not come out of the carpets. I went to visit someone with a glade plugin came home all my clothes smelled like it I washed them the clothes stilled smelled and then my other clothes smelled like it and the washer and dryer what a night mare. And any where I sat it kept transferring I let my sweater sit sor 5 months it stilled smelled and my car seat. I only visited a friend I did not use it.
The people who lived there before you, or their realtor, probably used a chemical air freshener. The truth is you can't get rid of the smell. Airing the place out, washing down the walls, etc. will do very little. I know. I've been through it before. The fragrance has gone into the walls, floors, everything in the house. The only way to get rid of the smell is to tear down the place. I spent 6 months trying to find a house that didn't use air freshener. I found that something like 80% of homes on the market used air freshener, scented candles or products like that. I am highly allergic. These products are not regulated by the government. People who use them lose their sense of smell and have no awareness of how strong the fragrance is. In a world that is so pro fragrance-free when it comes to perfume, it totally baffles me why air fresheners are not part of that movement. Best thing to do is what another poster did. Buy a new
house out of town and at a distance from your neighbours because, if they use air freshener, it will come into your home. Make sure you put in your new house contract that scented materials and air freshener are not to be used. I hope everything works out for you.
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