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With thousands of weekly estate sales going on across the country<\/a>, you\u2019re bound to run into a few that have very bad odors.\u00a0 An estate sale setup involves much more than staging and pricing. The goal is to make the entire home presentable, clean, and inviting for potential shoppers.<\/p>\n From old musty smells, to mildew, smoke, cigar, pet odors, and urine. It can be ugly depending on the estate, and the estate sale company<\/a> will have the daunting task to get the home as scent-free as possible.<\/p>\n The methods of eliminating the bad odors during an estate sale setup<\/a> will obviously vary depending on the type and severity of the smell. Some methods are extremely involved and will require time, our goal is to give you quick and helpful tips that will not delay or hinder your estate sale staging process.<\/a><\/p>\n We reached out to a few professionals in the industry to give you some tips that may help you as an estate sale professional<\/a> if ever faced with a home that simply smells bad. Below are the tips we found most useful.<\/p>\n A common item found at any market, baking soda cuts through bad smells by neutralizing the pH levels<\/a>. It\u2019s safe and effective to sprinkle throughout the house or spread open boxes as early as possible throughout the estate.<\/p>\n Probably the safest and most effective method because it neutralizes the bad odors and works as good if not better than baking soda.\u00a0 Whether it\u2019s left in a bowl or sprayed around the house, it works wonders.<\/p>\n You may shy away from using it because as you spray undiluted vinegar, it has a strong scent, but it quickly disappears along with the bad odors you\u2019re wanting to get rid of.<\/p>\n Missi Haner Palski with Estate Liquidations by Fantastic Finds and a member of our private estate sale company group<\/a> said “I love older homes, especially old farmhouses, if there’s several generations of items, there’s generally an old kind of odor”\u00a0 She added “Vinegar removes most odor but there’s a line for me, I cannot do filthy and disgusting”.<\/p>\n Both whole beans and ground beans work wonders in absorbing bad odors, but it\u2019s much easier to use whole beans unless you\u2019re willing to clean up a possible mess with coffee grounds. All you need is a container with 6 to 7 ounces of coffee beans placed throughout the house, this will help eliminate bad smells.<\/p>\n Thats right, oats can absorb bad smells. During the estate sale setup, if you come across a box of oats in the kitchen, feel free to pour it in multiple bowls and leave it throughout the house, it\u2019s not only a healthy grain for the body but it absorbs bad smells very well.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re willing to pull up your sleeves and wipe things down during the estate sale setup, you\u2019ll end up with a clean great smelling estate.\u00a0 Here are a few very popular odor eliminating recipes.<\/p>\n First, make sure you\u2019re wearing gloves to protect your hands, get a bucket and a rag ready.\u00a0\u00a0Fill the bucket with the following ingredients:<\/p>\n Use the rag to dip and wipe down hard surfaces, porcelain, vinyl etc\u2026 Do not spray it on fabric or carpets because it may cause discoloration, but it\u2019s a great cleaning, and bad scent eliminating recipe.<\/p>\n This is a stubborn and difficult odor to get rid of, but the goal is to make it better during the estate sale. There are numerous reasons why a home can smell musty, but mildew or mold are the most common reasons.<\/p>\n If you hold estate sales in a humid environment, you\u2019ll come across many homes that may have the old musty smell.\u00a0 Unfortunately, that smell gets into fabric and lingers, you\u2019ll never be able to get rid of it completely but here are a few steps you can take to make it better.<\/p>\n First, try to isolate the smell, once you find the source, if it\u2019s a single area, treat it individually by by drying it out.\u00a0\u00a0If the entire home has a musty odor, here are some steps you can take while setting up the estate sale.<\/p>\n Depending on the severity of the odor, you may try a few or all the methods at once to attack and eliminate the bad smells quickly.<\/p>\n Right before the estate sale starts you can freshen and deodorize the home to keep the musty odor at bay. I wouldn\u2019t rush out and buy a scented deodorizer, It can make the situation worse. You\u2019ll never get rid of the musty smell completely, and you\u2019ll end up with a flower or vanilla flavored musty smell.<\/p>\n Stick to a fragrance-free air freshener like Lysol disinfectant spray<\/a> or even Zeolite<\/a>, a natural mineral that absorbs odor without a masking scent.<\/p>\n Cigar and cigarette smoke odors are notorious. For professional liability<\/a> purposes, you may want to mention that the estate sale is an ex-smoker\u2019s home.\u00a0 Make it clear to your client in the estate sale contract<\/a> that this may affect their estate sale profit, and to the estate sale shoppers while marketing your estate sale<\/a>, otherwise you may end up with shoppers that get burning eyes, nasal congestion, coughing, hoarseness and shortness of breath during your estate sale. Something you\u2019ll want to avoid all together.<\/p>\n Here are some steps you can take to eliminate bad odors such as cigar smoke during the estate sale setup:<\/p>\n Burn incense only when you\u2019re there and use a fragrance-free air freshener the day before the sale starts or early in the morning before you open the doors.<\/p>\n Donna Galvin Dumas with Estate Sales by Team Louie<\/a> said in order to add a lovely odor to the home “I bake pies…the whole house smells good!”<\/p>\n That’s going above and beyond, but it’s a very inviting and tasty idea!<\/p>\n I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything worse! You know exactly what I\u2019m talking about. A urine scent in the home is an automatic turn off to potential estate sale shoppers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Experienced estate sale companies<\/a> know this, but if you\u2019re just starting in the estate sale business, you\u2019ll run into this situation soon enough.<\/p>\n Bad odors due to urine are usually isolated to a certain area, or at least you hope they are unless it\u2019s pet urine throughout the house. Urine odor is much easier to get rid of when it\u2019s fresh, unfortunately for you as an estate sale professional, you\u2019ll have no idea how old it is, and all you can do is your best to temporarily eliminate or minimize the smell.<\/p>\n Here are some things you can do to deal with this bad odor efficiently and without sacrificing too much on labor.<\/p>\n Michael Kaplan owner of ECC Carpet Cleaning<\/a> said \u201cBesides pulling up the carpet and getting rid of the padding underneath, there\u2019s no way to get rid of the scent completely, but there are a few options that will help\u201d<\/p>\n Kaplan explained \u201cThe best you can do is go throughout house or the affected area and neutralize the urine which is an alkaline base with an acid-base product like vinegar. Once you\u2019ve done this, you can spray a heavy duty disinfectant to treat the odor\u201d.<\/p>\n This is a great way to temporarily eliminate or minimize the urine related bad odors from the carpet, but you can still follow other methods mentioned above to treat the overall environment.<\/p>\n If the furniture at the estate sale has an unpleasant smell, try moving it to the outdoors to air out if possible. If it\u2019s a strong odor or when the situation doesn\u2019t allow you to move the furniture, try these methods.<\/p>\n Sprinkle baking soda on the furniture the first day and vacuum it up the next day, this may be time consuming and will not cover the entire furniture like the back side but will work well on fabric covered benches or chairs with fabric in the seating area only.<\/p>\n Spray the furniture with two parts water, one part vinegar on the first day and the next day wipe it down with dryer sheets or use Febreeze.<\/p>\n Another product that\u2019s affordable and works well on furniture is OdoBan<\/a>. One gallon can make 32 gallons of usable product. Using a spray bottle, fill it 3 parts water, one-part OdoBan.<\/p>\n Once you spray the furniture, make sure the surface is nice and wet. Allow the furniture to dry indoor or outdoor. This product doesn\u2019t mask the smell but gets rid of it completely.<\/p>\n When you simply cannot deal with the bad odors, and the common methods mentioned above aren\u2019t enough to eliminate the unpleasant scents, it may be time to rely on a professional.<\/p>\n Assessing the estate sale early is extremely important, if you need to rely on a professional cleaning service, an odor removal company, or professional carpet cleaner, it can cost a hefty penny.<\/p>\n Make the appropriate adjustments in your contract to cover those additional estate sale fees<\/a> and protect you from any misunderstandings or problems with your client.<\/p>\n Always try to eliminate or minimize the bad smell, then follow up with deodorizing and adding a pleasant smell to the environment the night before or day of the sale before you open the doors.<\/p>\n Regina Skeens Randall, owner of Pennies in Your Pocket Estate and Appraisal Services<\/a> said “We air out and spray lysol on everything”.<\/p>\n Whether you choose to follow these helpful tips or use your own creative ways such as popping a bag of popcorn in the microwave, or baking some pies in the oven, the goal is to always make the estate sale as inviting as possible for shoppers and a success for your client.<\/p>\n If you have more tips on how to eliminate odors in a home, we’de love to hear them! Share them with us in the comments box below. And if you’re not already a member, join our Facebook group for professional estate sale companies<\/a> for more tips and tricks.<\/p>\n EstateSales.org is a leading venue for shoppers to find estate sales near them as well as\u00a0online estate auctions<\/a>\u00a0. Our company blog, the EstateSales.org University, is among the largest online resources for information relating to the estate sale industry. If you\u2019re an estate sale company looking to get more leads and visibility for your sales, get listed on our site<\/a> which is viewed by over 500,000 visitors a month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Common Household Items That Can Help Eliminate Odors<\/h2>\n
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1. Baking Soda<\/h3>\n
2. Vinegar<\/h3>\n
3. Coffee Beans<\/h3>\n
4. Oats<\/h3>\n
Recipes that Eliminate Bad Odors<\/h2>\n
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Old House Musty Odors<\/h3>\n
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Dealing with Smoke or Cigar Smells<\/h2>\n
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Removing Bad Urine Odors<\/h2>\n
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Removing Bad Odors from Furniture<\/h2>\n
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Professional Odor Removal Services<\/h2>\n