How to banish bad odors

Lingering smells from pets, heavy smoking and other persistent perpetrators are a pain to get rid of and can put a funk-filled damper on your happy home.

Thankfully, you do have options when slaying stench, all of which are readily available in Tucson.

Getting started

The first big obstacle in ridding your home of foul odors is identifying the source of the smell and then removing it if possible, says Deana Mooney, manager at Industrial Chemical of Arizona, 5302 E. Pima St.

Industrial Chemical is one of several janitorial supply companies in Tucson that provide heavy-duty cleaning supplies, including odor neutralizers, to businesses and homes.

If the smell is coming from pet urine in the carpet or smoke trapped in the furniture, you have your work cut out for you.

But you also might have rotting food in the fridge or some poor rodent that has made your wall its final resting place.

"If you have a rodent in the wall and you clean every inch of the house, you are still going to have that smell when you are finished," Mooney said.

Removing the source, whenever possible, will leave you with an easier-to-manage situation.

Pet problems

If pet urine in the carpet is the problem, Mooney suggests using X-cide Odor Killer, a non-enzyme liquid solution that works on any surface that can take water.

X-cide comes in pints for $19.94 but is concentrated, allowing you up to 32 gallons of the stuff, depending on how much water you use to dilute the product.

Saturate the contaminated area with X-cide, even if the patch looks small.

"You don't know how much urine has run underneath the carpet," she said. "You need to get the fiber, the pad and the sub-floor wet, as well."

If that doesn't work, look to a professional to treat the carpet and replace the pad.

"Most people don't want to go in there on their own and pull up the carpet because they don't have the tools to put it back in," she said. "It depends on how bad the pad is saturated."

Mooney said X-cide works on walls as well - just be careful of using it on things like furniture. Bring in professionals to clean up any pet-stained couches or chairs.

"You have to treat the right area with the right product," she said. "There is so much going on with upholstery. You wouldn't want to do something where the dyes are going to run."

Subduing smoke

Removing smoke odor from the home can be one of the biggest challenges for a homeowner.

If it's a light smell, Mooney suggests doing simple things, like replacing the filter in the air conditioner, washing the walls down and airing out the house. You might also consider slathering on a coat of primer to "seal the smells in," she said.

Products such as Big D brand odor-control foggers are another option. These foggers come in cans and can be sprayed by hand or set to empty out all at once while residents are out of the house.

A standard blue-labeled Big D odor fogger ($5.62) covers up to 6,000 cubic feet. The "After Fire" red-labeled fogger ($5.98) bumps that number up to 10,000.

"It is an inexpensive way to go," Mooney said. "If there is a closed-up odor in your home, it would be a quick way of washing things down."

Recruit professionals

When foggers aren't cutting it, consider calling hired help.

Professional restoration companies can be found throughout Southern Arizona and are probably the most effective, if not the most expensive option.

ServiceMaster All Care Restoration has been in Tucson for six years and is part of the bigger ServiceMaster family, which includes the companies Merry Maids, TruGreen, Terminix and American Home Shield.

Local owner Jeff Jackson said his restoration franchise offers several ways to clear the air.

One of its most popular methods, he said, is using an ozone generator, a compact unit, smaller than your average vacuum, that produces high levels of ozone in the home to kill off smells at the molecular level.

"It produces an odor kind of like outside after a lightning storm," Jackson added.

Technicians come to your house and set the generator to run eight to 12 hours, during which time you, your pets and your plants should be absent.

"It removes one of the oxygen molecules and thins the air out," Jackson said. "That creates an unsafe environment for people, plants and pets."

ServiceMaster also has its own ozone room - a secure, 200-square-foot space in its offices at 1501 E. 17th St. where technicians can work on any furniture that needs extra attention. Otherwise, your chairs and couches stay in the home.

Because of the potential dangers ozone generators create for living things while running, more and more people are turning to new units that pump hydroxyl, Jackson said. Hydroxyl units create molecules that are normally created when the sun's ultraviolet rays react with water vapor.

The hydroxyl units have a similar effect as ozone generators but can safely operate without causing any bodily harm.

Jackson said the price range on home restoration varies drastically depending on the source of the smell, the size of the space and what needs to be done.

Something like the hydroxyl unit costs about $300 for three days of use. Other, more complex jobs can run into thousands of dollars.

Tucson Restoration Companies

• ServiceMaster All Care Restoration, 1501 E. 17th St. 495-0036.

• Quality Restoration, 2880 N. El Burrito Ave. 322-5326.

• Abracadabra Restoration, 4814 N. Shamrock Place. 323-3261.

• Brewer Restoration of Tucson, 4400 W. Ina Road. 744-2738.

Janitorial Supply Companies

• Grand Canyon Janitorial Supplies, 3670 E. Speedway. 795-3393.

• Industrial Chemical of Arizona, 5302 E. Pima St. 327-6331

• Maintenance Mart, 1801 S. Alvernon Way. 822-8458.

Brilliant Baking Soda

You can fill a book with all of the things that baking soda can do.

It's used for cleaning veggies and relieving sunburn.

Even small fires are easily bested by this powerful chemical compound, also known as sodium bicarbonate.

Baking soda is widely available in generic and the Arm & Hammer brand for under $3. It is perhaps best known for snuffing out odors, thanks to its ability to neutralize and stabilize pH levels.

That's what makes it so useful for the following household items.

• Fridges: Leave an open box inside the door or in the back of the fridge to wipe out unwanted foulness.

• Trash cans: Sprinkle a liberal amount of baking soda along the bottom of your cans to keep offending garbage smells at bay.

• Drains: Get that gunk funk out by mixing baking soda and vinegar with warm, then cold running tap water.

• Carpets: Sprinkle your carpets with baking soda overnight, then vacuum in the morning to take out carpet odor.

Contact reporter Gerald M. Gay at 573-4179 or ggay@azstarnet.com