Refrigerators and freezers that have been turned off and left closed have a truly unique odor that is normally very difficult to eliminate. However, with a little work and OdorXit you can recover even the worst smelling unit you have ever seen. You may want to take the unit outside to do this first step so that you can use a garden hose to rinse out the really bad stuff.

Completely defrost the unit. Remove the spoiled food by washing the entire interior of the refrigerator with detergent and hot water. If the freezer is not built into the walls of the unit use a long thin brush to get between the freezer and the wall. Rinse completely and wipe dry..

Spray the entire interior of the refrigerator with OdorXit mixed 1 ounces of OdorXit to 1 quart of water. If the freezer is not built in, it should also be sprayed inside and out. Seams on the interior and gaskets are both areas that need special attention while washing and spraying because they both are areas where spilled foods hide, decompose and produce bad odors.

Next, in the back of many refrigerator there is either a hole in the interior where 2 tubes emerge from the insulation or there is a small air passage that connects the freezer section to the refrigerator section of the unit. Spray this area thoroughly because it is so difficult to wash!

If your freezer is built in to the top on the unit and has vents along the bottom in the front you may need to remove the 4 or 6 screws that hold the floor in place and the plastic floor of the freezer in order to clean the food and goo from the cooling coils and foam blocks that hide within. The foam blocks are very important to the operation of the refrigerator so as number them before taking them out so you can put them back in the proper places after spraying them and the cooling coils with OdorXit solution. If the vents are in the back wall of the freezer, there is no need to access the cooling coils normally because there is no or very little odor causing materials on them.

Finally, close the doors when you are finished spraying the entire interior of the refrigerator with OdorXit solution. The next day, briefly air out your refrigerator to purge the residual OdorXit smell and your refrigerator will be ready for use without the nasty smell!

An hour sent cleaning and spraying OdorXit on a really smelly refrigerator can restore a $300 to $10000 unit to service instead of replacing it with another.

There are a few cases where the odor was so strong and hidden in the tiny gaps between the plastic panels, you may need to us a 5 gram packet of OdorXit ClO₂ to get the last little bit of odor.

Using OdorXit ClO₂

Chlorine dioxide will oxidize/neutralize a wide range of malodors including tobacco smoke, fire smoke, spoiled food, fish, animal scent spray (including cat and skunk), animal and human excrement, bed pan, sick room, and cooking odors. OdorXit ClO₂ also kills mold fungus, mold spores, and many germs that can make us sick like MRSA.

Like all oxidization-based products, OdorXit ClO₂ can neutralize or oxidize a finite amount of material. This being said, if the pouch size used is not large enough to do the job, using another one or larger one will continue the process until it is completed. Subsequent re-contamination as is the case with mold and bacteria, the treatment simply must be repeated. This fact does not detract from the fact that OdorXit ClO₂ is fast acting and completely effective on a very broad range of malodors.

OdorXit ClO₂ is simple to use. When you are ready to start treating an area, remove the outer mylar packaging from the inner Tyvek packet and either place it on a plastic plate or in a plastic cup or place it in the self adhering pouch accompanying the product with a very small amount of water. The Extended Release version will produce gas for 20 to 30 days. The Fast Release version will produce gas for 20 to 30 hours. In either case the same weight packet will produce the same amount of gas. Normally a few drops of water or even the humidity in the room is enough to start and maintain the reaction. If more water is used, ClO₂ will be generated at a higher rate, thereby shorting the time the packet will be active but not reducing the amount of ClO₂ being generated.

Regardless of the type or size of packet used, if the relative humidity is less than 40% or the temperature is lower than freezing the reaction will not take place. Raising the humidity by adding a few (2 to 4 drips) is all that is necessary for the slow release version. More will reduce the life of the packet by as much as 80%. Laying the fast release packet on a damp paper towel will insure that the fast release products has enough water to finish in 20 to 30 hours.

Using a small fan to stir up the air in the area being treated will increase the effectiveness of the treatment significantly. In most cases, a 4 or 7 inch electric fan will do work great. Here is a 4 inch fan available in the hardware department of most WalMart for about $7.00…and yes its made in China, and yes we would like to sell them but buying 10000 it beyond our ability to pay for or store. A 4 to 7 inch fan is a great size for a bathroom or bedroom, but is not big enough for a 1000 to 2000 sq ft basement or family room which needs a 12 to 24 inch fan. Remember, the point is to get the ClO₂ to the odor causing stuff in the are being treated.

The reason for the 2 versions of this product is to address the need to produce effective results in a very short period of time with the Fast Release while the treated area is un-inhabited, or treating the same problem over a longer period of time while it is inhabited.

Keep this and all odor control products out of reach of children

We were very lucky that there was a limited amount of smoke in the house because the door from the mud room to the garage was not closed right away. The problem was made a bit worse because the firemen had a big fan blowing into the front door and out the back door.  This was drawing smoke from outside and forcing it through the house.

Clearly the rooms adjacent to the garage had the worst smoke damage, especially the ceiling. To make the problem harder to fix, the ceiling was popped (textured Spackle) which is nearly impossible to clean so we removed it in preparation for deodorizing and repainting.

We washed the walls, doors and floor with TSP (tri-sodium phosphate and water) and rinsed with fresh water. This stuff is really good at removing smoke residue.

When the washing efforts dried, we used a product called OdorXit CLO2 to remove the rest of the smoke odor. We used the 25 gram fast release packets in the mud room and utility room because we could close the doors and contain the gas and still live in the house while the process was going on.

Usually, a 25 gram packet will do 1000 to 2000 square feet of floor space but because of the level of smoke in the area, the 25 gram was what was actually appropriate and they worked really well.

We used a couple more 25 gram slow release to remove the smoke in the rest of the house.

We followed up with KILZ sealer and fresh paint on the walls and ceiling. Yes, the 2 rooms took 4 days to complete, but we did not have to replace any of the drywall though we did replace all the drywall and 2 car garage door in the garage. The garage took over 3 weeks to complete the repairs on the garage.

Why is it so difficult and pervasive?

There are several reasons.

1. When urine spots are allowed to dry on flooring, carpeting, bedding, clothing and other porous or fibrous materials, a chemical action occurs that changes the uric acid (that is in all mammalian urine) into ammonia gas and urea salt.
2. Urea salt takes 2 forms, the first permanently bonding to what ever it precipitates on, the second crystallizes on the bonded version or other crystallized salt and remains water soluble.

The challenge to removing the odor is 2 fold.

1. Remove as much of the crystallized urea salt  as possible leaving as little behind as possible.
2. Neutralize the bonded urea salt so that it will stop producing the nasty mercaptan gas that we all know and love.

The real question is what will neutralize the bonded urea salt? There are many products on the market and the internet that claim to be able to quickly and easily and permanently eliminate the odor produced by urine residue.  Many of them actually work under the right circumstances. I.E. no detergent residue present in the area being treated.

There are some additional considerations you should be aware of as well. The carpet padding used in residential carpet installation is capable of storing a very large volume of urine residue. Further, it seems to either change or interfere with efforts to neutralize the urea salt that generates the mercaptan gas.

Most of the time mercaptan gas is produced when urea salt and hydrogen sulfide (HS) come together in the presence of water. Water is a catalyst and is necessary to facilitate the reaction. Because urea salt is really hygroscopic (it grabs water vapor right out of the air) when the relative humidity is higher than 50% there is enough water vapor to catalyze the reaction.  That’s why when you run the heat or A/C hard enough to lower the relative humidity below 50% there is no odor.  But come spring with open doors and windows and high humidity the odor returns big time.

Unfortunately, cat spray (not urine) does not play by the same rules but it produces an easily differentiated odor. One that is more musky than the smell of mercaptan and requires only warm air and no water vapor.  It is also more difficult to eliminate because it is almost always on vertical surfaces that liquids tend to run off of easily.

The good news is that there is actually a product that will do both! OdorXit Concentrate works on both mercaptan producing urea salt and the oily scent spray.

Cleaning the involved areas before applying OdorXit Concentrate is really important, not just to reduce the amount of contaminate to be neutralized but in the case of scent spray, to emulsify the oil so that water based OdorXit Concentrate can do it job.

Like any chemistry experiment there are little nuances or secrets that need to be known, understood and executed. This information is available at the OdorXit Odor Wizard.

Do they work?

Yes, and no. If there is no detergent in the area where you are going to use the enzyme and you are willing to keep the area wet for several days, yes they can and often seem to work.  However, keeping a carpet, padding and flooring area wet for several days is an open invitation to grow mold in and on the carpet.  Lastly, when these products do work they produce lots of very nasty odor because they actually accelerate the decomposition of the materials (urine residue) that were causing the problem in the first place.

If you are trying to get urine out of wall to wall carpeting, you really need to educate your self on the size and complexity of the problem you are trying to solve.  Treating this kind of problem from the top of the carpet without removing the padding and cleaning the floor will result in additional damage being inflicted on your floor and make the problem much more difficult to eliminate in the long run. I have been there and done that in our rental properties before we discovered OdorXit in 1996.

If long term results are not what you are concerned about, a whole different set of rules apply. The other piece is that temporary fixes used to hide problems where money is likely to exchange hands is called fraud nearly everywhere.  Whether doing a temporary odor repair so that the landlord does not notice the problem before you move or covering up a odor problem in a house you are selling to a retail customer both qualify as fraud.  I have seen court decisions cost sellers more than $30000 for a  failed cover up attempt.

Everyone wants a silver bullet, but I can assure you the enzymes are not the silver bullet if one does in fact exist at all.

OdorXit Products, which are safe and effective on urine, feces, vomit, spoiled food, sour milk, dead animal smell, skunk, and a host of other bad smells contain no bacteria, enzymes or solvents (except water). Check out  The Odor Wizard for what OdorXit Products can do.

Yes. They do work to stop mold from growing on the properly coated surfaces. BUT…

Mold Proofing a house is pretty hard to do since the mold spores that cause the mold are carried in by the very air we breath and need to freshen regularly. Additionally mold spores we bring in on our clothing and shoes and everything else that comes into the house can not be ignored.

Producing a house that will not grow mold is a nice start on limiting the mold that can actually grow in the parts that have been coated with anti-fungal coating, but it does nothing for carpet, widow dressings, clothing, bedding and other items that either were not or can not be sealed.

Secondly, the real irritant is not the mold fungus, but the spores it produces especially when it is deprived of water.

There is an alternative that anyone can use and does not require that your house be destroyed to apply the fix. There is a gas called Chlorine Dioxide that when used in very small quantities (less than .01 ppm (not percent)) will kill active mold fungus, mold spores, along with bacteria and viruses while the house in inhabited.

This is not a silver bullet but it is pretty close. And yes in higher doses chlorine dioxide can be and will be toxic but I am talking about concentrations in the 10+ppm range. That is 1000 times more than the recommended and normally produced concentration used to kill mold, spores, bacteria and viruses without making them more resistant to treatment.

SO, where can you buy this magic gas? You can’t. It is illegal to ship and bottle and store in any container.
SO, where can you get this magic gas? You get the components that make the gas packaged in a nice, strong, protective packet/reactor that is patent pending and completely legal to ship, package and use. The packets are available right now on the internet at http://odorxit.com/?ancogeneral . If you can read really simple instructions and turn on a small fan or ceiling fan you can use this product to change your life for the better. ]]> http://odor-remover.com/?feed=rss2&p=28 0 http://odor-remover.com/?p=15 http://odor-remover.com/?p=15#comments Wed, 18 Mar 2009 18:29:31 +0000 Martin http://odor-remover.com/?p=15 If you live in North America and you have a dog or cat that you allow out of the house the chances of them being sprayed by a skunk sometime in their life is near 100%. And if you are reading this article the chances are pretty good it has already happened in the last few days.

Striped North American Skunk

There are all sorts of home brew concoctions from tomato juice to baking soda that are supposed to remove some or all of the odor. I have found that there are 2 that work on dogs, cats, people and other animals. The following is a description of what they are and how to use them!

1. A guy named Paul Krebaum who was a chemist employed by Molex, Inc. of Lisle, Illinois who was working with some chemicals called “Thiols” which are chemicals that chemically very similar to skunk spray and smell very much the same needed something to clean his lab and lab equipment.

Because of the short product life, packaging and shipping difficulties the formula he developed and subsequently published in the October 1993 edition of Chemical and Engineering News putting it into the public domain. Unfortunately this issue of CEN is not available on the web.

The formula was and is 1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup of baking soda and 1 teaspoon of liquid detergent like Dawn or Joy. Once combined, the mixture must be used within an hour or so.

Do not put this mixture in a sealed container because it produces free oxygen that will cause the container to explode.After washing the affected area with shampoo, wipe the mixture onto the all the places where there is skunk spray. Be careful not to get any mixture into the eyes, nose, ears or mouth of whatever you are treating. After a few minutes rinse it out with very warm water.

Because the hydrogen peroxide is a bleach, it may lighten the hair being treated. It will also remove most of the odor. Do not use this mixture on carpet, furniture or clothing, it will bleach them too.

2. The other other approach is to use a product called OdorXit Concentrate. This is a very safe mostly water product that is available on the web and at selected quality hardware stores and REIA groups around the country.It is made of water and small quantities of water soluble essential oils that neutralize the skunk spray residue on contact. This product is very safe and effective on its own after shampooing the affected area and it is very effective after using the peroxide formula above as a stop gap fix for the odor. It can also be used on furniture, carpet, flooring, clothing, cars and other water tolerant materials.

If you have not already shampooed the affected area use a good lather producing shampoo to break down the oils that make up the skunk residue. Mix 1 ounce of OdorXit Concentrate with1 quart of warm water. Use a small (3? x 5?) kitchen sponge to apply the mixture to the contaminated area. OdorXit concentrate will not irritate the eyes, nose or mouth, but should not be allowed to penetrate deeply into ears.

There is yet another product that can be used under houses, and in houses that have been skunk sprayed. It is called OdorXit CLO2. This product is 2 powders contained inside a very special Tyvek packet and is activated by water vapor or liquid.  In as little as 24 yours a crawl space can be completely cleared of skunk spray odor.

If you are willing to not be inside your house for 24 yours, that same can be accomplished inside your house as well.  Using the slow release packet inside takes a day or two longer, but does not require you to remove your family and pets from the area being treated.

How can this be true? An odorless non-mechanical litter box that doesn’t stink… You Bet!

You see, cats use a 3 part process to control the box odor but we humans do our best to interfere with their process with stuff like clumping litter and scented litter.

The 3 part process include:

1. Part 1 is supposed to be to dig a little pit in the litter. But if the litter is nasty with stool, or full of urine clumps part 1 is not executed.
2. Part 2 is supposed to include peeing or pooing in the pit, but if there is no pit it just lays on top of the litter and smells very bad until a human or a small dog looking for a tootsie roll takes it away.
3. Part 3 is supposed to include scooping some litter into the little pit to cover the pee or poo  and limit the odor produced by the excrement.

If your cat can’t dig a pit because of clumps of litter laying on top of the bulk of the litter, you can either scoop more often, or stop using clumping litter. I prefer the latter. Clumping litter was a great marketing idea to make litter easier to clean by people and harder to use by cats. It also insures that you will use more litter than you need to use and worst of all, it has a powder (the clumping agent) that turns to something like cement in kitten lungs.

Given that your cat does part 1, the chances are pretty good that it will do part 2.

Given part 1 and part 2, getting them to do part 3 can be a little iffy especially if they are used to clumping litter. But since all 3 parts are hard wired into their natural behievior, it will eventually come back.

Now for the odor. Since there are no clumps to scoop out and your cat is at least trying to perform the complex 3 part process, controlling the odor (which is already minimized) is quite simple with the proper products.

1. After dumping the 10 cent per pound Oil-Dri litter in the garbage can on garbage night, use a plastic scraper to scrape the wet litter out of the bottom of the freshly dumped litter box.
2. Spray the inside bottom of the litter box with OdorXit Concentrate diluted 1 part concentrate to 30 parts of water. Using a trigger sprayer, cover the inside of the box with spray.
3. Add 3 quarts of litter.
4. Return the litter box to its normal place. If you have a cover for the litter box, spray 1 pump of OdorXit Magic on the inside of each side and the top of the cover. This will absorb all the excrement odor produced by your cat for at least a week.

Now that your cat has a fresh, clean, odor free place to use as a toilet, the chances are much better that it will actually use it more consistently. And don’t forget, you should have a litter boxes per cat plus 1 as an alternate.

Remember, a cats nose is way more sensitive than yours is, and they get much closer to the litter box with their sensitive nose than you do.  So make using the litter box a pleasent as possible. The reward will be yours.

Everyone was talking about how their product was mold resistant,  or kept mold from growing on their product, or how their product somehow magically killed mild before it became a problem in the house it was applied.

There were house venting systems, filter, furnace add-ons and lots of other stuff to rid a house of mold. There was the dehumidifiers, humidifiers, ionizers, ozone generators, all designed to rid houses of mold.

The bottom line for me is that any study of the mold issue will show that there is mold everywhere. Inside, outside, and all around. Mold and mold spores are an essential part of life on planet earth and with out mold fungus and its procreative buddies mold spores, we would not be living at all, because all the plant material that we do not eat would just pile up and rot.

Vulchers feeding on a dead animal

Mold, like vultures, were put here for a very good reason. Both eat dead and useless materials returning them as high quality dirt before they become a problem.

We look at a gaggle of vultures with their featherless heads eating a dead animal on the edge of a water hole somewhere in Africa.

Ugly, ugly, ugly, BUT if the animal was left to rot, it would poison the water hole and all the animals who would drink there would die.

Mold does the same thing by eating dead trees, bushes, sticks, leaves, vegetation, and other fibrous materials and turns them into high quality dirt and in this case some very expensive and tasty Morel mushrooms.

Morel mushrooms eating dead wood

But drywall is not on your list! Sure it is. Wet drywall is dead and should be replaced and the mold is just helping. Not exactly what you were hoping for but what is happening just the same. The real down side is that your body is being attacked by the mold spores as well. That’s why you feel sick, tired and unhappy.

Q – What about all these products, do they work?

A – Most do work within the scope of their design.

Q – What about helping my mold allergy?

A – Most are better than the drugs your doctor gives you for the same problem.

Q – So what can be done to relieve the mold issue in a house.

A – Lots!

• Reduce the level of mold in your house to as close to zero as you can get it.
• Stop bringing new mold into your house which is easier said than done.
• Eliminate the water standing in your basement, or crawl space, or under you kitchen sink and washing machine.
• Stop throwing sweaty clothes on the floor and in clothes baskets.
• Make sure the drier vent does not leak into the house.
• Use the exhaust fan in the shower.
• Take the garbage out every day.

If you already have visible mold growing on walls, ceiling, tile, grout, etc. you will have to take a more aggressive path and kill the visible mold fungus you have. Bleach will not do the job. You can wash the mold fungus off of drywall, but if the drywall is wet, it has to go.

When you get rid of the visible mold, you might want to try the ClO2 product from OdorXit and follow it up with a mixture of water, Joy detergent and ammonia to remove the dead mold residue (which is often very toxic).

Once you have the mold level down to something reasonable work on the list.