help......just moved into a house that smells of smoke and cat pee!

[jumpyjan]

... how do I get rid of it?

We are replacing all carpets in a fortnight as it is so bad but until then what can I do?

Have tried sponging carpets, febreeze, oust, opening all windows (its freezing!). Not keen on spray air freshners - any tips?

urgh.

have you tried that shake and vac stuff or the neutradol version of it?

remove old carpets and live with floorboards till new is laid

also wash/bin all curtains

vinegar and water.

bowls of vinegar and water in every room overnight.

it is like magic, gets rid of the smell of sick for example when nothing else can.

Thanks for replies.

If it was just me and DH would rip all the carpets up but DD is 1 and crawling around so we can't really - would be dangerous with all the gripper rods or whatever they are called.

Might give the vinegar a go. Took all the curtains down this morning - they absolutely stank.

Have done the shake and vac thing - didnt do much really.

When we moved in here we couldnt even lift the carpets because of all the (animal?) wee. It was as if it had superglued the carpet to the floor. [puke emoticon]
We checked that it was a stone floor and had to burn the carpets where they lay.

I'd be tempted to take up the grippers too (assunibg the fitters will fit new)

I'd still rip up the carpets, the smell will be ingrained. I'm not sure i'm want my dd crawling on pee smelling carpets, can you not put doen a throw or cheap £10 ikea rug?

seriously, the vinegar thing works, left overnight....lots of vinegar and bit of water in bowl.

Can you hire a carpet cleaner, and give them all a good clean? I do mine regularly, but still get loads of dirty water eatch time . Might make it a bit better? You can get special shampoo for use with pets - at least then you won't have fleas or anything in the carpets.

If you do this, give them a going over with plain water first, then with the shampoo.

Buy a neutrodol bag to go inside your vacuuam cleaner bag. Works a treat

try sprinkling bicarb on the carpets and leaving it overnight before vacuuming

cheapy bio washing powder will get the cat pee smell off but you wouldhave to do it by hand not with a carpet cleaner.

You might need to wash the floor boards as the cat pee will probably have soaked into them - I think you can use bleach to actually clean / sponge the wood and then let it dry out after the carpets are lifted.

If house was smoky then walls and woodwork may need washing down with a bit of washing up liquid and water - this can get rid of the nicotine that gets stuck onto stuff from the smoke.

Good Luck

I second washing the walls. I helped someone move in a while back and the walls were yellow with nicotine stains. Every bucket we emptied stunk of stale smoke.- nasty.

Thanks for all the replies. The smell is really getting me down. Everytime I think I have done something to improve it - I leave the house then come back in again and realise it still stinks!

Can't wait till we can rip the carpets up. I guess once the carpets have gone and we wash the walls the smell must go.

What about borrowing a steam cleaner from somebody and using some plug-in air fresheners?