hints,tips or fix for smell in house?

[vicdad999999]

Wife and eldest left for the weekend for a college tour, I figured Id take that time and tackle getting a cannister filter I havent touched in 2 years out from being wedged where it was and give it a good cleaning. I knew it was going to be a pita, however I did not anticiapte the stench.
Now that its all cleaned out and back up and running, ive been trying everything to get the smell out of the house. Febreeze isnt working, and unfortunalty im allergic to bleach, so I cant use that. I have till about 11 am or noonish to clear this smell out,
My 17 year old keeps razzing me about how my wife is gonna kill me. So any help would be appreciated, Also Im in Maine, I did open the windows a bit but its still rather cold here. Ive also tried pinesol soap on the floors and countertops which seems to work but only for about 10 minutes. Ive never left a filter sit that long so never ran into this problem,, again, any hints or stuff I have to get at the store tonight would be appreciated. Unless (hoping) it dissapates by the time she gets home.
Thanks

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Try vinegar on surfaces that are able to be wiped down and baking soda sprinkled on carpet (not wet carpet or it will leave a white mark). Leave for 15 minutes then vacuum up. Vinegar neutralizes odor and the baking soda (aka bicarb soda) absorbs it.

 

[vicdad999999]

excellent, going to do it now. thank you alot. cant tell you enough how much I appreciate it.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

No problem. Good luck!

 

[Ian086]

You could also try getting some oranges and cutting them in quarters. This can be used along with the vinegar and b.soda. Just cut them up and leave them lying around rooms in your house. They are great for removing the odor if you've done a bit of painting, so it might work for this also. Cheap, safe and will leave a nice fragerance.....

 

[vicdad999999]

I did the vinegar, wasnt sure what kind to use as we have apple cider, balsamic and white distilled in the house. faith my daughter looked it up , used the distilled. House is smelling way better, while she was looking it up she also said we should place bowls of it around the house, so i sent her to the supermarket and waiting on her return. The only rug was in my office, and in a panic I cut all the wet areas and threw it into the back of my truck before i asked here.

The rest of the floors in the house were all wood. And mopping,scrubbing, spraying wasnt working, thank you again so very much mumma.of.two, you saved my hide. Im gonna say I fed the dog a treat that didnt agree with her, not sure what yet, and had to cut out the rug. Paid off my daughter, house is smelling better, dog will get more attention for no reason at all tomorrow, and all will be well in my little world, thank you again sooo very very much. ( going to wash everything again few hours before she comes home to be sure) maybe again tonight too..

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Oh yes the white is the one to use. I should have mentioned that! You can add a cup of vinegar to the fabric softener input of your washing machine instead of fabric softener. It will help remove smells from any towels and cloths you've used to clean up. I'm glad it's all sorted!

 

[Alyxx]

Wow, a smell febreeze won't fix, that's bad! I'm happy to hear you got it all sorted out. If I had found this thread before you got it all fixed I would have recommended the same. Baking soda saved my house from some pretty wretched smells after my freezer defrosted after a week with no power in the Louisiana summer heat. Stuff dripped into the back of the fridge and rotted before I could get everything out. A pan of baking soda and coffee grounds finally got the smell out of the freezer. Good tip on the oranges, too. Coffee works as well, the grounds absorb odors and put off that delicious coffee smell. I can only hope you paid your daughter off well enough, though...

 

[jcolon]

Not to rain on your parade, but to better cover your tracks ... Ensure your wife doesn't somehow stumble across this thread. I'm assuming she's not a member?

 

[Alyxx]

Gooood point! No use hiding the smell if she sees the post! Also, good plan on repeating the cleaning. And you may want to try the coffee trick, too. Just put a shallow dish of coffee and baking soda where the smell is strongest. And make her some coffee to explain the smell of coffee when she gets home! Maybe bake some cookies, too. The smell fills the house and cookies make everything better.

 

[vicdad999999]

the bowls were a bit much, both our eyes look red lol. so i used the spray bar and hosed down the kichen floor and counter top, mopped again, i put vinegar in a spray bottle and sprayed in my room the floors then used the lysol soap so the dog wont be sneezing. after I read about the coffee i used 2 small planters pots with a coffee filter in them and placed one in the kitchen and one upstairs. Had to open the windows and doors while i washed everything, i think i used to much vinegar. Shes not a member on any fish board. While i was here panicking she was at pet-pro in bangor sending me pics of a planted tank that uses co2 and debating coming home, but the room was already rented and trying to tell her stay , its a 3 hour trip, relax. My daughter already shut her door and getting ready for bed so cant send her to store again. But in the morning im buying mushrooms chicken breast and garlic and burn a chicken breast in the balsamic vinegar sometime near when shes coming home..forgot the scented candle. I can pull this off lol

 

[jcolon]

Ha..ha. I'd say you better come clean: ... she's going to find out or figure it out. It'll hit her somethings up ... Wives ... they know ...somehow.

Some sixth sense stemming from the various odors will give it away. No sense in hiding it or denying it. The "everything was great, nothing exciting happened"and these are for you will just add to her ... suspicions. Between the lysol, vinegar oranges, scented candles and the soon to be balsamic chicken ... not to mention the now emptier bottles of vinegar ... it'll be like a crime scene with the fingerprinted weapon, DNA and wallet of the perpetrator left behind.

If we don't hear from you by this time tomorrow should we send a search party.

Good luck!

 

[Rodeo one]

Jcolon s right.....the coverup is a bigger offense than the crime. And the fact that you ve put soooo much effort into getting rid of the smell speaks volumes for the presence of a good character. You re a good guy, don t sully that by lying. Great story tho! Good luck.

 

[Alyxx]

So how did this turn out? Did you fess up, get caught, or get away with it?

 

[Ian086]

So how did this turn out? Did you fess up, get caught, or get away with it?

He hasn't been on for a while. Maybe not a good sign!!!!

 

[jcolon]

So how did this turn out? Did you fess up, get caught, or get away with it?

IDK about this one We haven't heard from the OP in ... a while. Maybe it didn't go as well as he'd hoped. For all we know, within minutes of her getting home he had to run and .

On my last post I suggested a search party if we didn't hear from him.
Maine's a VERY heavily wooded state ... he could be .......... anywhere.
Maybe even swimming with the (pun intended).

 

[Ian086]

IDK about this one We haven't heard from the OP in ... a while. Maybe it didn't go as well as he'd hoped. For all we know, within minutes of her getting home he had to run and .

On my last post I suggested a search party if we didn't hear from him.
Maine's a VERY heavily wooded state ... he could be .......... anywhere.
Maybe even swimming with the (pun intended).

He might be under the wooden floors that his wife had to replace...haha

 

[vicdad999999]

I forgot to update.. I got away with it. lol, i did not tell her the truth , she thought I was the best that i cleaned the house, had dinner within minutes done on her arrival. She even said the kitchen looked cleaner..I did blame the dog for the rug, of which the dog got lots of attention as it must have been something I gave her I wasnt supposed too. Wife also let me get a 6 pack for being such a good boy that night. lol. I couldnt have pulled it off without all your ideas.(edit) forgot , this little coverup cost me about 50 bucks as I also had to pay a bribe)