Hi everyone! I'm wondering if anyone can give me some tips about getting pleasant--or at least toleable!--smells in my living space. I'm currently 10 weeks pregnant and everything smells 100 times stronger than it did before, and makes me sick to boot! The problem in question is IN my apartment: we live in a one bedroom space in a pretty old building. Just upon entering the building I am bombarded by old, stale air, and then walking down the hallway to our door, I get about 4 different dinners. But worst is my own apartment--it is filled with this chlorine-chemical-musty-old smell that I just can't seem to figure out where it is coming from or how to get rid of it. When I clean the house, everything smells like the cleaning products for a day or two, but then sooner or later this smell comes back. Of course my husband can't smell it and thinks I would be upset no matter where we were, but he doesn't realize that I could smell this even before I was pregnant. I've also mentioned it to the management and they just kind of smile at me and don't really know what to do. I've tried keeping the windows always partway open (but it's been pretty cold here in the city lately!) and have also tried burning lots of incense, but that really doesn't help. I'm praying someone out there can give me some miracle tip!
I'd also like to know if anyone has found a way to keep a bedroom smelling fresh--it seems like every morning, after being slept in all night, the room smells a bit stale, and it just gets worse as the week goes on. How can I counteract this??
Hi A.,
Move to a different apartment ASAP, before you get to big. Hire movers-don't do a bunch of lifting.
It started just after the pregnancy announcement and was killing me all the time. I was not ready to take meds to rid of this freak. Luckily, I found a natural herbal remedy called no to morning sickness tea that helped a lot and rid of permanent nausea.
I'm also really sensitive to smells, and more so when I was pregnant. Papaya enzyme helped a lot with the queasiness, and it's safe to use and the tablets taste yummy (I still use it for upset stomach.)
I don't really have a miracle solution, but the description of chlorine/musty makes me think of laundry rooms and utility rooms. Is there one near your apartment? The odors might be coming up from there through the vents or through the floors. Do you have carpeting in the bedroom? That will contribute to the stale sort of odors.
I haven't found that any sort of products really mask odors very well for me. Burning candles helps a little bit, but I'm also sensitive to fragrances so I have to be careful about that. You could try a scent diffuser (that would just aggravate my allergies but might work for you, and less overwhelming than incense.)
Also, put a few plants in your bedroom - there are some that are pretty tolerant of low light. They will help freshen the air overnight. Try a couple of boxes of baking soda placed somewhere out of the way - can't hurt. You can buy cedar blocks to put in your drawers and closet - if you like the smell of cedar, that also keeps things seeming fresher.
This is so weied, i almost didn't send it, but my uncle was a homicide detective, and when he had to go see a body, he would insert cigerette filters in his nostrils,so he couldn't smell the odor, he explained that the hairs in our nostril, can keep the odor, and he would smell the body days after if he didn't use the filters. Im sorry if this offends you, but you sounded desperate and I thought maybe when you first enter your building you could try this,be very very careful about putting anything in your nose, im sure every ENT doctor, would freak out over this.
Good luck with your baby, I read your responses and i agree covering up is not going to help, my husband is very sensitive to smell, he smells things i don't.
A friend of mine was able to legally break her lease when she was pregnant (in the city of chicago) because her old building likely had lead in the interior paint (walls/woodwork). You may want to check out your building--if it's old, it likely has lead paint somewhere, and the chicago landlord/tenant ordinance. I think there's some sort of clause about lead paint and pregnant women/children. I suspect that moving is the only way to escape most of these smells. Most solutions will just cover up the smell, not get rid of the underlying cause.
Oh, and you will be able to tolerate smells a little better as the pregnancy progresses, but I'm concerned b/c you said that the smells bothered you before you were pregnant. As someone who smells EVERYTHING, believe me--it will likely bother you MORE when you bring an infant into the apartment b/c you'll be concerned about the quality of the air they are breathing. If you can't move, perhaps an air purifier will help!
I am sensitive to smells, too. I have tried many products & scented oils but I usually find them overpowering or I can still detect the offending odor. Recently I found a product called Fresh Wave that you may like. I use the spray in the bathroom & the vacuum pearls. The odor absorbing gel works great. You just leave the jar open & it really absorbs the odor. It is natural~water, soya, & extracts of lime, pine needle, aniseed, clove & cedarwood. I have found it at Whole Foods & some Ace Hardware stores.
sour candy helps with nausesa my step daughter didnt belive me then she got some sour patch kids or lemon heads...they help alot!!!
I would suggest using fewer cleaners rather than so many. Incense, scents, wall-charged de-odorizers are all ADDING to the smell. On a decent day, open up the windows, maybe blow the fan for a few hours. I personally had to switch years ago to NOT using anything that was a chemical spray as it affected my lungs, and now people have commented that my house never smells (except for food smells for a few hours after dinner). AND we have 2 cats!!
For cleaners, try using simpler products like Comet cleanser in the can and/or Seventh Generation or similar eco-friendly products. Natural products break down, and this means they will also not likely hang around in your air. Lysol and Febreeze and all that other junk only add smells (and there is this whole market of commercials and such telling us to "disinfect" our air with chemical compounds).
Being pregnant, you are smelling things that may or may not be there--heightened sensitivity and all. Do you have carpeting? Maybe look up how to use simply baking soda on the carpet and vacuum it up. Really, though, I suggest to stop trying to hide the smells by compiling the smells with more products. Not only is this going to smell gross, it also is potentially hazardous to your lungs!
good luck, enjoy the over 40 degree days when we have them and get outside for walks!
When I was pregnant I had to wash my sheets, towels, washcloths, shower curtain and area rugs very frequently in unscented laundry soap. Daily would have been perfect but couldn't always do it! I vaccuum my large area rugs using filtration bags that capture odor and dust. The bags have to be changed frequently because the small particles clog the filtration part. I could not go to Target because the smell there made me nauseous. And, I could not stand the smell of meat and poultry cooking so my partner would cook it when I was out and then we'd use the leftovers for meals. Oh, and the smell of anything burning was intolerable. As far as your cleaning products, you could substitute vinegar for liquid cleaner and baking soda for powdered cleanser. They work great. To keep your bedroom fresh, you and your partner could both take showers and put on clean pj's every night before going to bed in clean sheets. Don't forget to wash your comfortor. Also, replace your pillows...throw the old stinky ones away. Then, sleep with the door open and a fan on. After you have the baby, your nose will get back to normal so all of this inconvenience will only be temporary. Happy smelling!
Try burning scented candles- that always helped me when I was preggers.
