Removing Bad Smells from Your Rental Property

8 Ways to Eliminate Foul Odors

1) Open the Windows and Doors to Deodorize the Indoor Environment

You’ll first want to send the foul odor outside and bring fresh air inside by opening all the windows and doors of the rental property. Not only will this deodorize the air indoors, but it’ll circulate new air inside that is fresh and uncontaminated.

In addition, you could turn on a few air purifiers and ozone generators to assist in deodorization, especially if you have stubborn odors from smoking or pets. They may not eliminate all the foul odors, but they are a step in the right direction toward this objective.

2) Clean or Replace the Carpeting

Floor carpets retain many foul-smelling contaminants from pets and people, such as hair, urine, food, beverages, feces, etc. And even when you vacuum the carpeting, it doesn’t eliminate the contaminants or odors completely.

You could attempt to eliminate the carpet smells by spreading a small amount of baking soda or other cleaning agents over the carpeting and leaving it there for 3 to 4 hours. After that, you could try vacuuming the carpeting to see if the vacuum will pick up those stubborn foul-smelling contaminants.

If you still cannot remove the odor from the carpeting, you may want to think about replacing the carpeting altogether. Sometimes older carpeting is too difficult to clean if the contaminants have settled in the fabric for too long. Replacing it may be the only viable solution.

3) Washing the Walls and Ceilings

Some odors may linger from sticky microscopic substances on the walls and ceilings. You could try washing your walls and ceilings to eliminate these substances, but you must choose the right cleaning agents to avoid messing up the paint.

A home-based cleaning agent is probably the safest to use on the paint of your walls and ceilings. For instance, try mixing warm water with white vinegar and scrubbing it onto your walls and ceilings. It may help remove the odors, including any discoloring you might have on them too. 

4) Wash Your Tile or Hardwood Flooring

Most rental properties have hardwood or tile flooring in their kitchens, bathrooms, and dining rooms. Cleaning all your hard floor surfaces with warm water, soap, and a light disinfectant solution may help remove small particles and foul odors on your hard flooring material. 

5) Replace the Air Filters in Your Air Conditioning Unit

If you had tenants who smoked in your rental property, the smoke might have deteriorated the air filters of your air conditioning unit. That is why most landlords don’t want tenants smoking in their rental properties.

But, of course, there is no way for you to monitor the activities of your tenants 24/7. So if past tenants smoked in your rental property, the air filters probably absorbed a significant amount of the smoke and ash.

As a result, the contaminated air filters may cause foul odors to spread throughout your rental property. Replacing the air filters will resolve this problem, but try to use special odor-reducing air filters to reduce the possibility of future odors.



6) Wash Your Windows and Windowsills

Windows and windowsills get dirty quickly from airborne pollutants, dirt, and other contaminants inside or outside your rental property.

Don’t forget that opening a window lets in all kinds of polluted air from the outside. The pollutants in the air will stick to your window glass panels and windowsill material, causing foul odors.

Wash your window glass panels and windowsills to eliminate any possible foul odors coming from them. Soak a microfiber cloth in a mixture of white vinegar and warm water and scrub down your windows and windowsills to remove the smells.



7) Wipe Down Your Drawers and Cabinets

Your tenants may have put smelly items like cigarettes in the drawers and cabinets of your kitchen or bathroom. So if you suspect your drawers and cabinets have absorbed the smell from these items, you need to wipe them down with a vinegar-soaked cloth. Once you finish, leave the drawers and cabinets open until they are completely dried. 



8) Contact a Professional Cleaning Company

If foul odors remain in your rental property after implementing all the cleaning solutions above, the final solution is to hire a professional cleaning company. They have commercial-quality cleaning agents and equipment to remove the toughest odors from all the areas and materials of your rental property.