Removing the smell of the last owners of the house

[LePetitMaman]

I know that's not a great title. I just don't know what else to call it.

(It's the similar smell that you get in charity shops, sort of mothbally, and my friend owns a nursing home - it's that smell.)

We are looking to buy a house and the previous owners smell is in there. It's really really strong and you can't live with it. From looking online and researching, it appears it stems from a chemical our skin produces as we reach a certain age, and that's what then permeates everything. There must be more to it than just being "old" so to speak as my nan is nearly 90 and her house doesn't smell at all. However some other relatives in their 80s, have the exact same smell in their house, probably even stronger than the house we're looking at.

Has anyone successfully got rid of this smell without ripping everything out of the house? We'd be replacing a lot of stuff, but it would be nice not to have to replace everything. Online research suggests airing the property isn't enough. Does anyone have direct experience of removing this smell?

Wash every wall, ceiling and possible surface in the house with soapy water, ventilate well, it should go away

Other than washing everything, and cleaning carpets, contact a car detailer and see if they have an ozone generator. Detailers use them to remove the smells from cars.

You won't be able to use any room the generator has been used in for a while, but the detailer will tell you all you need to know. They're excellent and get rid of any smell.

Did you do this in your house for this purpose?

Deep clean all soft furnishings and a lick of paint on the woodwork will also help

I've seen this mentioned a few times for pet smells. The two "old people" smell cases I've read about say this didn't work.

Have you used one for this exact reason?

When I emptied my elderly parents’ house after they’d died, the ‘pong’ only went after I removed every carpet. That was after deep cleaning and having the windows open all over the house for weeks.

In cars yes, but not personally in houses, although the guy who did it for me said he does it regularly. And for other far more serious smells too.

Did you have this exact problem and this was the solution?

I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but these are hugely time consuming tasks which we don't have the time to do to find out it doesn't make any difference.

I know in theory what should help. I need direct experience because it seems like it's a really problematic smell to remove. If the answer is bin the lot, then annoyingly so be it. At least we haven't wasted hours upon hours trying to achieve the impossible if you see what I mean.

Thank you.

All the carpets bar one room are old and need to go, I was hoping to keep the new one, but I think it's got to go as well, now you've said this.

We're taking all the wallpaper off too.

I'm just hoping it hasn't permeated the walls. It's such an awful smell.

I've bought an old person's house before with this smell. First I removed carpets and curtains. That made a big difference. I was repainting anyway so once that was done the smell was gone.

My neighbours removed all soft furnishings, carpet, vinyl floor (cheap from a roll rather than the expensive LV) and stripped wallpaper. They washed the walls with sugarsoap, aired the house and re-decorated. It was a lot of effort but worth it.

Yes I have, it works for tobacco and mustiness, even a damp cloth with soapy water will work
the smell is coming from somewhere, it doesn’t stay in suspension in the air, it’s on the surfaces of the house even if you don’t see it or doesn’t look dirty

The last house we had before this one had that smell , I was going to refurb it anyway , but the smell seemed to linger even once the fabric elements were removed , ie the carpets and curtains that were left behind , we stripped out both bathrooms and the kitchen and put in new , all the rooms were replastered and painted , we always kept the windows and doors open whilst we were working daytime in there (almost everyday) , it seemed to have got into the very structure of the building , but eventually seemed to go once we has more or less finished ( 6 or so months ) and the upstairs carpet was laid

the previous occupant wasn’t dirty and the property although looking like an older cottage was just 18 years old and she had bought it new and been it’s only occupant

Definitely removing all carpets and curtains helped but also the bathroom and cloakroom we replaced before really noticed the smell going. Painted everything. Did constantly have windows open too in the meantime as anytime the house was shut up you could tell when we returned.

I agree with the shampooing of the carpets. And ventilate.

The problem is OP no one can give you an exact answer, the smell will be coming from somewhere and I imagine in some cases it's the carpets, some cases it's the walls and it will depend on how deeply it is ingrained

So in many cases washing all the walls and deep cleaning carpets will solve it. But if that's not what's causing the smell then no it won't help

I would be wary that it isn't caused by hidden mould or mildew build up

I appreciate that, but the whole house stinks. It's not coming from anywhere so to speak. It's in the structure of the house. It smells like a nursing home. Really strongly.

Essentially the people causing the smell are not there, but they've been there causing it for 15yrs so it's permeated. I had assumed airing it would be sufficient, as it's not something like smoke or tobacco. Apparently it's just as bad.

You'll have to remove all carpets and curtains. I moved into somewhere that an old chap had been bedridden for 10 years and sadly doubly incontinent.

I removed all carpets, lino, curtains, stripped all wallpaper.

Before starting again I sugar soaped absolutely everything, every single surface.

Then had new carpets, redecorated etc. It was fine then. I didn't replace the kitchen or bathroom suite, just cleaned it.

I think you should have stuck with describing the smell as previous owners.
Describing it as Old people smell is incredibly offensive.
The house I’m in now smelt of cooking and food for example.

Okeydoke

That's what it is and how it can be identified by everyone else on the thread.

5 hours before someone's pearl clutching, not too bad...

I’m not pearl clutching thanks.

Try spraying Autoglym Odour Eliminator on any carpets.

It's worked twice for me. Once with a second hand sofa and once with a musty smelling carpet.

For both of these things, no amount of cleaning with anything else got the smell out apart from the Autoglym.

This is how my mum's flat smells, she's 86. I thought it was her cats, but now I'm thinking it's her. How depressing! We're all going to get old. I don't want to emanate a smell!

Cleaning and redecorating masked the smell of the carpet for a while but it soon came back. Tried airing the place for weeks. Tried carpet cleaners.

For the sofa, we had it outside for a week.and you could smell it as you walked past outside!!!

We tried bicarb of soda, carpet cleaner, pet odour eliminator, steam cleaning, shake and vac, hot soapy water. It still stank!

When we bought it, we thought it was the person's house that stank.As soon as we drive it away in the car, we realised it was the sofa itself that was stinking out the person's house!

We were all ready to give up and bin the thing when my Dad suggested Autoglym and it worked!