ELIMINATING HOUSE ODORS: TRACKING DOWN SMELLS

Your home may be tidy, but it doesn’t feel clean unless it smells fresh. Unfortunately, lingering or persistent bad smells in your kitchen, bathroom, laundry room or other areas can be a frustrating annoyance. So how do you stop them? The first and most important step is finding the source.

Why does my house smell?

A weird smell in a house can come from numerous sources, including appliances, furniture, carpets, fabrics or issues like mold or mildew. Occasionally, odors may be caused by sewer gas, natural gas leaks or animals that have died between walls, in attics or under decks.

If you’re dealing with a lingering odor or a bad smell in your house that comes and goes, you’ll need to find the source to get rid of it completely. Most house smells can be dealt with using basic household items, but some (such as natural gas leaks) may require additional assistance. Our guide to tracking down and eliminating bad house odors can help you get to the bottom of nasty scents.

Find the source of that weird smell in your house

Sometimes, finding the source of a bad smell is as simple as taking out the garbage. However, other smells can be difficult to diagnose — especially if they seem to come and go. Your first task will be narrowing down which room in your house a weird smell may be coming from. From there, some basic detective work can help you determine why your house smells and what is causing it.

How to get rid of kitchen smells

Between food prep, cooking and cleaning, kitchens can quickly become vectors for unpleasant smells. If odors seem to be emanating from this part of your home, check the following locations:

• Trash Cans
  Under counter trash cans are a frequent source of odors. If your kitchen smells like rotting meat or produce, remove the trash bag to see if this helps eliminate the odor. If your garbage bag has leaked into the bin, this could cause odors in your trash can itself. Cleaning the trash can with soapy water or a bleach solution can help.
• Ovens
  Baked-on foods in your oven can cause burning or smoking odors when your oven is in use. Clean your oven regularly to reduce and ultimately eliminate these smells. If you notice drips or spills at the bottom of your oven, clean it as quickly as possible once the oven is cool.
• Cooktops and Hoods
  Like ovens, cooktops can become a source of odors if spilled or splashed food gets cooked onto the cooktop, grates or burners. Hoods help clear the air, but their filters become less effective if they are not cleaned or replaced regularly. Clean your cooktop and hood’s grease filter regularly to help remove burning smells and to improve air circulation and odor removal. Cooktop cleaner or a cooktop cleaning kit can help.
• Disposals
  If you have a smelly sink drain, it may be time to clean your disposal or your trap. Food residue and grease can build up in the disposal over time, encouraging bacteria growth and bad smells like rotting food, mildew or even rotten eggs. Disposal cleaner tablets can help clean and deodorize your in-sink garbage disposal.
• Dishwashers
  Does your dishwasher smell like mold, mildew, bad food or other “off” scents? In addition to cleaning your dishwasher’s filter regularly, it’s also important to use dishwasher cleaner tablets monthly to help break up food, grease and detergent residue that can lead to foul odors.
• Refrigerators
  If you have a bad smell in your house that comes and goes, it’s sometimes because the smell can only escape when you open a door — or in this case, an appliance. Like dishwashers and ovens, the door seal on a refrigerator can keep scents inside until you open the door up. If you notice food odors or other off scents appearing in your kitchen when you open up your fridge, it may be time to deep clean this appliance. Look for spilled or spoiled food in the back of the fridge or the bottom of drawers and clean this up right away. An open box of baking soda can help absorb odors as well.
• Cabinets
  If there are food, mildew or rotting food smells coming from your cabinets, it’s time to investigate. Look for spilled liquids from jars or cans and clean them up right away. Also, take time to look for insect or water damage — if you see any, remove stored items and contact an exterminator or other professional to help investigate the underlying cause.

Why does my laundry room smell?

You want your finished laundry to smell clean and fresh, so it can be extra frustrating when your laundry room smells moldy or musty. If you start to get a whiff of these or other “off” odors, you should investigate as quickly as possible so they can be eliminated.

• Laundry Sink Drain
  As with kitchen and bathroom drains, laundry room drains can get clogged with debris or detergent buildup over time, which encourages odor-causing bacteria. If you rarely use your laundry drain, a dry trap can cause an unpleasant odor as well. Remove clogs by snaking or plunging your drain and be sure to use your sink regularly to keep the drain trap wet.
• Washing Machine
  Laundry detergent can build up inside your washer drum, as well as components like drains and hoses. Over time, this buildup creates a film that can trap bacteria and allow it to grow, along with mold and mildew. Monthly cleaning with washing machine cleaner tablets can help remove odor-causing residues and grime that can cause washing machine smells. If you have a front load washer, regularly wipe down the door seal with a soft, damp cloth to remove smelly buildup from this part of your washer.
• Dryer
  Does your dryer smell strange? Lint buildup in either the mesh lint trap or in your dryer’s vents can trap odors from smelly clothes and recirculate them during the dry cycle. A burning smell could indicate that lint buildup is causing your dryer to overheat. If that’s the case, turn off the dryer, remove the clothes and take some time to clean your dryer vent and lint trap.

How to get rid of phantom smells in the bathroom

While most people try to keep their bathrooms as clean as possible, regular exposure to moisture can make these rooms natural vectors for mildew or mysterious drain odors. If you think a weird smell in your house may be coming from the bathroom, here’s how to track it down.

• Drains
  Smelly sink drains and smelly bath/shower drains in your bathroom can smell like mold, mildew or other “wet” scents. These odors are usually caused by soap, shampoo and other buildup, as well as clogs from hair or debris. Clearing the drain with a plunger, snake or chemical drain cleaner can help eliminate the issue. If your bathroom hasn’t been used in a while, the smell may also be coming from a dry drain trap. If that’s the case, the issue should resolve itself once you start using the bathroom regularly again. Try pouring a cup of water down a seldom-used drain to help.
• Trash Cans
  Items like diapers and menstrual products can cause unpleasant odors if they stay in your bathroom’s trash can for too long. Be sure to remove this garbage frequently to keep your bathroom smelling fresh.
• Toilets
  Because toilets get lots of use, there are numerous reasons why they may smell bad. If deep cleaning your toilet doesn’t fix the problem, there may be an issue such as a clogged drain, old or damaged seals or the plumbing itself. If you’re uncomfortable diagnosing these issues yourself, a plumber can help you get to the bottom of them.
• Cabinets
  Spilled products like liquid soaps, lotions, perfumes or other products can harden or soak into cabinets, causing a strange smell over time. Deep cleaning these areas can help. If the cabinets under your sink smell musty, moldy or mildewy, there may be a slow leak in your pipes that is causing water seepage and damage to the wood. Check these areas yourself or have a plumber assess the pipes.

How to get rid of phantom smells in your kid’s room

Your child’s room can be tidy or messy, but it probably shouldn’t be smelly. (Right?) Fortunately, most strange scents in a kid’s room can easily be traced if you know where to look.

• Dirty Laundry
  Dirty laundry has a distinctly musky odor that can quickly fill up a room. If the laundry basket is empty, see if there’s a mound of clothes piled in a closet or smelly socks under the bed. Once the laundry has been cleaned, the less-than-fresh scent should dissipate on its own. To keep clothes fresh and clean, use a quality detergent like Swash¹.
• Stinky Shoes
  Athletic shoes are typical odor offenders, but any pair of shoes can end up being smelly. Check to see if the foot odor scent is coming from some shoes — if so, allow them to air thoroughly, sprinkle baking soda inside to absorb moisture or use specially formulated shoe odor eliminators.
• Gym Bags
  Gym bags not only absorb odor but can also provide a great environment for odor-causing bacteria to thrive. Smelly bags can be aired out or wiped down with antibacterial wipes or fabric-safe cleaners to deodorize them.
• Food
  Did your child forget their lunch box in their backpack? Did they get a late-night snack and leave remnants behind? If so, you may smell rotting food or curdled milk coming from their bedroom. The first thing to do is get rid of the food in question. After that, thoroughly clean the lunch box, thermos, containers and other items with hot, soapy water to kill bacteria and other odor-causing germs.

How to get rid of bad odors in other parts of your house

“Why does my house smell musty?” If you’ve ever asked yourself that question, chances are that you’re dealing with more than dirty laundry or a smelly appliance. Some weird smells in your house can come from issues in your basement, attic or carpeting.

• Basement Drains
  Most basements have a special drain called a P trap that prevents sewer gasses from backing up into your home. If this drain goes dry, it can allow foul odors to seep up from the pipes below. Pouring about a gallon of water into the drain can help reseal this pipe. If this doesn’t work, a plumber may be able to diagnose the issue.
• Water Seepage
  High humidity or water seepage can cause dampness that encourages the growth of mold and mildew. If your home smells moldy or musty and the smell intensifies in certain areas, this may indicate an issue with water seepage. A dehumidifier can help, but it’s essential to find the source of the seepage and take steps to eliminate it.
• Pets and Pet Stains
  Everyone loves pets, but sometimes they can create lingering odors via their beds, litter boxes or accidents. Regularly cleaning pet bedding, litter boxes and toys can help cut down on less-than-pleasant scents.
• Dry Rot
  If your attic smells particularly musty, it may be due to dry rot. This can occur when moisture enters your attic but airflow doesn’t allow it to escape. Dry rot can indicate roof damage, so it’s important to have a roofing professional assess the issue before it gets worse.

House Smells You Should Never Ignore

Your nose is more sensitive than some of the most sophisticated scientific equipment. Use it to sniff out these serious home dangers.

Use common scents

Home safety is a serious issue, whether you have a gigantic house or a tiny one. There’s a whole lot going on in modern-day homes, and even the savviest homeowners need to be wary of these hidden home dangers you should never ignore and the things in your home that can be a fire hazard. Luckily, sometimes you can be warned and stop a home catastrophe before it happens, simply by identifying a foreboding smell. Here are the noteworthy odors that you’ll want to be on high alert if you notice, what they could mean, and what you should do.

Natural gas is odorless, so in order to make it detectable, the chemical mercaptan is added, which creates that classic “rotten egg” odor. If you smell a rotten egg smell in your house, you could be in danger of a gas leak, which could cause fire or an explosion. Leave the house immediately and call the gas company on your mobile phone or a neighbor’s phone, says Frank Lesh, executive director of the American Society of Home Inspectors. Avoid using a landline phone in the house, turning lights or appliances on or off, or using a car, all of which could create sparks. Don’t miss more things every homeowner needs to know.

Musty smell in house

A musty, pungent odor could indicate a sink leak or broken pipe that has given rise to mold, which loves to grow in dark, damp spots. “For mold, we’re really concerned about people with allergies and asthma,” says David Dyjack, DrPH, CIH, executive director of the National Environmental Health Association. “Both conditions can be exacerbated by mold exposure.” If you see mold, disinfect non-porous surfaces like tile with a 10 percent bleach/water solution and let sit for ten minutes while ventilating, Dyjack adds. For porous surfaces like drywall, it’s best to replace. If you can’t see the mold it may be in the walls, in which case call your local health department or a home inspector (the American Society of Home Inspectors website provides listings based on area code), to find the problem. Plenty of home inspector nightmares start with a smell in the house.

Gross bathroom smell in house

If your home smells like a waste treatment plant, you could have a leak of sewer gas, which contains toxic and potentially explosive components such as hydrogen sulfide (which could cause problems from eye irritation to unconsciousness) and methane (which can deplete oxygen leading to asphyxiation). One cause could be a bathroom that isn’t used often. The pipes under a shower or sink include a U-shaped trap, which holds a small amount of water that blocks sewer gas from leaking back into the house. If a bathroom isn’t used, this water could evaporate, allowing odors through. To fix the problem, simply pour a cup of water into the bathroom drain, says Lesh. For extra effectiveness, add a teaspoon of vegetable oil to stop the water from evaporating. If, however, you can’t find the source of the problem, the issue could be that a vent pipe, which routes sewer gas up and out through your roof, is broken or clogged. In this case, call a home inspector or plumber to investigate. Check out more secrets home inspectors won’t tell you.

Smoke-like smell in house

A strong smoke smell could be cause for panic, but even a small, occasional whiff could mean a big problem. “If you only smell it once in awhile, like when using a particular light or appliance, it could be electrical smoke behind a wall or in a ceiling light fixture—and that could be very dangerous,” says Lesh. Call your fire department or an electrician right away. To avoid this issue in the future, all smart homeowners do these things once a year.

Your trusted professionals for all your maintenance needs

OUR SERVICES

Indoor Air Pollution and Health

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) refers to the air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants. Understanding and controlling common pollutants indoors can help reduce your risk of indoor health concerns.

Health effects from indoor air pollutants may be experienced soon after exposure or, possibly, years later.

Immediate Effects

Some health effects may show up shortly after a single exposure or repeated exposures to a pollutant. These include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Such immediate effects are usually short-term and treatable. Sometimes the treatment is simply eliminating the person’s exposure to the source of the pollution, if it can be identified. Soon after exposure to some indoor air pollutants, symptoms of some diseases such as asthma may show up, be aggravated or worsened.

The likelihood of immediate reactions to indoor air pollutants depends on several factors including age and preexisting medical conditions. In some cases, whether a person reacts to a pollutant depends on individual sensitivity, which varies tremendously from person to person. Some people can become sensitized to biological or chemical pollutants after repeated or high level exposures.

Certain immediate effects are similar to those from colds or other viral diseases, so it is often difficult to determine if the symptoms are a result of exposure to indoor air pollution. For this reason, it is important to pay attention to the time and place symptoms occur. If the symptoms fade or go away when a person is away from the area, for example, an effort should be made to identify indoor air sources that may be possible causes. Some effects may be made worse by an inadequate supply of outdoor air coming indoors or from the heating, cooling or humidity conditions prevalent indoors.

Long-Term Effects

Other health effects may show up either years after exposure has occurred or only after long or repeated periods of exposure. These effects, which include some respiratory diseases, heart disease and cancer, can be severely debilitating or fatal. It is prudent to try to improve the indoor air quality in your home even if symptoms are not noticeable.

While pollutants commonly found in indoor air can cause many harmful effects, there is considerable uncertainty about what concentrations or periods of exposure are necessary to produce specific health problems. People also react very differently to exposure to indoor air pollutants. Further research is needed to better understand which health effects occur after exposure to the average pollutant concentrations found in homes and which occurs from the higher concentrations that occur for short periods of time.

---

Primary Causes of Indoor Air Problems

Indoor pollution sources that release gases or particles into the air are the primary cause of indoor air quality problems. Inadequate ventilation can increase indoor pollutant levels by not bringing in enough outdoor air to dilute emissions from indoor sources and by not carrying indoor air pollutants out of the area. High temperature and humidity levels can also increase concentrations of some pollutants.

Pollutant Sources

There are many sources of indoor air pollution. These can include:

• Fuel-burning combustion appliances
• Tobacco products
• Building materials and furnishings as diverse as:
  • Deteriorated asbestos-containing insulation
  • Newly installed flooring, upholstery or carpet
  • Cabinetry or furniture made of certain pressed wood products
• Products for household cleaning and maintenance, personal care, or hobbies
• Central heating and cooling systems and humidification devices
• Excess moisture
• Outdoor sources such as:
  • Radon
  • Pesticides
  • Outdoor air pollution.

The relative importance of any single source depends on how much of a given pollutant it emits and how hazardous those emissions are. In some cases, factors such as how old the source is and whether it is properly maintained are significant. For example, an improperly adjusted gas stove can emit significantly more carbon monoxide than one that is properly adjusted.

Some sources, such as building materials, furnishings and products like air fresheners, can release pollutants more or less continuously. Other sources, related to activities like smoking, cleaning, redecorating or doing hobbies release pollutants intermittently. Unvented or malfunctioning appliances or improperly used products can release higher and sometimes dangerous levels of pollutants indoors.

Pollutant concentrations can remain in the air for long periods after some activities.

Learn more about indoor air pollutants and sources of:

• Asbestos
• Biological Pollutants
• Carbon Monoxide (CO)
• Formaldehyde/Pressed Wood Products
• Lead (Pb)
• Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2)
• Pesticides
• Radon (Rn)
• Indoor Particulate Matter
• Secondhand Smoke/ Environmental Tobacco Smoke
• Stoves and Heaters
• Fireplaces and Chimneys
• Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)

Inadequate Ventilation

If too little outdoor air enters indoors, pollutants can accumulate to levels that can pose health and comfort problems. Unless buildings are built with special mechanical means of ventilation, those designed and constructed to minimize the amount of outdoor air that can “leak” in and out may have higher indoor pollutant levels.

How Outdoor Air Enters a Building

Outdoor air can enter and leave a building by: infiltration, natural ventilation, and mechanical ventilation. In a process known as infiltration, outdoor air flows into buildings through openings, joints, and cracks in walls, floors, and ceilings, and around windows and doors. In natural ventilation, air moves through opened windows and doors. Air movement associated with infiltration and natural ventilation is caused by air temperature differences between indoors and outdoors and by wind. Finally, there are a number of mechanical ventilation devices, from outdoor-vented fans that intermittently remove air from a single room, such as bathrooms and kitchen, to air handling systems that use fans and duct work to continuously remove indoor air and distribute filtered and conditioned outdoor air to strategic points throughout the house. The rate at which outdoor air replaces indoor air is described as the air exchange rate. When there is little infiltration, natural ventilation, or mechanical ventilation, the air exchange rate is low and pollutant levels can increase.

---

Indoor Air Quality and Environmental Justice

EPA defines environmental justice (EJ) as “the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.”

To effectively address EJ concerns, the Agency recognizes that communities must be the impetus for implementing local solutions for environmental health problems including indoor air. However, far too many communities lack the capacity to truly affect their environmental conditions. This includes some conditions found indoors, as well as conditions caused by outdoor impacts (such as climate change).

Many reports and studies indicate that the following populations may be disproportionately impacted by indoor asthma triggers, secondhand smoke, mold, radon and other indoor pollutants:

• children
• elderly
• low-income
• minority
• Tribes and indigenous people.

EPA’s Indoor Environments Division (IED) provides guidance and programs to help build the capacity of communities to understand and avoid indoor and outdoor health impacts. IED’s main objective is to improve indoor air quality in buildings where people live, learn and work.

kedhron