Moving to a house, best way to remove the former owner's "house" smell? (hardwood floors, window)

[Magic78]

We are moving into a house on Monday. It is about 5 years old and is in great shape. All hardwood floors, no carpet. The house just has the smell from the previous owners. It isn't a bad smell or anything, just a non-familiar smell.

We plan to have it painted sometime in June.

Thanks!

[stan4]

Don't worry. The paint will help, but your smells will soon permeate the place.

Are there window treatments? Have those cleaned, too.

If not, then the smell is in the walls. That will go away.

It's amazing how just cooking one time changes the smell in our 4600 square foot house.

Your smells will take over soon!

[DewDropInn]

Fresh coffee beans in bowls placed around the house. Coffee beans absorb odors. (Learned the hard way after I burned something in the microwave. It really works!)

[TexasHorseLady]

What stan4 said. Your own odors will shortly take over residence.

[Debsi]

Originally Posted by DewDropInn

Fresh coffee beans in bowls placed around the house. Coffee beans absorb odors. (Learned the hard way after I burned something in the microwave. It really works!)

So do bowls of vinegar.

[chet everett]

If there is any real unpleasantness to the odor I would be sure to have the place checked for moisture issues -- mold can render your home virrtually unlivable in a VERY brief timeframe I ahve noticed that when a home is "closed up" it can make the smells associated with mold much more noticeable.

If everything thing checks out I would NOT waste time "witches brew" type fixes. Call a firm that does commercial remediations, like what insurance companies use after a fire. They will set up ozone generators that literally kn0ck any and all odor particles out of the place.

[Debsi]

Originally Posted by chet everett

If there is any real unpleasantness to the odor I would be sure to have the place checked for moisture issues -- mold can render your home virrtually unlivable in a VERY brief timeframe I ahve noticed that when a home is "closed up" it can make the smells associated with mold much more noticeable.

If everything thing checks out I would NOT waste time "witches brew" type fixes. Call a firm that does commercial remediations, like what insurance companies use after a fire. They will set up ozone generators that literally kn0ck any and all odor particles out of the place.

OP said the smell is not unpleasant, and a gallon of white vinegar is what, $1.50? You'll know in a day if it's working for you. I'd try something like that before I'd spend a bunch of money on it.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by chet everett

If there is any real unpleasantness to the odor I would be sure to have the place checked for moisture issues -- mold can render your home virrtually unlivable in a VERY brief timeframe I ahve noticed that when a home is "closed up" it can make the smells associated with mold much more noticeable.

If everything thing checks out I would NOT waste time "witches brew" type fixes. Call a firm that does commercial remediations, like what insurance companies use after a fire. They will set up ozone generators that literally kn0ck any and all odor particles out of the place.

That's pretty much overkill for what the OP described. It's simply the "nest odor" from someone having, you know, actually lived in the house. Simple solutions (or none, just tincture of time, and not much of that) will take care of it pretty quickly.

[MrRational]

Boil some cabbage.

[LivingDeadGirl]

Buy one of those ionizers - they work great and the ozone is good for you. Obviously, scrub all surfaces and have all fabric stuff professionally cleaned (carpets/drapes).