h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Being a bachelor I an well aquainted with strange and less than pleasant smells. I have found over time that there are quite a broad ranges of causes for the odors and more often than not they require a different solution for each.

The first task is to locate the cause of the offending smell. While this may seem simple on the surface, let me assure you it is not. If, for example, your nose leads you to the kitchen where your dishes are sitting in the sink it can quite plainly be any of the dishes. It could also be something in the drain trap that is setting up housekeeping. For the first I recomend putting a little dish soap on a wet rag and wiping whatever dish you find that smells less than pleasant, this allows you to not have to wash ALL of the dishes and still removes the smell. For the second mix a quarter bottle or so of your favorite bleach with 3 equal parts water and pour it down the sink. If both of these fail I recomend taking some of that vacation time you have saved up by calling in sick when you wanted to go fishing or such. After a week or two whatever was smelling foul will either be long gone or will be of a level of intelligence to where you can charge it rent.

For odors in the closet the cure is fairly simple, take your favorite pair of shoes and remove them to the front stoop as they are most likely the cause. For pet odors around the house I recomend a liberal dousing of both the house and pet with your favorite deodorizer, I prefer Lysol but more on this wonderful invention later.

Once in a while you may notice your couch beginning to smell much like the uninvited houseguest who has been sleeping on it. There are two methods to solve this problem. First you can sprinkle a bit of baking soda underneath the cussions of the couch as this will tend to pull the odor into itself instead of it sticking in the couch. My prefered method however is again the use of Lysol. If your timing is right you will not only be spraying it on the couch and removing the odor but on the guest as well and removing him also.

A friend of mine has bought some furniture which unfortunately carries the smell of cat spray on it. She has tried everything to get rid of the offending odours but even the cooker and gas bottle reek.
Does anyone have any suggestions for getting rid of the smell of cat spray?
Sue

We moved into a house where the cats were never allowed outside and sprayed everywhere and cat tray's were rarely cleaned out - the smell was unbearable.

We used shake 'n' vac on the carpets and cif with bleach on the cupboards, then bought hundreds of incense sticks - 6 months later our house smells lovely.

We have two kitten/cats and they are both male and neither have sprayed - so I reckon the previous owners were slobs lol