Even if you clean your house regularly, it doesn’t guarantee your apartment will have a pleasant smell one hundred percent of the time. 

Most renters, although enjoying a wonderful life while living in an apartment in Branson, can't avoid noticing bad smells from time to time. If you notice that your apartment smells funny, here are a few steps that you can take to remove bad smells in your apartment.

Start with a top-to-bottom deep clean

While the renters before you might have done a thorough move-out clean, you still might want to go through the cleaning process once more to ensure that nothing is left unclean during the turnover process. To make sure that you're moving into a clean apartment, you need to wipe down surfaces and sweep and mop the floors, to help remove any scents left behind. Often, the most important task you need to do is perhaps open up the windows, turn on the fans, and let fresh air circulate throughout your new apartment.

Try to determine what is causing the odor

If you still notice the bad smells lingering in your apartment, even after a full day of deep cleaning, it's time to pinpoint the culprit. Depending on the bad smell source, you may need to use a different cleaning technique, specific to that odor.

·         Pet odors

You may find it hard to remove odors left behind by pets, as pet odor can be notoriously strong – especially if your apartment is carpeted. Try to look for areas where the pets have urinated and left stains. If you notice areas with smells of urine, cover the areas with baking soda or an enzyme-based cleaner to treat the area and neutralize lingering odors. Test any cleaning products first to avoid damage, or your security deposit could be at risk if you cause some damage to the flooring.

·         Food odors

Even after you have done general cleaning around the house, if you still notice a foul odor or spice smells, look for some causes that come from the kitchen area. Deep clean areas like fans, vents, oven, fridge, etc. Check the sinks and garbage disposal to see if they might be the source of bad smells. Try to ask your landlord if you can repaint any walls located close to the sink, oven, refrigerator, or microwave, where food may have spilled or splattered.

·         Smoke odor

One of the hardest odors to remove around the house is cigarette smoke, as it is the most potent odor. This is why most landlords and property managers forbid tenants to smoke at all indoors. To truly eradicate cigarette smoke odors, try to remove items like blinds, carpets, and draperies and replace them with new ones. This is a matter that you must discuss with your landlord, to make sure you do not overstep your rights as a renter.

• Consult with your property owner

If you've done deep cleaning in all the areas and even tried to find the source of the bad smell around the house and still can't seem to eliminate it, it's time to consult with your property manager or landlord to see if there is anything they can do to help address the situation. 

Odors from a previous pet or smoke damage may require a cleaning or maintenance crew to replace items like filters and blinds. If your home has a substantial amount of carpet, you need those to be professionally cleaned if they haven't been thoroughly cleaned before you moved in.

Foul odors that can be smelt while living in an apartment can be a pain to deal with. These unpleasant smells in the home can easily be eradicated if you are persistent in using the best methods as mentioned above.



Branson, Missouri is a great city to live in and Thousand Hills Realty is the leading property manager in the local Branson and Hollister areas. Call us today at (417) 337-8081 to find out more about the units we currently have available to rent.