Moving is already stressful enough 🧠with the time ⏰ crunch and services ✅needed to make the process easier. But when I recently moved I thought I had everything done until I smelled 👃🏽...
an odor that I couldn’t figure out in my new home. I mean I own a cleaning service in Austin so you would think cleaning would be my last concern 🤷🏻♀️. The new place had been cleaned 🧽 , looked clean 🧼 and once everything was unpacked 📦 I still couldn’t find the smell 👃🏽
Hidden Home Odors And How To Remove Them
Let me save you some time since I learned this lesson and I’m the cleaning Pro that still wasn’t in the know about what the smell was. I had a few ideas 💡 about where it could be coming from. It would have just been easier to make sure these things ✅were cleaned 🧽prior to the move in.
Shower Drains, Sink Drains, Fridge Drains Oh My! 😵
When a home is vacant for time and water isn’t flowing to clear out drains, blockages can occur and mold and odors form.
1. Fridge Drain - Oh this is why people defrost the fridge and unplug it when a home is vacant over time 👍🏽. A fridge constantly produces condensation inside the freezer. Defrost the fridge and check the drain pan under the fridge to see if it’s full.
2. Kitchen Drains - There’s no telling what the previous homeowners stuffed in the sink drains. From dog hair to human hairs to eggs 🥚 and veggies 🥦 the drains can get clogged. Pour ice in the kitchen drains with baking soda and white distilled vinegar. Turn the kitchen sink disposal on and clear both sides of the drains.
3. Bathroom drains need more attention. From dog hairs to human hairs and build up of soaps making sludge, you may have to physically pull out old hair clogged up. That stuff stinks 😷 over time but is better found in the beginning than when you step in your shower after unpacking and it doesn’t drain well 🤦🏻♀️
1. Fridge Drain - Oh this is why people defrost the fridge and unplug it when a home is vacant over time 👍🏽. A fridge constantly produces condensation inside the freezer. Defrost the fridge and check the drain pan under the fridge to see if it’s full.
2. Kitchen Drains - There’s no telling what the previous homeowners stuffed in the sink drains. From dog hair to human hairs to eggs 🥚 and veggies 🥦 the drains can get clogged. Pour ice in the kitchen drains with baking soda and white distilled vinegar. Turn the kitchen sink disposal on and clear both sides of the drains.
3. Bathroom drains need more attention. From dog hairs to human hairs and build up of soaps making sludge, you may have to physically pull out old hair clogged up. That stuff stinks 😷 over time but is better found in the beginning than when you step in your shower after unpacking and it doesn’t drain well 🤦🏻♀️
How To Remove Odors From The Carpet
4. Carpet: It’s the non- obvious hidden carpet odors that come back from previous tenants 👨👩👧 🐕 that I obviously thought was cleaned. I just grabbed a 3 room $99 special that ended up being a waste of time. 💰 They masked the odors and the stains came back. So I went to my local Austin Facebook Group and searched local carpet pros and connected with bbbcarpetandtile.com He described the machines he used to extract the odors and the results were wow. Extracting odors from carpets is just as important as extracting the stains. .
Can A Dryer Vent Smell?
The last thing on your mind is cleaning out a dryer vent when the movers are plugging the dryer in. The lack of maintenance from past tenants can cause your dryer to act as if it’s not working properly or smell. Call a pro in to clear and clean the dryer vent from inside the house all the way to the outside. There was actually a dead rodent 🐁 in my dryer vent. I would have never checked there but after checking everything else the odor causing scent was found.
What I basically learned is to thoroughly clean the unobvious areas where water is used and any outdoor vents to the home. Since we provide make ready maid services in RoundRock, Austin and surrounding areas we can provide you with a detailed clean beyond the surface to save you time so you can relax in your new home.
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