# New house smell - how to get rid of?



## sora (Oct 7, 2006)

Hi,
I found a perfect condo for our needs but the one unit available is 1yr old and the other unit is 2yr old. Both have strong new material smell when I came in to see them. Once I was in the units, I couldn't notice it. But the fact that the smell was quite strong when I came in makes me concern.
I never thought that 1 -2yr old condos would still smell like new homes. Is there a way to help speed the outgassing? Or I shouldn't even think about moving.
How od does a house have to be before outgassing most of toxic stuff?
Thanks!


----------



## Pinoikoi (Oct 30, 2003)

My house lost its "new house smell" at about 1 yr.. and it had brand new EVERYTHING..

but then I wipe down the walls ALOT.. the carpet smell was the strongest, but I don't think I did anything that would help with that, though..

Perhaps they had JUST been repainted or carpets cleaned? I am trying to think of why a 1-2 yr place would still smell strongly like that..


----------



## mich (Apr 19, 2002)

My thoughts are plan to air out the home (open windows, try to get cross ventilation) once a day, 10 min or longer. And lots of houseplants. I would do this in any new home, regardless of the age.

We remolded our home in 2007 and even though we used lots of no voc products there were still lots of off gassing materials. Mostly the kitchen cabinets, lots of plywood and new smell. I aired out the kitchen as much as I could (winter in MA) at least once a day. And loaded up with plants.

There is a great book called How to Grow Fresh Air that gives lots of info on the best plants for cleaning the air of off gassing pollutants.

Good luck!


----------



## SleeplessMommy (Jul 16, 2005)

As others have said, do a lot of ventilation - especially since nice weather will be here soon!







:


----------



## mags (May 4, 2004)

Air it out and do lots of baking?


----------



## mommy2jonah (Dec 30, 2007)

Not sure if this would work for that but you could put baking soda out to *absorb* the odors. Hope you are able to get those smells out.


----------



## mom0810 (May 19, 2006)

Putting out a dish of vinegar also helps to clear the odors in a room.


----------



## sora (Oct 7, 2006)

Thanks so much. I maybe too crazy but I decided not to move in there because of the smell. I'm pregnant and have a toddler so I don't want to take any risk. Thanks!


----------



## Lily's_Mom (Feb 11, 2008)

I read an article once about detoxifying new homes/condos. Basically, you need to 'bake-out' all the chemicals from everything in the home.

To do this, you go in and close all the windows, turn off all the ventilation and crank the heat!! The increase in temperature helps release all the toxins from surfaces (paint, carpet, cupboards etc) and into the air. After a day or so of this, you go in and turn the heat off, open all the windows wide and crank your ventilation. This helps suck all that nasty air out of the condo. It should be a lot healthier after all that!

...yay, I found an article on google: Anything I should do before I move into my brand new home? (scroll down two-thirds of the page):

Quote:

To speed up the curing process, you can do what is commonly called a "bake-out". In, my experience, it has been a cure-all for many toxic homes, as it bakes off the volatile gasses that are present in materials and finishes and cures the materials into an inert form.

The procedure I recommend in my book Home Safe Home is this:

* Close all the doors and windows.
* Remove people, pets and plants.
* Turn up the central heat as far as it will go or use space heaters.
* At the end of each twenty-four hour period, open the doors and windows and air your home out completely. Use a fan if necessary.
* Sniff around to check for odors. Determine if they are gone, or if you need another day of baking.

Baking can take from one to five days. I've never needed to do it longer than five days.
ETA: just saw you decided not to move in anyways.


----------

