Getting rid of the smell of curry
Discussion
We went to view a potential new house today, which it turns out is practically perfect for us regarding location, size, layout etc...
The only potential issue is that it's been owned by an Asian couple for the last 30 years, and the smell of curry was overpowering.
Is this easily remedied? We'll be gradually re-doing every room (totally stripping out, re-skimmed, new flooring and woodwork) which I'd hope would sort it out long term, but this is going to have to be done over a longish period of time as funds are gathered.
Can anything effective be done short term?
Can you buy Febreeze by the gallon?
The only potential issue is that it's been owned by an Asian couple for the last 30 years, and the smell of curry was overpowering.
Is this easily remedied? We'll be gradually re-doing every room (totally stripping out, re-skimmed, new flooring and woodwork) which I'd hope would sort it out long term, but this is going to have to be done over a longish period of time as funds are gathered.
Can anything effective be done short term?
Can you buy Febreeze by the gallon?
One of the best methods of removing cooking smells is a bowl of vinegar (usually a small dish will do, but for a whole house try several bowls!).
Leave for a couple of days. The vinegar smell will not linger afterwards.
It's also great for removing the smell of cigarettes off clothing, too - saucer of vinegar underneath the clothing on a hanger and leave overnight).
See, it's on t'internet here, so it must be true...!! -
http://www.environix.co.uk/odour-removal/88-vinega...
HTH
Leave for a couple of days. The vinegar smell will not linger afterwards.
It's also great for removing the smell of cigarettes off clothing, too - saucer of vinegar underneath the clothing on a hanger and leave overnight).
See, it's on t'internet here, so it must be true...!! -
http://www.environix.co.uk/odour-removal/88-vinega...
HTH
I think a professional carpet cleaner is probably one of the first things to get done, the house is carpeted throughout except for the kitchen and bathrooms. Lots of rugs and long curtains as well, so hopefully cleaning/removing those will remove the bulk of the problem.
I was fearing this would be like cigarette smoke where it seems to linger in every fibre of the house.
As for kippers: I love 'em. The wife, not so much.
Cheers guys, this is starting to look promising...
I was fearing this would be like cigarette smoke where it seems to linger in every fibre of the house.
As for kippers: I love 'em. The wife, not so much.
Cheers guys, this is starting to look promising...
SS
The deep routed issue here is the curry infused oil which condenses on all surfaces (Think chip shop). To deal with that you need a degreaser... so its a case of scrubbing everywhere down with the right product... look up professional kitchen degreaser....consider sugar soap or WD40 also... ... every wall, ceiling.... and even light fittings, switches, plugs, windows, curtain rails .. basically every damned thing.... don't forget the Kitchen plumbing and the drains... thats where a lot of it ends up too..!
Everything else just masks it... though vinegar is good intermediary measure...
We had a buy to let with the same issue... and we also had one with a cats wee problem... tobacco is easy by comparison..
Its all in the chemistry.. arm yourself with industrial degreasant, sugar soap, bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, wd40... scrub every room forensically.. then repeat... and as others haven commented ditch any fabric of any kind... carpets, curtains, underlay....
Cheers
A
The deep routed issue here is the curry infused oil which condenses on all surfaces (Think chip shop). To deal with that you need a degreaser... so its a case of scrubbing everywhere down with the right product... look up professional kitchen degreaser....consider sugar soap or WD40 also... ... every wall, ceiling.... and even light fittings, switches, plugs, windows, curtain rails .. basically every damned thing.... don't forget the Kitchen plumbing and the drains... thats where a lot of it ends up too..!
Everything else just masks it... though vinegar is good intermediary measure...
We had a buy to let with the same issue... and we also had one with a cats wee problem... tobacco is easy by comparison..
Its all in the chemistry.. arm yourself with industrial degreasant, sugar soap, bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, wd40... scrub every room forensically.. then repeat... and as others haven commented ditch any fabric of any kind... carpets, curtains, underlay....
Cheers
A
Yep, Andrew crown nailed it.
The smell is in the grease.... we use a degreaser that doesn't smell appealing but dies the job - unfortunately I'm in the US but we actually get ours from the dollar store. it's cheap but we do use the concentrated version with dilution.
You'll need to degrease everything, walls, cabinets, floors, ceiling etc.
Once this is done, you may want to rent an ozone machine. You'll have to vacate the house whilst this is on, but it can help to neutralize the odours.
You'll be amazed how much smell hard surfaces can hold as well as curtains etc.
Imo that level of odour should be considered as serious as smoke damage - which is expensive to remedy as its a long process - very similar to what you'll be doing to this place.
Oh, try not to burn candles... the sweet smell mixed with curry is awful.
The smell is in the grease.... we use a degreaser that doesn't smell appealing but dies the job - unfortunately I'm in the US but we actually get ours from the dollar store. it's cheap but we do use the concentrated version with dilution.
You'll need to degrease everything, walls, cabinets, floors, ceiling etc.
Once this is done, you may want to rent an ozone machine. You'll have to vacate the house whilst this is on, but it can help to neutralize the odours.
You'll be amazed how much smell hard surfaces can hold as well as curtains etc.
Imo that level of odour should be considered as serious as smoke damage - which is expensive to remedy as its a long process - very similar to what you'll be doing to this place.
Oh, try not to burn candles... the sweet smell mixed with curry is awful.
We bought an ex-smoker's house. As everyone says here it was all about the basics first - all curtains, fabrics, carpets properly cleaned or chucked. We chucked the only carpet which made a world of difference.
As well as that, all walls were washed down which took most of the smell away. Be prepared to decorate though... We still have an airing cupboard that is unusable because it makes everything smell of smoke, and the only answer is to strip it back and repaint as far as we can tell.
As well as that, all walls were washed down which took most of the smell away. Be prepared to decorate though... We still have an airing cupboard that is unusable because it makes everything smell of smoke, and the only answer is to strip it back and repaint as far as we can tell.
SlidingSideways said:
I think a professional carpet cleaner is probably one of the first things to get done, the house is carpeted throughout except for the kitchen and bathrooms. Lots of rugs and long curtains as well, so hopefully cleaning/removing those will remove the bulk of the problem.
I'd use Chem-Dry - infinitely better than Happy Larry who comes out in a battered Fiesta and leaves your carpets soaking wet for £50.(or get new carpets)
Thanks to everyone for their replies and suggestions. It looks like we're gonna need them as our offer on the place was accepted this morning 
The smell wasn't actually as bad on the subsequent viewings, so hopefully with all their stuff gone and a good clean and airing it should be bearable as we go round decorating and re-carpeting.
The smell wasn't actually as bad on the subsequent viewings, so hopefully with all their stuff gone and a good clean and airing it should be bearable as we go round decorating and re-carpeting.
Edited by SlidingSideways on Monday 2nd March 14:08
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