My rental cottage reeks of incense from candles. How can I get rid of the smell of incense in carpet & walls.?

Question

carpet is indoor/outdoor. Walls are wood that has been painted.

Answer 1

First, sprinkle(liberally) some arm and hammer baking soda over carpets and let stay for a couple of hours then vacuum. Be sure you change your bag or empty cup of vacuum before using again. Then, get some of the activated charcoal(from a pet center-stuff they put in aquarium filters). Fill some old panty hose feet, tie up....and place around room. You can also fill bowls with it and place around the rooms. Windows up throughout this treatment would be good. Don't let pets or small children get into the charcoal, they can choke. I'd leave it a day at least. Then remove it. Some of those spray odor removers for the air and fabrics might work, but I'd pick one thats a light or non-scent. Good luck.....;-)

Answer 2

The first thing I would try is to use those carpet fresheners that you shake and let sit on the rugs for awhile. Do not buy the bargain brands! Let it sit for as long as is convenient. Then put a fresh bag in your vacuum cleaner and go to town! The fresh bag is important and you should know in advance you will probably fill an entire bag. Depending upon what part of the county the cottage is in, you want to open the doors & windows all the way so that there is cross ventilation which will help some as soon as possible. If that doesn't work you will need to get your carpet deep cleaned by a professional. It is not as expensive as one would think! I have Macy's do mine twice a year and never regret it. The walls... a whole differnet topic. Clearing out the carpet smell may suffice. You did not say what the walls are. Wallpaper, panelling, wallboard etc. Although it is a nuisance, most wallpaper can be washed. Pick a nice pine scented cleaner and change the water often. Panelling can be washed pretty easily with Murphy's Oil or a similar wood product. A sponge mop will make doing the walls a lot easier. If you have wallboard and it is painted, just buy some latex paint and be done with it. Most rentals require a paint job each year, and if you get into the habit of doing it, and pretty much stick to the same color every year, each year the job will get easier. Whew! I hope I covered all the bases!

Answer 3

dont use a scented carpet cleaner- it will make things worse- arm and hammer your carpet- open windows and doors to air it out- there may be a wax buildup on the walls so you may need to clean them, kilz them and repaint- if it is mostly incense a washingdown with baking soda, vinegar might just do the trick. You might also invest in a hepa filter air purifier- you can get one fairly inexpensively at Home Depot (Honeywell brand is good)
runnign the air purifier will help to get the smells out of the air.
Liberally sprinkle arm and hammer on the carpets and let it sit overnight and vacuum- anyway these will help- you dont want to use scented things or things with heavy chemical smells- you want to get the odor out not add to it or cover it up.

Answer 4

Paint, or "Kilz" which is a product that kills odor, for the walls. Kilz is a primer. As for the carpet, just a basic professional steam cleaning. It should be really easy to get rid of the smell of incense and candles - my husband and I have been in the cleaning business for years.

Answer 5

Firstly I would get a specialist carpet cleaner in to steam clean / dry clean your carpets, that should assist a great deal. Then wash the walls, not much fun I know, with a sugar soap and bleach solution, to soak up any left over ash, soot and odours, I would dry clean all window treatments if possible too.
Goodluck!