HOW TO REMOVE ODORS THAT ARE PERMEATING YOUR ENTIRE OFFICE

8/13/2019 (Permalink)

Stubborn, foul-smelling odors often remain in hard to reach or clean places in the office, no matter how hard we try. It may take an experienced and well-equipped professional to deal with the stubborn smells emanating from your office refrigerator when it has housed expired food. When odors permeate your entire office, they make the workday unpleasant for everyone, so today we’re sharing some tips that will help you remove them:  

Clear the Air.  Allow a stream of fresh air to flow through your enclosed spaces to get rid of bad smells. To do this, the location of your office windows will have to be near areas that offer fresh air, for example, away from dumpsters. High-rise office building windows rarely open, so any fresh air may need to be pumped in through your HVAC system.

• Open a window to allow fresh air to clear the room, lower the temperature, and reduce the humidity.
• Implement HEPA filtered HVAC filters and air purifiers in kitchens, restrooms, and offices as needed.
• Keep garbage and other trash receptacles away from the building, especially windows and doors. 

Kitchen Odors. Kitchen odors often start on the inside of microwaves, refrigerators, trash cans and garbage disposals, so keep these tools clean by attending to them regularly. While your cleaning crew will typically remove your trash nightly--scrubbing out the inside of a garbage can, refrigerator, garbage disposal or microwave is generally considered a special service, carrying an additional fee. Surprisingly, there are some natural products you may find around your office kitchen that you can use to absorb or completely remove those stubborn smells, including:

• Fresh coffee grounds or baking soda
• Water
• White Vinegar

Some tips for use:

• For refrigerators, place an open box of baking soda or an open can of fresh coffee beans towards the back to absorb smells.
• For garbage disposals, freeze some white vinegar in ice trays and empty them into the garbage disposal, running it until the ice is gone. Repeat as necessary. You can also use fresh lemon or orange peels in place of the vinegar.
• White vinegar also works well with smelly trash cans. Just add some to a spray bottle, spray down the inside and outside of the can, and allow it to soak for about 5-10 minutes before wiping it down with a microfiber cloth.
• For microwaves that have food splattered and caked along the inside, mix two parts white vinegar and one part water in a dish. Place the dish in the microwave and turn it on for a few minutes.  Use a microfiber cloth to wipe down the inside, repeating as necessary.
• If your office break room has a dishwasher, chances are the inside is never cleaned. Two cups of white vinegar in an empty dishwasher on a full cycle should do the trick.
• Additionally, old carpet and furniture absorb large quantities of dust and different smells over the years, and you may be better off by just removing and replacing them. If you would prefer to keep them, make sure to use green cleaning and extraction tools to avoid adding to the air pollution.

Here at SERVPRO of Belle Meade/West Nashville, we’re experts on odors. If you need help with unpleasant smells in your home or office, we’ve got the skills and experience to take care of that for you. Give us a call at (615) 442-7768 today!