Need advice to remove tough room odor

kaminari · Post by **kaminari** » Tue May 09, 2006 3:10 pm

My roommate in the house I live in was just kicked out by the landlord leaving his room available to me which is awsome because it's enormous compared to mine and even has a bathtub whereas I settle for a shower.

So anyways, the guy was a slob, a stoner slob...
The smell from his room was unbearable and certainly not something I wanted to move into.

The couple from the other house on the property came over while I was at work and cleaned it like crazy.. they scrubbed every inch and emptied two cans of febreeze and one can of lysol in the room.
The smell persists although not as bad.

Any suggestions as to what might REALLY work on this tough room odor?

Okuni · Post by **Okuni** » Tue May 09, 2006 3:19 pm

Well. I've never dealt with stoner smell, but I've had to deal with regular smoker smell.

If it's tiled or wood floor try pine-sol OR bleach...BUT NOT TOGETHER. I had a friend go to the emergency room that way.
If it's carpeted, try carpet fresh or pet deodorizer.
Maybe get a humidifier use equal parts lemon juice and water.
That might help.
If you can afford putting in a new carpet, do it. Getting smells out of carpets is tough.
My mom suggested moth balls..but I'm not sure if you want the room smelling like Grandma's closet!

Good luck!

Cloud · Post by **Cloud** » Tue May 09, 2006 3:20 pm

Perhaps. Where can I get one?

Lynxa · Post by **Lynxa** » Tue May 09, 2006 4:46 pm

Nature's miracle!!!!! It's for pets but it gets out almost ANY odor really well.

What kind of smell is it? Is it stinky pot smell or nasty man-funk? If it's pot then febreeze and a window open should do the trick, if it's man-funk...well...maybe something industrial?

Sometimes all a place needs is a good airing out.

If you want I could find out what my friends used to get out Katrina funk (although I hope it's not THAT bad

)

Cloud · Post by **Cloud** » Tue May 09, 2006 4:47 pm

What kinds of smell is it are there?

Sugarflower · Post by **Sugarflower** » Tue May 09, 2006 5:28 pm

I know what type of stench you are talking about. We recently found out that our roommate is one of those people.

I don't think there is any hope for him (our roommate) because I've never had to deal with this kind of disgusting filth before from a lazy person. Damn I sound so mean.

If you have carpeting I would rent a carpet cleaning machine and throughly clean the carpet several times. Odors tend to stay in carpets that have not been kept cleaned. You may also want to wipe down the walls if this hasn't been done already. I helped to clean a relatives house one time, who was a very heavy cigarette smoker, and the brown tar just poured off the walls *gag*. We used Greased Lightning cleaner for that.

If you can get those potpourri plugins that would help. I can't really think of anything else besides the Febreeze you have already used. I hope this may have helped a little and hopefully someone else will come along with more helpful ideas.

kaminari · Post by **kaminari** » Tue May 09, 2006 5:47 pm

Thanks for all the tips !!

The smell is like "Ive smoked weed and cigarettes in this room everyday for three years and didnt lift a finger to clean any part of it while I let my nasty sweaty man friends crash here in this room where we probably also had orgies that thankfully my roommate couldnt hear as it would very much traumatize her"
Make sense, lol?

Its not carpet but hardwood floors which have been scrubbed three times.
The wall was our next theory but it has a delicate paint job which is too nice to destroy by scrubbing.
The bathroom (probably the source) is tile.

Right now, Ive got an oil air freshener that smells like melon and cherry blossoms in there. I also put my humidifier in there. I dont know how or if that will help, but... we'll see.
The landlord is having someone retile the bathroom wall by the tub due to some broken tiles so maybe that might help some.

I heard vinegar in an open container might help too.

And please dont make me remember "Katrina funk" lol..
I worked in Pascagoula, MS (commuting over from Mobile, AL) shortly after the storm doing car rental and some of those trashed neighborhoods would kill you with mold and rotting wood stench.

Now I live in Florida... good luck to me >.<

Lynxa · Post by **Lynxa** » Tue May 09, 2006 6:06 pm

For the bathroom try KABOOM! (No, I'm serious, that's its name, in all caps, with an exclamation point

) That is some GREAT stuff for weird stains and gunky crap you didn't even know was there! It's like that Claritin commercial where everything looks normal until they take off the filter to show you the reason god invented High Definition TV. *huggles industrial sized bottle of KABOOM!*

I'm in New Orleans so unfortunately we're still dealing with the everpresent funk

I was lucky enough to escape it but I'm helping friends sort through stuff (still) and it gives me the heebies AND the jeebies.

Sugarflower · Post by **Sugarflower** » Tue May 09, 2006 6:10 pm

kaminari wrote:The smell is like "Ive smoked weed and cigarettes in this room everyday for three years and didnt lift a finger to clean any part of it while I let my nasty sweaty man friends crash here in this room where we probably also had orgies that thankfully my roommate couldnt hear as it would very much traumatize her"
Make sense, lol?

LMAO, sorry to hear that. It sounds exactly what I have to live with here. Our roommates room has wood flooring with 3 years of dust and filth built on top of it. So gross!! Not only does he use weed but he goes through packs upon packs of cigarettes weekly and that really can get to a non-smoker. I get really choked up with all the smoke in here. I'm very paranoid about all the smoking and just know I'll die of lung cancer. Yes, I'm a drama queen.

Anyways, he pretty much lets us have the whole run of his condo but since I'm the only woman in the household, apparently its mine and my fiances JOB to keep things as clean as possible and to cook. (lazy bum doesn't help one bit) We have tons of stuff to eventually sell on eBay and I just know the smoke and tar is making itself comfortable on our stuff. Listen to me ranting away! Sorry.

I don't recommend using the Greased Lightning on the walls then since they are painted. You could probably use a light mixture of dish washing detergent with warm water for now. I'd definately keep using that oil air freshner. When the days are nice outside I would open the windows to let fresh air in to air out the room, that should help alot. I know the wood flooring may have odors absorbed into it. You might be able to use a cleaner such as Murphy's Oil soap on the floor. We always used that for wood paneling and such. If I can think of anything else to help you out I'll let you know. Good luck and congrads on your new place.

Baakay · Post by **Baakay** » Tue May 09, 2006 8:45 pm

Lynxa wrote:I'm in New Orleans so unfortunately we're still dealing with the everpresent funk I was lucky enough to escape it but I'm helping friends sort through stuff (still) and it gives me the heebies AND the jeebies.

Gee... I can't wait to come visit

Kaboom, huh? might be just the thing for the spot our former Crotchedy Old Lady used to anoint regularly...

I think you're gonna have to do the walls. Gently. Trust me on this one, the smoke film will persist and be steenky until you do.

(ugh and gag... one of the things that finally got me to quit smoking some 25 years ago was seeing the stuff left on the walls when we got ready to move. And I'm "the kind of witch that cleans", too!) Weed smell will go away on its own but cigarettes have that ugly nasty film ...

Good luck on getting it to where you want it! bigger space be nice!

blueheaven · Post by **blueheaven** » Wed May 10, 2006 9:34 am

I'd have the carpets steam cleaned, not shampoo, steam cleaned(steam cleaning gets the carpet padding cleaned, shampoo does not). Then, I would have the vent system in the place cleaned(there could be an odor in the vents that will travel around when you turn on the AC or heating. After that, you may even want to paint the place.