pet urine, whiskey, perfume, you can use white vinegar to get rid of most smells on most materials: carpets, furniture, clothes, without damaging the material.

vinegar is amazing at breaking down odors and then evaporating and not leaving a trace.

  • paddirn@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    Instructions unclear, bathed myself in white vinegar and I still seem to smell weird.

    • VarykOPM
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      19 hours ago

      It’s in another comment, just keep dousing yourself over and over ad infinitum.

      it should be fine or you might dissolve.

    • VarykOPM
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      23 hours ago

      I like the fizzyness, but I never noticed an extra cleaning oomph whenever I combined baking soda with the vinegar versus vinegar by itself.

      do you notice a big difference after you add baking soda?

  • massive_bereavement@fedia.io
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    1 day ago

    Yes, it will replace it with vinegar smell. I use it for cleaning places with lyme and windows, and when I’m done the place smells like a pickle factory.

    • VarykOPM
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      1 day ago

      White vinegar dries odorless; the acetic acid smell goes away after the vinegar dries.

      you’ll deodorize whatever other smells there are, then when the white vinegar dries, you’ll have no smell left.

      If you’re cleaning and then leaving while the windows, scrubbed lyme or the scrubs you are using are still not completely dry, you’ll smell the acetic acid of the white vinegar.

      If you go back after things are dry, you’ll notice there’s no lingering odor.

        • VarykOPM
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          22 hours ago

          got it.

          I prefer waiting a few minutes for odorless non-toxic stuff.

          commercial detergents or sprays are usually oil-based and that smell lingers. but when the petrochemicals are flower or lemon-scented, people don’t mind so much.

          I’ll just drown it all in vinegar!

            • VarykOPM
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              22 hours ago

              I think it’s entirely the fault of marketing that people aren’t aware of many effective and simple alternatives.

  • weariedfae@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    I use vinegar for all cleaning in my house except pet urine. Vinegar will clean dog urine okay, especially in the laundry. But you GOTTA use an enzymatic cleaner for cat urine or take it out to bake in the sun for days.

    • VarykOPM
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      1 day ago

      i used vinegar for cat urine for years without a problem, but I have heard that the enzymatic cleaners work well.

      • weariedfae@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        On fabrics? I guess I should clarify I meant any fabrics or carpet. Vinegar does a good job as a last step because I always put it in the second wash (after the enzymatic cleaner) to get any smell that survived.

        I’ve tried vinegar on cat urine on carpet and it didn’t dent the smell. Did get the cat spray on walls okay though.

        • Rhaedas@fedia.io
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          1 day ago

          With carpet it depends on how deep it went. If it’s a big spot, chances are it’s through the padding and maybe even subfloor, and the odor comes back if not completely neutralized. I’ve had to pull up and replace padding before in spots because once it gets in that stuff, it’s hard to get out. The carpet itself isn’t the problem.

          Also, once you’ve seen underneath a carpet/padding that has some age to it, you won’t want carpet again. It’s no wonder odors linger.

        • VarykOPM
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          1 day ago

          carpets, clothes and beds, yea, never had trouble removing a cat urine smell using white vinegar.

          for stronger smells, ill pour vinegar over the whole area, leave it alone until it dries, pour more, the smell always goes away eventually.

    • VarykOPM
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      2 days ago

      definitely, vinegar has so many uses.

      i’m trying to focus on one per post, if i listed all of the uses I think the post would sort of lose effectiveness.