Getting rid of odors in a house?

irobot: Getting rid of odors in a house?
Can anybody tell me if there is a way to get rid of odors in a house? I am a first time homebuyer looking for houses. Some houses we looked at this wkend had very strong odors such as cigarette smoke, and pets. The realtor tells us that these odors can be removed but I want to make sure it is true because I have sinus trouble and I definitely do not want to move into a house that will make it worse.

Answers and Views:

Answer by daniel m
most of the smell will go away once all the old furniture and stuff is removed, then if you do a little re-decorating the rest will go away!

either that or you can just wait a while and the smell will eventually remove itself!!

Answer by Hong N
Just clean the house, odor is coming off something. But usually such odor can be removed with other sprays or cleaning or machines that has filters.

Answer by superthunda
Actually my bf and i have a buisness where we sell top of the line air purification units the company we are with donated the untis to the 9/11 museum at ground zero and they got all the awful smells out of the items that are on display. An air machine would help get the odors out of the house and keep them out it also helps reduce mold and bacteria by killing 99.999% of it. If you would like more information feel free to email me and i can help you

Answer by shortstuff
Odors can be removed by repainting the walls, cleaning the woodwork with an ammonia cleaner, replacing the carpeting, especially if the people have pets, cleaning the windows with Windex (yes, the smile permeates the glass too) etc. In some cases, you’d be smart to hire a reputable & professional crew to come in to clean when you purchase a home that has various pet & smoke odors. Maybe you’ll find a home you like, where there were no pets & non smoking owners. Good luck!!!

Answer by jennifer k
A good cleaning can remove all odors. I have had the same thing happen to me, and when we moved in we got new carpet, washed and painted the walls, cleaned cupboards with bleach and soap, and washed dwon bathroom with bleach and soap, and it is fresh and new now.
Also, carpet cleaning does wonders! We rented a house that we weren’t able to redo like this, and we shampooed the carpets and washed everything (walls and floors) with soapy bleach water and it was just as good!

Answer by wannaplaytoo2001
washing walls and fresh paint will do the trick….if they have an AC unit you may have to gut it and clean it well,or replace it

Answer by wera
Use air fresheners and deodorizers. More info about cigarettes smoke see at www.cigarettes-smoke.net