They say every home has that distinctive odor only a visitor can smell.
Some odors can be obvious even to the occupants of the home: old socks, shoes, half-rotten food, damp laundry, etc.
Your nose can get used to these odors as well if you don’t get rid of them fast enough.
How Do You Get Rid Of Bad Odors In A Manufactured Home?
Most methods involve cleaning the air with a device such as an air purifier or suppressing the bad odors with sweet ones from another source.
What Are Some Of The Bad Odor Causes?
The trick is to know the source of the stench, then figure out the best way to suppress or eliminate it:
1. Stale air
This is probably the hardest odor to describe, but the easiest to identify.
Oftentimes, it is a result of overly humid or stuffy air that’s unable to mix with ample fresh air from outside.
As such, you can reduce it by opening your windows and doors but things can be a bit tricky in cold months of the winter.
In that case, buy a good-smelling air deodorizer or an eliminator, like this Hamilton Beach TrueAir Room Odor Eliminator.
Note that air deodorizers are somewhat similar to air purifiers although the working mechanisms may vary in some devices.
Some air deodorizers won’t trap and neutralize the odors.
Instead, they are designed to pump pleasant smells to cloak the unwanted odors, like this Bright Air Solid Air Fresheners and Odor Eliminator.
Better yet, you can prepare your own DIY air deodorizer by chopping some fresh lemons in halves and placing them in corners throughout the room.
Alternatively, get vanilla essential oil and rub it on the sides of all your light bulbs in specific rooms. Be certain to do so with your lights off.
Later, as the lights shine, they will heat the vanilla and flood your room with a better smell.
2. Carpet smells
Carpets are often made from adsorbent materials (inadvertently, perhaps) and are prone to eject odors unless you take good care of them.
If your flooring gets too damp or you move to a new house, you will have to contend with one of the toughest stenches to eliminate in a home.
Don’t fret – there are few home remedies for this. Start by buying a small amount of baking soda.
Proceed to sprinkle it on your carpet – the whole of it – and leave it undisturbed for hours.
Thereafter, use a vacuum cleaner to clean it.
Do it when you are about to be out of your house for some time.
The best thing about baking soda is that it doesn’t feature some risky chemicals.
However, it will certainly leave an unsightly mess if you keep walking on it.
3. Fridge odors
Fridges and freezers are only useful and cute when they don’t reek of fresh fish or overstayed veggies.
The plastics used to coat the interior of the fridge are known to absorb odors from food especially if you don’t take good care of the box.
The best way to mute or get rid of fridge-related odors is – we mentioned before – adding baking soda in the box.
Baking soda is a good absorber of bad smells on almost all surfaces, including closed compartments like inside your fridge.
So proceed to sprinkle it lightly all over the space, turn off the fridge without food, and let it eliminate the odors for a few hours.
You can use coffee powder in place of baking soda.
Nature Fresh Air Purifying Bags are packs of closed space air fresheners that can even be used to freshen the air in your car. They are pet-friendly and hypo-allergic.
4. Garbage disposal stink
Garbage disposals can be problematic at times.
If you have one installed in the kitchen and haven’t been caring for it as outlined by the maker, chances are you’ve had to contend with an off-putting stink from it and perhaps some kind of food poisoning as a result of bacterial growths in and around it.
The best way to avoid garbage disposer-related odors is to keep it clean at all times.
Ensure that all the leftovers are scrubbed off and go down the drainpipe.
Some people prefer the DIY way to keep the device clean: putting citrus peels in the device to mask the smell.
To clean it conclusively, place a fistful of fresh ice in the sink drain.
Proceed to add a small cup of salt.
Thereafter, run the water to carry the mixture into the garbage disposer.
Run it at a low speed to turn the mixture.
Wrap up by draining everything down the drain. The device should smell better after this exercise. Plus, the salt sharpens the blades.
5. Mold or mildew
Mildew and mold are a common annoyance in musty homes.
Extensive mold/milder encroachment makes the room even mustier and smelly, and can negatively impact your health.
Mold problems should be dealt with immediately after they are discovered. Hire a professional to assess the situation and get rid of it.
Solution: Mold and mildew-related odors can be eliminated by baking soda or moist charcoal but the right thing to do is to get rid of it completely.
6. Washing machine
Washers should leave your clothes clean, smelling fresh.
However, when the washer grows some mildew due to an array of reasons – leaving clothes and soap inside overnight often, for example – this fresh touch disappears.
If it is left to build up with time, the bad odor can take over the entire laundry room and even the rest of the home.
Solution: start by getting rid of all the mildew and unwanted materials caught in the washer’s gasket, or rubber liners. Go on to wipe the rim with a mild solution of vinegar, tea tree essential oils, and a detergent.
This antifungal formulation will certainly eliminate all the dirt stuck on the walls of the washer.
Then use this same mixture, measuring two cups of white vinegar and 20 drops of tea tree essential oil into the liquid tray. When done, wipe the interior with a microfiber cloth.
7. Skunk stench
Have you or your pet ever been skunked?
The dreaded skunk stench is known to stick on surfaces for weeks.
The worst thing about it is that it is capable of spreading to new surfaces depending on what comes into contact with affected clothes or pets’ fur.
Turn on the fan and open all the windows and doors immediately you detect this pungent smell.
Thereafter, heat up a bowl of vinegar and place it in the corner of your room.
The smell from vinegar should mask the skunk smell.
If your pet got skunked, mix some 3% of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and one teaspoon of usual dish soap.
Wash your pet with this mixture with gloves. Don’t touch your eyes or mouth with this solution still on your hands.
What About Air Purifiers?
We decided to mention this last because it is a non-DIY and general way to get rid of bad odors. The source of the odor doesn’t, just consider these factors if you want to choose the best device for the job:
1. Type of filter
HEPA filters are best for the stubbornest odors
2. Change rate
How many times can the device change the air in the room in 1 hour? A device rated 5 ACH will change the air 5 times in 1 hour (60/5). The most efficient devices range between 5 and 6 ACH.
3. CADR (clean air delivery rate)
CADR lets you know quickly the device operates. Basically, it is an indicator of cubic feet of air cleaned in a minute. So, the higher the CADR rating, the better the purifier.
4. Stay away from ionization or UV air purifier models
They are bad for both the ozone and your respiratory wellbeing.
5. Decibels
How noisy is the air purifier of your choice? Anything rated above 45 decibels will ruin your sleep.
Conclusion
How do you get rid of bad odors in a room?
Most methods involve cleaning the air with a device such as an air purifier or suppressing the bad odors with sweet ones from another source.
The best way to get rid of odors is to buy an air purifier.
Consider the type of filter, change rate, decibels, and CADR. Stay away from ionization or UV air purifier models.
