Removing noxious odors -- need suggestions

[NCGrandma]

I'm embarrassed to ask any friends IRL but I'm counting on the collective experience of the BBB to solve a nasty problem.

Back story: recently something (probably a small bird) got trapped in the wall right between my dining table and favorite reading chair. After several agonizing days of flapping and skritching, there was silence. I convinced myself that it had gotten out but days later, the smell made it obvious that it had instead died in the wall... I eventually discovered a hole near the floor where the smell was coming from. By the time the hole was patched, there had been days of noxious smells and that part of the room is still pretty stinky. It seems like the area got permeated with the smell.

So far, besides regular cleaning of the area, I have been spraying Lysol (disinfecting type) and running my air purifier in that area. It's definitely better but it's still quite noticeable. But it was all an airborne smell, not any sort of "spill" that could be cleaned/deodorized. Another complication: with my allergies, I have to avoid scented products.

So, what do experienced BBB'ers recommend? Thanks!!


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[legaleagle]

Does the chair fabric itself smell or just the area/walls etc? If the chair itself smells (or anything else portable in the area), I'd put it outside for a couple days.

[lalasmama]

Coffee grounds in an open bowl. Change daily. Every few days, put baking soda in the bowl instead. It won't be instant, but it will take care of the smell overall.

[NCGrandma]

Does the chair fabric itself smell or just the area/walls etc? If the chair itself smells (or anything else portable in the area), I'd put it outside for a couple days.

Chair is leather. I had thought the chair itself smelled but some up-close sniffs convinced me that it's probably not the chair. BTW, I live in a second floor apartment so taking anything large outside would be a production!


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[boilermakermom]

Pick up some activated charcoal; you can usually find it in the aquarium section of the pet store/Wal-Mart. Put it in a tin pan, let it is sit for a few days. Change as necessary.

[trcy]

Chair is leather. I had thought the chair itself smelled but some up-close sniffs convinced me that it's probably not the chair. BTW, I live in a second floor apartment so taking anything large outside would be a production!


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Since you live in an apartment, could you call the maintenance manager of your complex? They may be able to remove the bird which would eliminate the source of the odor.


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[roobee]

That's no fun! A mouse died in the wall in our basement and it felt like the smell would last forever but it ended up being less than 10 days. My suggestion is to simply wait it out.

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[o_mom]

I'm not clear on if you actually had the body removed or just patched the hole. If you didn't remove the body, then, yeah, it's going to smell for a couple weeks.

[mikala]

Agree with others, remove the source, use baking soda or activated charcoal. I've also had luck with bad smells stuffing newspapers inside the area and changing regularly. They seem to absorb some of the smell. Hope the smell disappears soon!

[robinsmommy]

Even in a dry climate, leaving the critter there is risky in terms of odor - and I don't think your climate is dry. I would get maintenance to get rid of the bird, and see if they can find how it got in to deal with that as well, or it could happen again. I suspect your nose will adapt to the smell before it goes away. ew.

[NCGrandma]

Thanks, all. A few more details: my apartment is in a retirement community so the maintenance folks have made several visits. Because of the location and construction, opening the wall to remove the corpse would be quite a production so the first step was to patch the hole. (If all else fails, they can open the wall but neither I nor the maintenance staff want to do that unless it's absolutely necessary.) They did get up on a tall ladder and search outside for possible points of entry but didn't find any. They've also scheduled a duct cleaning firm to come and clean out all the HVAC ducts since the smells may have wafted into a nearby duct. My allergies are glad that will happen, even though it may seem like overkill for this problem.

So yeah, I think I'm looking at a short-term albeit unpleasant problem. I'll certainly try baking soda and activated charcoal in the meantime. (And yes, robinsmommy, we do NOT have a dry climate here even when we avoid the edges of hurricanes!)

ETA: the maintenance guy who patched the hole 2 days ago just came by to check on things and he commented that, even though he could still smell it, the odor was much less than when he had patched it. That was reassuring! (He of course had gotten a real face-full when he patched it!) But I'll still take the good BBB suggestions!

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[Pear]

Vinegar misted into the air is my favorite room refreshener.

[calebsmama03]

Perhaps an enzyme odor product, like Bac-out or a pet urine spray, might help with the odor? Id still also do coffee grounds or charcoal but my nose is super sensitive so I'd be approaching it from many different levels trying to fix the smell. And running my EO diffuser a LOT! Yuck. So sorry. :(

[urquie]

Umm... burn some ground coffee in a pan...

http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?243823-OT-Cleaning-up-after-a-dead-body&highlight=Dead%20body%20smell

I always think of this thread when I want to mask bad cooking smells, but I mixed up the remedy... I've been burning cinnamon. :ROTFLMAO:

[NCGrandma]

Umm... burn some ground coffee in a pan...

http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?243823-OT-Cleaning-up-after-a-dead-body&highlight=Dead%20body%20smell

I always think of this thread when I want to mask bad cooking smells, but I mixed up the remedy... I've been burning cinnamon. :ROTFLMAO:

Well, at least this makes me feel MUCH better!! My problem doesn't hold a (scented?) candle to that [emoji6]


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[kristenk]

I'm pretty sure a rat died in one of our master bedroom walls last year. I was all for putting a hole in the wall to fish out the remains, but my DH talked me down!

I was determined to figure out exactly where the smell was coming from (before I gave up on the hole idea), so I spent way more time than I wanted sniffing everywhere in the smelly area. I ended up using painter's tape to tape over the cracks where the baseboard met the wall and the doorway trim met the wall. I also taped up all around a light switch and some electrical outlets. Basically, if I could smell the odor coming from any sort of crack or opening, I covered it with painter's tape. It was actually very, very effective.

I left the tape up for several weeks (perhaps several months) and I'm happy to say that our bedroom is completely odor- and tape-free now!

[avd3875]

Years ago we were pretty sure a mouse had died in a wall of our old house. Thanks to the wisdom of the BBB I picked up some Fresh Wave from the other BBB (Bed, Bath, and Beyond). I didn't know how long it would take for the smell to go away, so I bought the big tub and filled a few small dishes and placed them in the worst areas. The smell improved very quickly, and fully disappeared after a short time.

Good luck!

[NCGrandma]

Thanks to several of the suggested strategies, and the BTDT reassurance that it would indeed get better, I am happy to report that the smell has already improved dramatically although not 100% gone. And I didn't have to embarrass myself by asking any IRL friends [emoji6] Once again, BBB comes to the rescue!


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