Getting rid of somke smells

[sweetheart]

I do not seem to be having the best of luck. OH set fire to my kitchen yesterday. He accidently switched the cooker hob on and left a large packet of shredded wheat on it. The cereal went up in flames, spread to my tea towel and some clothes and pegs/peg bag on the nearby work surface. It caused some damage to the work surface and cooker ( burn marks) and some to the floor where the embers were dropped when he attempted to put the fire and flames out. The smoke though was thick and acrid ( burning plastic pegs?) and because we have a bungalow it spread through all the rooms.

I have thrown everything out and cleaned through but the smell is still there. I have opened all the windows and am freezing to death (its cold and wet here). The smell is now through the whole house. Any way I can get rid of this smoke smell? I cannot carry on sleeping with it . Its got in the bedrooms as well.

[Another John]

SH -- seems to me that you've done all that you can, short of redecorating! (Another kind of overwhelming smell.) In my [limited] experience this kind of thing goes away after a day or two, a bit like when you've made the mistake of grilling smoked mackerel, or something, for tea!

Meanwhile: I think you should count your lucky stars: sounds to me like you've escaped a disaster.

2p John

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I've found Febreeze pretty good at that sort of thing.

Ever considered divorce?

[sweetheart]

Thank you.

No, I wouldnt divorce him. . Besides I doubt anyone else would want me.

[sweetheart]

Subsidiary question if anyone might answer it. Where can I get cheap ( ish) laminate worktop. 38 mm thickness and in a plain off white or basket weave type pattern? ( old style kitchen). Not too expensive please and available from somewhere that is nationwide? I have checked Wicks and B&Q and they seem to only do fancy worktops now. Not that I have much faith in B&Q. I had a drawer set of theirs and its a bit shaky in the kitchen. Not at all solid.

The original kitchen was a pricey fitted one at the time ( not done by me - probably 1980's)

[Dave Liquorice]

Yeah seems to neutralise most smells in soft furnishings. Donno how it works though... Gentle squirt of the soft furnishings and plenty of airing and hopefully the smell will have gone in a few days.

Nothing wrong with living on ones own.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Tends to linger in soft furnishings for longer. Suggest vacuum cleaning or washing things like curtains.

Do you have smoke detectors fitted, and did they work?

[sweetheart]

I have washed everything. I have come to the conclusion it must be on the walls. No, we do not have smoke detectors. OH would never fit any. When they make them so that they can be glued on the ceiling then I will be able to do it myself.

[sweetheart]

For some. I am not one of those. I like having someone to live with.

[dennis]

They can be, just use double sided foam tape. They may not work as well but they are far better than nothing.

[Andy Burns]

So the heat will melt the foam/glue, it'll fall on the floor and the battery will ping out, granted you'd hope they'd have woken you up before it got to that stage ...

[NT]

they go off long before then. OP would have had much less damage had one been fitted.

I'm not clear whether OP has washed the walls & ceilings or not, if not they need doing. If it persists, aluminium flake paint on the walls/ceilings etc should stop it coming from there.

NT

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Dave Liquorice" saying something like:

As does a solution of baking soda (perfume optional).

[stuart noble]

Ikea if you have one

[Tim Watts]

Two 5mm or so holes in the plaster, two plastic plugs and screws (usually supplied with the fire alarm) - job done. Easily done with a hand drill.

You *may* even be able to get a free alarm as part of some safety related scheme - ring the local fire station, they sometimes help out with this stuff...

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I dunno how it works either. But suspect it does more than just mask one smell with another. I've found it works for car air-con too - at a fraction of the price of specialised products.

[Dave Liquorice]

two or three sticky fixers should do the job. The couple of mm thick foam, double sided, self adhesive things

Agreed, they weigh not a lot so are not demandin on the fixings.

Cumbria ceratinly do, smoke alarms do save lives.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Grimly Curmudgeon saying something like:

baking soda error - sub with sodium bicarbonate.

[Steve Walker]

It should just go by itself given time. When I was nine my parent had a fire - my mother plugged in their electric blanket, only she got the wrong plug and plugged in the UV/infra-red lamp stored under the bed. It was equipped with a mercury switch to stop it operating when shut, but that failed to work when it was upside down! Anyway, the fire was confined to their bedroom, the fire brigade managed to chop up the remains of the bed and throw it out of the window. Only the bed, carpet, wallpaper and a floorboard were burnt and the wardrobes scorched, but absolutely everything upstairs was black, even the grout in the bathroom had to be re-done. The smell was awful; my school clothes still stank, even after having a day off while they were washed three times. It took time, but the smell did go entirely quite soon - however blackened objects were still turning up at the bottom of cupboards ten years later.

SteveW

[ARWadsworth]

When I changed the CH at my girlfriend parents last year I removed the galvanised tank from the airing cupboard. After doing so I could smell smoke. It turned out that the walls surrounding the tank were the only ones not cleaned and repainted following a serious chip pan fire over 30 years ago.