How to get rid of curry smell in apartment.

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Northerngirl

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Ive just moved into an apartment which was previously owned by an Asian family. Ive tried all sorts of air freshners, leaving windows open for days, have re-painted walls, however there is still a strong and pervasive smell of curries, which friends have noted. Any other suggestions....
 
you could try cutting an onion in half and leaving it in the room. however, this could be as bad as your first problem.
 
What about the fabrics involved? e.g. curtains, cushions, carpets.

They tend to retain odours more than anything - I try cleaning them too if you haven't already.
 
Boil bacon and cabbage every day for a week and you'll soon get rid of the smell of that nasty foreign muck.
 
I believe baking soda will 'soak up' smells. Sprinkle it on soft furnishings, leave overnight, then hoover off (might want to test in an unobtrusive area first to see it doesn't do harm to carpets etc). Also, place a half cup of it where the smell is particularly bad.
 
If all fabrics have been washed/replaced, change the filters in the extractor fan.
 
I have had this problem with three of my properties which I have let to African people. Every time I had to remove both the CHARCOAL and GREASE FILTER from the extractor fan and then thouroughly clean BEHIND the filter in ALL the nooks and cranies. This is a nightmare job and you need oven cleaner to do it which can be harmfull on the lungs in a confinded space. It took me 3-4 hours in each case. Also you must clean and disinfect ABOVE all the presses and the press doors which you will find will have a thin shiny layer of smelly grease on. I had to repaint the walls and particulary the ceiling !
Good luck
 
That's funny, I had to do exactly the same dirty job when I moved into my current house. It is a seriously dirty job. Previous owners were Irish who obviously never changed the fan filter.

Having all the curtains etc cleaned is a good idea but double check in the kitchen that there isn't some spilled spices somewhere on or behind a cupboard. Is there a carpet?
 
Yes, the apartment has carpets throughout which I now intend to replace with wooden floors, when I get the finances together. Have changed the fan filter and tried to scrub off the congeled oil as best I could, but seems I will need to get industrial strength oven cleaner to get rid of smell. Its even in the bedroom..anyway thanks for all the useful tips, will try the baking soda, onion,etc;
 
there is a hand wash for removing oil and grease that i got in lidl or aldi (suited to mechanics etc) but i use it in my press where the deep fat fryer is, grease always marks and this stuff wipes it of in seconds, w/out scrubbing. might help you with all the oil/grease around the fan. its in a blue bottle.
 
i lived in an aprtment complex and noticed this smell in the hall from other apartments, are you sure the source of the smell is even in you flat?
 
Well according to the original post the "Asian family" who formerly occupied the house are to blame for the smell.
 
Ok Clubman, maybe the wrong choice of words. I let my apartment out to a family who were ideal tenants in every way, and they have since moved to my friends apartment with references from me, however I did not foresee the cooking smell would be so difficultt to get rid off after they left, which is the purpose of my post. ClubMan, its obvious your trying to imply some sort of racism in my post, sorry to disappoint!
 
Boil bacon and cabbage every day for a week and you'll soon get rid of the smell of that nasty foreign muck.
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A very racist comment by the most pc of people!!! Bang out of order.

Especially since Ireland's favourite food is actually....Curry.

[broken link removed]
 
Northerngirl said:
Ive just moved into an apartment which was previously owned by an Asian family. Ive tried all sorts of air freshners, leaving windows open for days, have re-painted walls, however there is still a strong and pervasive smell of curries, which friends have noted. Any other suggestions....
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There was an Indian family living in our house before we bought it.

It took us many months and a complete redecoration of the house before we succeeded in getting rid of the smell of curry.

There was, however, one press in the kitchen, where I presume they stored the curry. We never succeeded in getting rid of the smell until we got a new kitchen in years later. A cut onion used to absorb some of the smell in that press but it only masked the smell temporarily. The curry smell always returned in the end.

I have visited several Indian houses since, and the smell on entering those houses, always bring me back to the time when we moved into our new house.


Murt
 
After reading this thread, I went and made an Indian curry for dinner. The smell is all over the house now - I love it! :D
 
landlord said:
I have had this problem with three of my properties which I have let to African people. Every time I had to remove both the CHARCOAL and GREASE FILTER from the extractor fan and then thouroughly clean BEHIND the filter in ALL the nooks and cranies. This is a nightmare job and you need oven cleaner to do it which can be harmfull on the lungs in a confinded space. It took me 3-4 hours in each case. Also you must clean and disinfect ABOVE all the presses and the press doors which you will find will have a thin shiny layer of smelly grease on. I had to repaint the walls and particulary the ceiling !
Good luck
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Urgh...gross!
 
Northerngirl said:
Ive just moved into an apartment which was previously owned by an Asian family. Ive tried all sorts of air freshners, leaving windows open for days, have re-painted walls, however there is still a strong and pervasive smell of curries, which friends have noted. Any other suggestions....
Click to expand...

Incense? - Lots of.
Or an old trick of Vodka mixed with an air-freshener of you choice. That eliminates odours (i think) whereas most only cover them.
 
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