Patchouli oil and other odors

[Linda2917]

Does anyone have a solution to lingering odors from previous guests? My last guest used patchouli and the whole place smells of it now. I’ve been airing the place out but my next guest is due to arrive in a few days and the smell is just as strong as when the last group left. 

[Linda108]

What a lovely listing!  I wonder if the oil has been transfered to the materials you have in your property and you would need to wash it out or use some odor neutralizer like Febreez.  Usually a scent on hard surfaces fades with air circulation.  

[Heidi588]

I don't know how the get the scent out, but I do know it's strong, people either love it or hate it. And some use it to cover up the smell of mj.

If I were your next guest, I'd appreciate you contacting me two days in advance, let me know about the smell, and offer that I could cancel for no penalty if the smell bothered me, otherwise, welcome if I like the smell, but please don't add to it with more.

If I liked the smell, there would be no reason to offer a discount. 

If I were trying to rip you off, I'd ask for a discount, and I'd end up being the kind of guest who would cause you problems, so this would have given you an advance opportunity to find out if I'm a problem guest and get free of me before I ever arrived. It's not like there's no place else to stay in Flagstaff! 

If I liked the smell, and I also smoked mj, I'd probably be happy, so you'd need to be a little suspicious if I liked the smell.

[Debra300]

@Linda2917, 

Personally, I like the scent of patchouli, and never have used it to cover up the smell of ganja.  However, I do know that some people are very sensitive to strong odors.  These are the things that I'd try:  sprinkle baking soda on upholstered furniture and rugs and vacuum, wash the linens, bedspreads, ets., and spray Febreez fabric refresher.

[Sarah977]

@Linda2917  I also like the scent of patchouli, and not to cover up the smell of weed, so I don't think that just because a future guest may say it wouldn't bother them that means they are marijuana smokers.

But of course any scent, even one you like, can be hard to handle if it's too strong. In addition to the helpful hits you've gotten re eliminating the smell, bowls of white vinegar set around the place can also help to neutralize smell and a stand-up fan set by an open window, blowing the air out, may help. 

I had a guest who used a lot of essential oils and while I thought her room and bathroom smelled quite lovely after she checked out, my next guests may not have agreed. Luckily, I live in the tropics where the windows are always open, there aren't a lot of soft porous surfaces to absorb smells, and I don't do back-to-back bookings, so it had dissipated by the time my next guest showed up.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Linda2917 

In addition to the suggestions above, I find that using diluted vinegar rinse or a damp rag to wipe ALL hard surfaces, then airing for a day or two helps get rid of lingering smells faster. 

[Maggie550]

Baking soda with vanilla

[Lizabeth3]

Guests spraying Patchouli all over is more common.  We estimate 99 % of the time it is sprayed to cover up the weed smell.  Now that weed is legal in many states, people still smoke it in non-smoking rooms and yes, it does cover up the weed and or smoke smell, but it is more difficult to get rid of the smell.  We have an ozone machine that we run in the room.  These machines are expensive and you run them for an hour at a time, wait 2 or 3 hours then air the room out.  Patchouli takes several repeats of this process with the ozone machine.  We remove and wash all bedding, of course, as usual.  We also remove and clean the curtains.  These renters are always a loss and blocked from repeat reserving with us.