I have a question under the category of “other odors”. We just bought a house, and the previous owners (this is the conclusion we’ve come to) sprayaed bug spray (we think their own mix that was done too strong)EVERYWHERE in the house. We have been able to eliminate SOME of the smell by pulling out the carpet and cleaning with bleach, lysol and other cleaners….But it is still quite strong in the bathroom and a section of cupboards in the kitchen. We cannot use the AC b/c as soon as you turn it on, it fills the entire house with the odor! We think they sprayed the floorboards in all the rooms with it ( it smells the worst on the floor), and sprayed too close to the intake vents for the AC… We love our house bu hate the odor! what can you recommend? (other than gutting the place?) thanks for any advice in advance!
House odor control can be a problem for many reasons. Many times odors form due to environmental issues like dampness, leaks, location or some type of material that was used in the home’s construction. Other times it can be related to the occupants. Pets and even people can create odor problems. Cooking, cleaning solvents or something being stored can help form bad smells as well so sometimes it’s hard to identify just what may be the cause unless the conditions are still present when the odor is first recognized. You think it could be a bugspray that was used and you could quite possibly be right. The products we sell are all concentrates used by professionals which have little to no odor so I would rule out any of the quality concentrated actives currently available. But “off the shelf”, ready to use materials commonly found in hardware stores can have strong odors related to the solvent system these products contain. Mostly petroleum related, these solvents can “build” up and leave residual odors that will remain present till they are neutralized. If the previous owner was a “do it yourselfer”, it’s quite possible they were using something that could cause such a buildup which in turn could lead to an odor problem. Fortunately, there is hope.
Regardless of what caused the odor, it can be eliminated. The key to all odor control is getting it at it’s source. This means if you are able to identify where it’s strongest, you should be at or close to the source. If one application eliminates the problem, great. If not, cross off those locations and treat some new, neighboring areas during followups. Using a process of elimination, you should be able to get rid of whatever the cause is once it’s treated with a good odor neutralizer.
As noted in your message, we do have an OTHER ODOR CONTROL section in our Odor Control article and one of the products mentioned in this section is the N-100. It works on many odors and does a great job of “neutralizing” source smells. I suggest you start with this product. Apply it to the baseboards and any other area where you feel this problem is present. The N-100 will go to work neutralizing any contaminants in the area and you should note an immediate change. If you’re lucky and are applying it directly to where the odor is centered, the problem odor could be gone in a few days. But based on what you have included in your message, I’m thinking you might have to do a real good broadcast treatment covering as much of the “surface” area in the home as possible. Using one of our FOGGERS might be a big help. These can be either purchased or even rented from us and will enable you to treat the home efficiently and economically. Be sure to treat any basements, crawl spaces and attics in the structure as well. And if the odor remains after 7 days following an application, treat again. Generally, we have found that most homes require just 1 treatment with this product when it’s applied to the key areas. For really bad problems, 2-3 treatments are sometimes needed but we have seen it work time and time again so this is the product to try before abandoning the home altogether.
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