I am renting a house with old carpet. How do I get smells&stains out of the carpet & otherareas of thehome ?

Question

I am going to rent a house that people were evicted from. They did not take care of the house at all. I am wondering if there is anything I can do to effectivly clean the house, and carpets. I am interested in odor remover and stain remover. this house has really old carpet, looks like berber type and I intend to rent a steam cleaner. But are there any home remedies etc, that could also help? The former tenants left rotting food in the kitchen also. I want to get rid of the smells! I am getting first month rent free if we clean it ourselves, so I can't ask the landlord for help on this. Also, these people were smokers. I noticed the blinds had a lot of dirt possibly nicotine build up etc.
Thanks for sending me any helpful advice you have!!!

Answer 1

Scrub the walls down with a scented pinesol, shampoo the carpets with a good carpet shampooer suce as Rug Doctor. Spray capet with Carpet Fresh made for pets. Take blinds down and hang up outside, spray with Greased Lightening and let set for a few seconds and rinse with a hose don't forget to spray both sides of the blinds and the pull cords. If walls are bad, repaint to eliminate the smoke odors, white vinegar or bleach water will clean the kitchen, also scrub refridgerator out with bleach water and set an open box of baking soda in the fridge or a piece of charcoal to absorb the odor. Purchase one of the candle warmers from Walmart, and a drinking glass from goodwill with a thick bottom and pour liquid potpourri in it and set on the candle warmer. I do this 24-7 with the potpourri.
For tough spots on the carpet, try some greased lightening before shampooing and use a scrub brush to loosen up the soiled area and take an old towel and blot up excess, then shampoo carpet as usual, you can also spray the carpet after it dries with a product called out, it can be purchased in the pet section of most stores, it will eliminate pet odors, smoking odors etc, then just use the carpet fresh foam on a weekly basis. You should have the apartment smelling fresh again in no time, charcoal set out in a small dish in the corners of a room or behind furniture will also absorb odors. Good Luck with your new apartment.

Answer 2

Go to a 99 cent store or Dollar store and buy a few bottles of "Awesome".....

I've used this to wash walls (remove smoke odor), shampoo carpets (removes pet stains odors) and it actually works on ANY SURFACE. It's an enzyme cleaner, which breaks down the source of the odor and removes stains like you wouldn't believe.

With regards to the carpet, I've actually added a few tblspn of bleach to the solution to help disinfect the fibers. I also boil water on the stove and add it to the resevoir to really "open up" the carpet fibers for cleaning, it works!

Good Luck.

Answer 3

Buy some cheap kitty litter, the clay type and sprinkle it around the carpet, leave over night, and vacuum the next day. Repeat if necessary. This will absorb the smells from the carpet. Also, put some kitty litter into some coffee cans or plastic trays and leave them opened in rooms and closets to absorb smells. Change every 3-4 days.

If you have damp moldy smell, buy a couple bags of lime from your garden center put some in a coffee can, or plastic tray, and leave them sitting opened in rooms or closets to absorb smells. Replace every 3-4 days.

Answer 4

Rent an extractor and use a citrus based cleaner in the solution. This will deodorize as you clean the carpet.

Answer 5

as for the carpet, the steamcleaner will take most of the smell out ,but not all. its down in the padding also. baking soda sprinkle on countertops and in cabinets will hepl the smell of rotting food. take the blinds down, take them to the carwash to clean them. hope this helps. also clean walls with TSP.