Getting the Odor Out

[Sinclairwife]

In the kitchen:

* microwave:

Place a bowl with 1/2 cup of water and a tablespoon of white
vinegar. Turn the microwave on for 2 minutes. I ususally wipe
down the inside with a little of the cooled liquid.

* dishwasher:

Toss a handful of baking soda in the bottom of the dishwasher
in between washings. Also overnight.

* garbage can:

Sprinkle 1/2 cup of borax in the bottom of a large (the big
kind you leave out for collection) can.

* garbage disposers:

Baking soda. Let sit for 1/2 hour to 1 hour before you let
water run through it. Also, any time you use lemons grind
those babies up. You might want to make sure you remove the
seeds. Some machines are sensitive to seeds.

* refrigerators:

The best way to not have smells is to not create them in
the first place. But I think this would probably require a
Marthalette or two...full time...with benefits.

You would have to live on another planet to not know about
an open box of baking soda in both the fridge and freezer.
Arm and Hammer's ad campaign is pretty pervasive. It's a
routine daily smell absorber. But if things are really bad,
there are a few things to try.

Wipe down the walls with a strong solution of white vinegar
and water.

Place a shallow bowl of organic activated charcoal on a shelf
for a few days. It can be found at an aquarium supply store.

Or dampen a handful of cotton balls with vanilla extract.
Place in a bowl in the fridge on the middle shelf until the
smell goes away.

If the smell is so bad that you're thinking the frig is
beyond hope, here's the last resort. Remove all the food
and clean it thoroughly with the vinegar solution. Pack the
shelves with crumpled newspaper. Sprinkle the newspaper
with water. Keep the frig running. Replace the newspaper
every two days following the same process. Do this for 5 to
6 days. It's a little time consuming but it's cheaper than
a new fridge.

Lining the vegetable bins with paper towels helps to keep
down mildew and growing veg-smell.

Kitchen mildew smell may be coming from the evaporation pan
under the fridge. Check that if your nose tells you that
you've got midew and you just can't seem to locate it. Use
a chlorine bleach and water solution to clean the pan.

* Humidifiers:

1 tablespoon of chlorine bleach to a pint of water. Rinse
real well. You can buy an antibacterial but the bleach
solution will do the job.

* Plastic containers:

Sponge with tomato juice then wash thoroughly.

* Onion hands:

1 tablespoon of white vinegar in a cup of water. Or cut a
celery stalk and rub the ends over hands. Or use one of
those stainless steel hand deodorizer gizmos. Or just rub your hands over silverware as you wash it.

* Car odors:

Handful of cottonballs soaked with vanilla in a shallow bowl
in a closed car overnight.

* Cat urine:

Cat urine odor is very pungent and long-lasting, and can be
difficult to remove. However, there are newer products
available that are much more effective than remedies of the
past. The following procedures are effective against cat
urine odor, as well as dog urine, dog and cat feces, blood
or vomit. These newer products can be used on clothing,
bedding, carpeting, wood, linoleum, or other surfaces. Always
make sure of color fastness in clothing or carpets before
you proceed to clean a larger area.

For carpeting, you may have to pull up the carpeting and
treat the padding or even the sub-flooring beneath the
padding. If the damage is repeated and severe, you may have
to replace the padding. You may also have to repeat the
enzyme treatment to remove all of the odor. Treat the
stained area with an enzymatic cleaner until no more odor
remains. Try www.justrite.com for a highly recommended
product.

If the stain was on carpeting, follow it with a carbon
dioxide based spot remover. This will remove any residual
stain. If the stain was on an article of clothing that is
washable, routine washing with a standard laundry detergent
should remove any residual stain.

* Smelly trivia:

The higher the temperature the more things smell.
The higher the humidity the more things smell.
The hungrier you are the more things smell.
The more pain the more things smell.

* The sense of smell is 10,000 times more sensitive than
the sense of taste.

Okay.. Everybody ready to get the
smell out of the stinky chores? Go for it! The longer you
ignore smelly stuff...well, the more it smells!

[captclearance]

Thanks Brenda !!!!!!!

[KKCondrey]

Thanks Brenda.....

Lemon wedges in a bowl of water also are good to clean and de-smell a microwave. Leave it in until the water starts to bowl and the condensation gets on the inside and wipe clean.

Also as far as the smelly trivia here is one you can add.....

When you are pregnant.....EVERYTHING smells.....lol

[KKCondrey]

BTW, I like the ice cream cone avatar.....Although It's making me hungry for ice cream, so now you've got me thinking I want a Banana Split from Dairy Queen for lunch....lol

[canadian gardener]

Right on BRENDA!!!!