Deodourizing (sp?) My House - Suggestions Please.

[YappyLittleDawg]

Before I get the professional carpet cleaners in, does anyone have any tried and trusted handy hints for deodourising a house. After 4 puppies and seven kittens, the place is rancid, even with the best quality kitty-litter, etc in place.

I've used gallons of white vinegar, Urine-Off, carpet deodourising powder, air freshener, fresh air (!), and I have been busy with the carpet shampooer, etc (over a period of several months, not all at once!). But the whole place just smells funky. I want to rip the carpets up and burn them!

Does anyone know anything REALLY good to put in the carpet shampooer, to kill smells? I'm desperate!

[SkySoaringMagpie]

Rip out the carpet and put impermeable hard flooring of some kind in. It's the only long term solution in my experience. Also, the less fabric you have in your interior furnishings the better as well - so venetians instead of curtains, leather or vinyl lounges etc etc. Nothing gets bought in our house unless you can wash it or wipe it clean.

Once a carpet is really filthy, no amount of cleaning will help, especially if the staining has gone through the underlay, and/or through the underlay onto the floor beneath.

[blacklabrador]

Get Electrodry in to clean the carpets and ask for their pet neutralising service. They put special stuff on the carpets and it gets rid of all the pet odours - works a treat!

[Nekhbet]

I never had smelly carpet. I hired out the Britex machine and every 3-4 months washed the carpets myself with the shampoo that came with it, then went over it with just plain very hot water. Came up like new, no smell and pulled all the stains out too

trick is not to drown it in the water but to do the whole process slowly. Only takes under a day for a big 3bdr house and it's dry when you're done if you use very hot water

[Sue Brown]

Hi

We have used Britex - Not bad

Electrodry - waste of money ( didn't clean and actually smelt funny after )

We purchased a cheap shampooer from the vac shop ( can't remember the name ) and can clean up spills straight away got it o special for $99.00.

We used the Plowman and the shampoo as well and its really very good value

Have you tried nil odor in the tank, we did helped with the smell.

But i have to agree on ripping up carpet as the best option if it is continuous, and don't buy wool carpet it is the hardest to clean.

Well i hope i have helped.

Good Luck

[YappyLittleDawg]

Thanks guys.

I think I'd better call the carpet cleaners and be done with it, though. Geez I hate carpet!!!!

eta: the Nil-Odor in the tank sounds like a good idea - I'll try it tonight.

Edited January 4, 2010 by YappyLittleDawg

[julesluvscavs]

I use bi carb of soda powder, it's not expensive and it neutralizes bad odours. I used to do it when we were renting, especially before a inspection. Leave it on floor for a while tho. Don't think it will harm pets, unless they are very sensitive to things?

I also use power clean by OzKleen for spot cleaning bought at woolworths in carpet cleaning section

[mish13]

Hi

We have used Britex - Not bad

Electrodry - waste of money ( didn't clean and actually smelt funny after )

We purchased a cheap shampooer from the vac shop ( can't remember the name ) and can clean up spills straight away got it o special for $99.00.

We used the Plowman and the shampoo as well and its really very good value

Have you tried nil odor in the tank, we did helped with the smell.

But i have to agree on ripping up carpet as the best option if it is continuous, and don't buy wool carpet it is the hardest to clean.

Well i hope i have helped.

Good Luck

I will also say don't call Electrodry, we paid $200 to have them clean and deodorise our carpets after we had family stay for three weeks. I had quite a few stains from my daughters son who has reflux and they didn't get one stain out.

I had a company come out yesterday to talk about dying our carpet and they said it doesn't need dying it is just dirty and still full of soap. They quoted $120 plus GST to clean it properly. It hasn't been done yet so i cant say how good a job they will be.