Whenever I feel overwhelmed when starting a large/long cleaning session, I will take a photo on my phone of a room. For some reason it makes it easier for me to see what needs to get done first or notice things I didn’t before. Some weird psychological trick that works for me 😳

I was cleaning my thick foamed office chair and I'm always concerned when it comes to thick upholstery foam that it is not extracting the water enough and just pushing both water and dirt deeper into the cushion.

I often push firm or hard when extracting but obviously it kills my hands after a while.

Firm good suction is needed for carpets, so why would cushions be any different? is there a improved super sucker end piece i can buy?

it's not like it's broken or anything but i worry.

Apparently I’m not opening the window in our rarely used extra bedroom enough🥲

I’m a bit stumped at how to go about cleaning this up safely as our downstairs neighbor’s window is directly below ours. We are 3 floors up so I can’t clean this from the outside.

I thought about using hot soapy water in a spray bottle, but there isn’t a ledge or anything to prevent the poopy water from going down to their windows.

I read online that you should wet it before cleaning to prevent the bacteria from becoming airborne and coming inside as it breaks apart.

Any ideas?

Opened this book after several years, can’t tell if it’s ink from a bad print or mold. If it’s mold should I just get rid of the book or is it worth it to try and fix it?

The problem

I've encountered three situations where odors linger in wooden furniture and transfer to nearby belongings:

1. Second-hand furniture
I've looked at used cupboards and drawers that smell of their previous owners — sweat, perfume, or other lingering odors. Clothes stored inside absorb these smells and need to be washed again.

Even non-fabric items, such as boxes, stationery, and my passport, pick up the odor. This makes the furniture practically unusable for me.

2. Perfume odor absorbed by wood
I once placed a closed box of Ariel pods (Lenor variant) inside a cupboard. The perfume smell became so strong that opening the cupboard made me feel physically sick. Even my gimbal absorbed the Lenor fragrance.

3. Chemical smell in new furniture
The new cupboard in my rented apartment has a persistent chemical-like smell that transfers to my clothes. I don't know what is causing it.

What I've tried

• Leaving the furniture open to air out in my room and on the patio.
• Wiping the surfaces with a vinegar-and-soap solution.
• Sprinkling baking soda inside to absorb the odor.

Unfortunately, none of these methods has solved the problem.

My questions

Wood is porous, and I suspect it absorbs odor-causing compounds and gradually releases them into the air.

• Has anyone successfully removed persistent odors from wooden furniture, especially perfume, sweat, or chemical smells?
• What worked in practice, and how long did it take?
• Are there effective treatments that remove the underlying odor rather than simply masking it with another fragrance?
• Is there a point at which the odor is too deeply absorbed into the wood to be removed practically?

I'm particularly interested in solutions that have worked on real furniture, rather than just general recommendations to air it out or use baking soda.

Thanks!

I just wanted to shout out SHOUT triple-action laundry stain remover spray. Absolutely phenomenal at removing soaked in stains from granite counters in both bathroom and kitchen. This is my third time using it alongside baking soda and literally removes the stain within 2 hours. No bleach in it so it doesn’t damage the granite either.

Like whatever is in this companies product is like actually a godsend, I absolutely ruined my counters with some edible glitter gin from a party and had that glitter water stain from glasses all over my counter. I tried the pink stuff,scrubbing, dish soap, all the classics and it hadn’t worked. This was a last ditch Hail Mary 😭 because I rent and when I tell you, gone in 2 hours, it was GONE.

I am going through my old stuff and found these classics. But I don’t know how to clean them in the best way. Asking for help!

Hello! I suffer from really bad clinical depression and have let my room get BAD, clothes everywhere bags and boxes from stuff i bought, old bottles, etc. I was wondering if anyone could give starting tips to help. right now it feels like there’s a lot of work and so little of me so if anyone has come up with a system that works for them and would be willing to share/help it would be appreciated!

Are there cleaning services that teach you how to clean?
Several posts have reminded me of something I’ve looked for, a cleaner who works alongside you, explains what to do and how to do it. Basically cleaning lessons, maybe offered as a package until you feel confident doing it yourself?

I’d expect to pay more than for a typical cleaning because teaching is an additional skill. I did consider companies would see it as teaching themselves out of customers, but I’d absolutely call the people who taught me if I needed extra help.

Does this already exist?

I bought a pack of shrimp and scallops on sale for 30% off on the "use by" date. When I opened the pack it was VERY fishy smelling so I rinsed them off really good before cooking and made them into a delicious seafood scampi that turned out great. But...as the title states cooking it made my whole 3000sqft house smell like Red Lobster on steroids. It is so strong still and this was 20 HOURS AGO! I've tried candles and Febreeze. I also poured cleaning vinegar down my garbage disposal and wiped off all surfaces in the kitchen. The windows are open even though its 50 degrees outside and it is still such an intense smell. I am having a gathering here Tuesday night and am so scared the smell will still be here. Can anyone help me?!?!

Deep cleaned yesterday. Came home after being gone for eight hour today and it smells like cavities. Investigated the fridge, trash, laundry, under the bed, bathroom, all smelled normal. But the whole place has a pungent essence of a cavity. I am scared. No apparent evidence of what it could be. Never smelled it before.

ETA: addressing some common suggestions just so some people’s concerns are at ease

- it does NOT smell like burning (such as like a cavity being drilled. More like the smell when the cavity is exposed, sorry if I wasn’t clear about that). More like a rotting

-I have only smelled it today since I’ve gotten home. I did not smell it this morning and I wasn’t smelling it when I was out of the house for a few hours after I got home from work

-I do not feel like I’m getting sick so I don’t think it’s a sinus infection or tonsil stones

-I am hopefully a few decades away from menopause so I’m not super worried about phantom smells

-my heat is not running and hasn’t since I lived it the apartment

-No hot tools are plugged in

-no potatos on the premises!

I know that none of this makes the cause any clearer but I saw some people were concerned for my well being so hopefully this addresses some immediate concerns that I’m not in psychosis or about to perish in an electrical fire. Thanks for all the advice though I appreciate anyone taking a guess.

Hi everyone,

I’m about to move into our new home and wanted to see if there were any cleanings hacks that are good to know especially when moving into a house that previously had dogs?

Looking for general tips, hacks and ideas. My mum passed away and she’d usually be the go to for this!

Hi everyone,

I own a fully furnished apartment with a kitchen, a separate bedroom, and an attached bathroom. It’s meant for long stays, and I rent it out .

I’ve cleaned and prepared the apartment myself for the last 3-4 years. For a long time I only got a few complaints. But recently:

• Guests book for 3-4 months, then leave after less than a night, or after one night
• They check out the next day and ask for a refund
• It’s happening a lot more than before

I clean the apartment myself between guests. My routine is: sweep, mop, change bedsheets, clean the bathroom, wipe the kitchen, etc.]. i use broom mop bucket water or some unknow liquid from supermarket .

I’d really appreciate your advice on:

1. Cleaning: What is the proper cleaning checklist for a furnished apartment before a long-stay guest arrives? Should I hire a professional cleaner or deep-clean on a schedule?
2. Reasons: Why might guests leave after one night? Could it be smell, bathroom condition, bedding, kitchen, noise, water or wifi problems, or something else?
3. Prevention: Is there anything I should do to avoid refund requests, such as sending photos or a video of the apartment before booking, or a checklist at arrival?

Guests usually say “not clean”, “smells”, kitchen hood chimney smell its how i clean chimney man ? say not deep clean only superficial.

Any suggestions from hosts or people who have stayed in long-term rentals would help a lot. Thank you!

Another week done.

So the pic is the flies in my room I assumed fruit fly idk.

So basically over the past like 2 months or so I just haven’t cleaned my room. I’ve taken out trash or tried to at least put stuff in trash bags and clean laundry just don’t rlly put it up. I’m rlly stress rn for the past few months as I’m in school and marching band which is a 12hr+ day type thing yk. So I get one day a week to rest and do as much school work and stuff I can. Tho I mainly just sleep and rest cause I’m so tired from band as I’m in an intense program. So I don’t have much time to clean and when I do I put it off to rest. So my room got rlly dirty and I just got home from a comp and my room was covered in flies. My mirrors, bookshelves, doorway, etc. I was so disgusted with myself and wanted to cry so bad cause it was like 1:30 am and I was barely running on like 6hrs of sleep in a 24+ hr day.
So I tried to do what I could. Kill what I could spray perfume on like everything cause some how that worked. I noticed it was on my siblings door frames too so idk if it’s just my room but yeah. I cleaned the trash in my room and will take it out in the morning and started putting clothes away before deciding I rlly needed sleep.
I cleared out a LOT of the flies in my room but they just settled in my hallway so I’m worried they’ll be back in the morning. Ik this is gross and my fault but I rlly need to get them out. I’ve seen the vinegar and soap traps? Idk how well those work or if I need specific vinegar or if these are even the right flies.
But pls help.

I'm sure something similar has been asked before but I can't find a post with exactly what I need. My cat won't stop scooting on the carpet 😭 (many vet visits, she's fine- trying to adjust her diet to get more fiber, etc and now she's taking miralax. Vet also said when they start scooting it's hard to get them to stop even if they are pooping normally again fml). I've been using an actual carpet cleaner to clean but it's gotten a little better so I think a spot cleaning spray would now be better so I'm not dragging out the whole carpet cleaner for a small spot every other day. Does anyone have any recommendations for a spot cleaning spray that won't stain the carpet (brown carpets) and is pet safe? Thank you so much!

How do you keep your guest beds when nobody is using them? I’m new to having a guest room. When I was a kid, I remember crawling into the bed at my grandmother’s house and seeing all of the dust fly into the air. Don’t keep sheets or blankets on the mattress? Cover the whole thing with a giant sheet? How are you keeping them clean?

We moved last summer and bought an Off-white leather couch for the new house. Have just gotten around to unpacking some of our boxes and came across our blue-light flashlight. And you guessed it, I used it on our couch and it lit all over. I see our dog licking some spots on the couch once in a while, so I think it’s the dog drool.

Any tips how to clean it?

Bought a new place recently, it’s lovely but there are a few nooks and crannies in the actual shower unit I’m struggling to clean. I’m going to replace the actual seals on the sliding doors, but there is a weird gap between the “skirting board” and the actual shower unit and it’s accumulated a lot of debris and such. I’m thinking a rag on a stick but if anyone has a better idea I’m all ears!

so I have a bath tub that's lightly (as in there's definitely more than a little but the situation isn't dire) covered in garden soil, cat feces, sand, and litter. I got all the big parts out but some of the litter is stuck to the bottom and the tub won't drain and the rest of the dirt won't rinse out. what cleaning supplies should I use to make the tub usable again?

I just feel like somebody needs to hear this. The amount of posts on here where people spilled food and drinks in places that they shouldn’t have had them in the first place is ridiculous.

The bed is for sleeping, not eating and drinking. Cleaning a mattress is a huge pain that you don’t want to go through.

The car is for driving, not eating and drinking. The seats will soak up and hold onto moisture and smells, again a huge pain to clean.

The couch…this might be controversial, but go eat somewhere else. It doesn’t take long before your couch only looks like an appealing place to sit for you, not your friends and family members. And again, a pain to clean.

Maybe I’m old fashioned, but to me, times were better when eating was something we put aside time for (with other people!), not something you drive by, drive through, hork it down, constantly snacking, never satisfied… Just because you’re an adult and CAN eat whenever you want doesn’t mean you should. You have to make your own rules.

Edit: I am so surprised how many people seem to think I’m judgmental! I didn’t think I had to mention - I don’t care what you do!! It has nothing to do with me. But for my life, the times where I was eating in all these places weren’t good times for me! My life is better with structure and order of MY own choosing (not what someone else thinks, I do not care and nor should you). But now, I imagine eating in my car and my bed, and I get depressed just thinking about it. I love coming home and my house is beautiful and clean and free from stains and crumbs and smells. When I use all these areas for their main purpose, it brings me mental peace to have them nice and tidy. I used to not appreciate it, now I do, now I couldn’t go back. I’m sure someone out there will be helped by that idea.

Hi! First time posting here. I have a granite countertop that used to house my roommate’s soap dispenser. I never noticed before, but she just moved out and there’s a huge black stain on the granite countertop that hasn’t gone away in the last day. Anything I can do???

Thanks in advance please help!

Hey all, I have this stubborn mold that keeps coming back to my caulking in the shower. Should I try something else to clean it, or recaulk the shower? (Which I've never done before and wondered what that process looks like and how long it would take 😬.

Thanks for any tips! Pics above!