Last Updated on January 11, 2024
Old houses posses a quaint character and charm that few newly built homes can match. Unfortunately, these same old houses also can experience that uh, musty, stagnant smell. Today we’re talking about these 8 different ways to get rid of old house smells.
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How to Get Rid of Old House Smells
If you’ve just bought or inherited an old house – Congrats! Sure there’s several challenges of owning an old house, but personally, I think it’s completely worth all the work.
If your old house isn’t smelling, well, as fresh as the ink on your purchase and sale agreement, here’s 8 ways to get rid of old house smells.
Don’t forget to get rid of that old house smell either before or while completing your move-in cleaning checklist.
1. Track Down Source
Understanding what causes that old house smells is essential in getting rid of old house smells. Obviously, it’s a lot easier to rid the source of the stench versus just masking it with something else. But sometimes that is easier said than done…
There are 5 reasons that old houses smell, with mold and mildew being the most common cause:
So….. where do you start to find the source of the stink? Use your senses and search high and low around your house.
Follow your nose – maybe the stench is only in one portion of the house (for example, maybe a previous pet favored doing their business in one room).
Do a visual inspection in your basement, crawl space and attic for leaks and mold. Check under every sink, each faucet and any piping in your home for leaks. If you find something, fix it ASAP.
If you can’t find the source, consider contacting a professional. If the house smells mildewy, call in a plumber to inspect old pipes for water leaks.
2. Let the Sunshine In
Remember when your grandma used to open all the windows on the first nice spring day? My mom would call it “Letting the stink out!”
Well, grandma and mom were on to something.
Throw back those curtains and open up the windows to circulate fresh outdoor air in and stale air out.
The point is to encourage airflow throughout the house – including all those nooks and crankies of old houses. Open all the windows and doors with screens. Turn on fans to create cross breezes or get air into the darker corners of an old house.
Opening up a house does more than just allow fresh air to circulate and dry out a house. It also allows sunshine in. The UV light from the sun is a natural disinfectant and provides added dry heat to remove the old house smells.
And if you want to kick it up a notch, be sure to blare the 1960s classic song “Let the Sunshine In” by The Fifth Dimension while busting open those windows.
3. Dehumidify
In addition to letting the air and sunshine in, if your home is humid, consider investing in a dehumidifier or two.
Keep these dehumidifiers running to remove the excess moisture from the air (which mold loves) and dry things up even more.
The best place to place a dehumidifier? Wherever you would expect excess moisture – especially basements, crawl spaces and bathrooms.
And remember, to function properly, dehumidifiers need space to maintain airflow. Don’t put it too close to furniture or walls. Otherwise, airflow will be restricted and they won’t run effectively.
Dehumidifiers comes in various sizes, so be sure to read these tips from Consumer Reports, who recommends these dehumidifiers available via Amazon or Home Depot.
4. Clean Up Mold
Not only is mold the most common source of old house smells, mold is also an environmental health hazard. Mold can exacerbate allergies and existing respiratory problems like asthma, or cause more serious infections with people with compromised immune systems.
Therefore, proceed with caution before cleaning up mold.
In fact, it’s recommended that if you find a spot greater than 10 ft2, or suspect hidden or toxic mold, call in a remediation professional.
If you decide to move forward cleaning mold yourself, first read EPA’s Brief Guide to Mold and Moisture in Your Home to determine how to safely tackle mold in your home.
Here’s a few tips from that guide to limit your exposure to airborne mold:
- Cleaners Only: Kick children, pets, pregnant women, anyone with respiratory issues out of the house.
- Wear Gloves: Don’t touch mold or moldy items with bare hands!! Use long gloves – ones that extend to the middle of your forearm. If using strong cleaning agents, consider industrial-type gloves.
- Wear Goggles: Preferably the kind without respiration holes.
- Wear Respirator: Preferably a N-95 respirator. Ensure the respirator fits snugly around your face.
5. Clean Carpets & Upholstery
Porous fabrics, such as carpet fibers and window treatments, love to retain smells. Tobacco, pet stains, improperly cleaned spills, even vomit (sorry, I had to go there….)
Unfortunately, carpets and upholstery fabric tend to absorb those smells for an incredibly long time.
Luckily, there’s a few options to tackle the source of smells in home fabrics.
For a lighter clean, sprinkle baking soda, let sit out overnight to absorb the odors, then vacuum it up the next day. Or spray a combination of white vinegar and water on the upholstery.
If you need a deeper clean (and you probably will), consider either buying a carpet cleaner (or renting one), or take the task out of your hands and hire a professional cleaner.
[Related Post: 10 Ways to Remove Old Smells from Carpets]
Or it might be best to rip out the carpet, pull down the window treatments, and replace them altogether.
If you are lucky enough to live in an old house you might be in for the pleasant surprise of beautiful hardwood floors hiding under that carpet!
6. Wash Walls & Ceilings
It may be hard to believe, but walls and ceilings can also harbor smells. Smoke, grease, even mildew.
You’re first instinct may be a fresh coat of paint. But before you reach for that paint brush, you need to first give the walls and ceiling a good cleaning.
You can DIY your own cleaning product using a variety of recipes online like Bob Villa that use a combination of vinegar, borax or bleach with warm water.
Using a sponge, wipe the mix over your walls to remove grease, mildew and other smells from walls and ceilings. (Remember if you suspect mold, be sure to wear goggles, gloves and mask!)
Once dry, give the wall surfaces a sniff test (yes you WILL look weird smelling your walls….) and touch up the places where the smell still lingers.
Oh, and if you happen to have those tacky popcorn ceilings (my sympathies if so. I have these too ?) mist with the same cleaning mixture using a spray bottle to get into those crevices.
Unfortunately, if the old house smells still linger, you may need to resort to stripping off old wallpaper or painting with an oil-based, mold-resistant paint primer to seal the walls.
Sidenote
While the focus of your cleaning should be the walls and ceilings, give some cleaning love to these other parts of the house, including:
- Baseboards
- Light fixtures, switches, replace light bulbs
- Radiators (cast iron radiator tips)
- Windows (cleaning tips)
- Window blinds (for wood and vinyl blinds, dip a soft cloth in vinegar and wipe)
7. Neutralize the Air
If you are on a budget, musty smells can be absorbed by setting out an open container or baking soda, white vinegar, even cat litter. Heck, even dryer sheets placed in built-in cabinets and closets can help.
Another stronger option is setting out bags of odor neutralizers that use activated charcoal.
What is activated carbon? (Good question. I had to look it up myself…..) It’s a highly adsorbent material that traps odor-causing chemicals (as well as non-odorous chemicals) from the air.
Online there are a wide variety of odor neutralizers out there. Personally, we’ve used DampRid in our basement and felt an improvement in the dampness.
If you need an odor neutralizer with a but more punch, this electric Hamilton Beach TrueAir Room Odor Eliminator comes recommended to remove musty old house stenches quickly and effectively.
8. Clean HVAC System
Ductwork, pipes, vents and other parts of your heating and cooling systems accumulate dust and dirt over the years. And in some cases, can also attract mold. It is quite possible that previous owners didn’t maintain their HVAC.
And if the source of old house smells is within your HVAC system, in could be making the smell even worse! You could be inadvertently pumping that old-house smell throughout your house. As Homer Simpson would say – DOH!
Depending on your type of HVAC system, you may want to change out your air filter(s) in your system. The air filter serves to trap air contaminants in your home. And that filter may be clogged and stuffed with whatever is causing that old house smell.
Once you’ve changed out the filter, be sure to set a maintenance schedule to ensure the filter gets switched out at regular intervals.
If you are considering a deeper clean for your HVAC system, check out the EPA’s Should You Have The Air Ducts In Your Home Cleaned? and call a professional.
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