Mildew, Stains, and Smoke Smell - Oh My!

[PirateLover]

I just moved into an apartment. It is the first time my fiancee and I have lived on our own.
For the most part things are going very well, but there are a few "housekeeping" issues that have cropped up.

Problem 1: We have only been here about 2 weeks and we already have what I assume to be mildew. The white tub mat has taken on a brownish color and underneath where the suction cups are, there is brown residue. I know you should lift the mat every so often but what other preventatives should I take? What are the best products?

Problem 2: The kitchen floor has two mysterious blue stains around the base of the oven and dishwasher (they are right next to each other). I don't know what they could be from... some kind of detergent maybe? They are bothering me. Does anyone have any tips for getting tough stains out of linoleum?

Problem 3: My fiancee's grandfather has given us his very nice Berkline leather recliner, but it has a mild smoke smell. You can only smell it if you stick your nose right up to it, and you get a faint whiff if you sit in it long enough. What can we do to get some of the smell out without harming the leather? (FYI, the cover cannot be fully removed but there is access via the back if we wanted to attempt to try something from the inside).

Help on any of these matters would greatly be appreciated!!

[faline]

1. Hang the bath mat after each use. Preventing mildew is about keeping it as dry as possible. I've heard you can run it through the washer (cold water only and certainly don't put it in the dryer).

2. No idea. I think you need to try to figure out what caused the stains before you can figure out a solution.

3. Try googling on ridding leather furniture from smoke smells. I'm sure you'll find specific instructions on how to use saddle soap to provide the most benefit!

Living on your own certainly presents new challenges! Sounds like you're up to them!

[DizneyRox]

1. Make sure you turn on the exhaust fan in the bathroom to help keep moisture down. It's going to be a constant battle however.

2. Blue or blue-green? Blue-green chances are it's from water coming form copper piping. I've seen this around dishwashers and fridges, not so much around an oven. Once it's in the linoleum though it might be pretty hard to remove.

3. Smoke is a tough one. Personally I'd pass on it, I jsut can't stand that stench! You can try to clean it with saddle soap, then use a Lexol oil on the leather. I've also used Zymol products on my cars which work pretty well and smell great, but never had to remove smoke. If it's in the foam cushions, etc you probably have limited choices, i.e. hide the smell.

[PirateLover]

Thanks for the suggestions! We do use the exhaust fan but I think we may have to use a regular fan too... we did this the first few days but slacked off. I will start hanging the mat after each use.

2. Blue or blue-green? Blue-green chances are it's from water coming form copper piping. I've seen this around dishwashers and fridges, not so much around an oven. Once it's in the linoleum though it might be pretty hard to remove.

It is actually more of a blue-purple. If I get the chance I'll take a picture and post it later. I've managed to get some of it up, I think. But maybe that's just my mind trying to make me feel better as I was on my hands and knees earlier today scrubbing the heck out of it!

[brownie]

Try vacuuming the sofa with the brush attachment on a vacuum cleaner or shop vac.

[Tink2002]

We had really bad mildew issues in our last apartment due to a small and poorly ventilated bathroom - Tilex is AWESOME for cleaning the stains off of the tub and shower, but you really just have to try to prevent them as much as you can in the first place - it's pretty STRONG cleaner so I don't like to use it very often, maybe only once or twice a month to knock out build-up.

Where we live right now, we have very old linoleum in our kitchen and their are a few mystery spots on it - good luck. I've tried everything. I think once linoleum grabs onto a stain, it tends to hold onto it.

Also, I would go the google route to see about the smoke smell in the leather - just make sure before you try ANYTHING that you test it out on a little spot on the back to make sure it isn't going to stain or harm the leather.

good luck!

[nicster]

There is a product called Odorban that I got at Sam's Club. It is used as a mildew retardant, and reduces odors. My understanding is that many hotels use it to reduce the smoke (and other undesirable smells) from their rooms. Leather may me a tricky thing, but if you can treat the underside and maybe let it 'air out' somewhere (on a balcony out of the sun, maybe). You might be able to reduce the odor from your chair.

As for the blue stain, I agree with the eairler poster, it may be water under the linoleum. My sis had this problem in her home built in the 1980's. It turns out that there was a big recall on the plastic pipes that ran thru the foundations of the homes built then, they were leaking into the foundations! ... when was your apartment built???

[d_m_n_n]

Thanks for the suggestions! We do use the exhaust fan but I think we may have to use a regular fan too... we did this the first few days but slacked off. I will start hanging the mat after each use.


It is actually more of a blue-purple. If I get the chance I'll take a picture and post it later. I've managed to get some of it up, I think. But maybe that's just my mind trying to make me feel better as I was on my hands and knees earlier today scrubbing the heck out of it!

If it is purple, I would say water has gotten under your flooring. This happened to us when our dishwasher sprung a leak and my floor turned purple. It took us a couple of years before we could change out the flooring and while it didn't get any worse, it certainly didn't get much lighter.

[DisneyDog]

Definitely Tilex for the mildew, although the dollar store sells a comparable product for just a buck. Works just as well.

As far as getting out stains in hard surfaces, get the magic eraser (or a generic equivalent). They take out anything...scuff marks on tiles, crayons on walls, you name it. They are incredible. They even sell a magic eraser mop that is amazing at cleaning tile and linoleum floors.

You may want to call an upholstery place or even a dry cleaners about the smoke smell. They may be able to help you out with a suggestion on that.

[pink]

First of all congratulations on your first apartment!

I don't have suggestions for two of the questions but for the blue stain on the kitchen floor, we have the same thing as our home and despite the various cleaners we used, they never went away. We also have linoelium (sp) but we just had to give up and put a mat over it.

[PirateLover]

Thanks again all. I'm not sure how old the buildings are but our unit was recently remodeled, although I think they did some of it on the cheap. But for a first apartment it's not bad and the community is good. I'm really starting to think that for the kitchen stain, as some of you suggested, it may be coming from underneath. If that's the case, oh well, I'll deal! We are going shopping today and will pick up some shower cleaner, and we are discussing what we want to try with the recliner-as I said the smell isn't really too bad so we'll see. Thanks again all!

[magicofdisney]

Here's an idea for masking the cig smell. You said you can reach into it so maybe you could place fabric softener sheets within those areas.

[nicster]

Here's an idea for masking the cig smell. You said you can reach into it so maybe you could place fabric softener sheets within those areas.

Never thought of that... I like it!

[Magic Smiles]

For the mildew definitely hang the bathmat after EVERY use.

I just finished fixing up my Mother's 47 year old house to sell. The kitchen floor is still the original floor and was stained. It is not linoleum, but was some kind of white and brown tile. I could not get it clean. A co-worker told me that they had used Easy Off Oven Cleaner on their floor. Well I tried it. First underneath where the stove sits to test. Left it to sit approx 20 minutes and had to rinse the floor numerous times. You would be amazed at the results. I then did 3 coats of Rejuvenate. The floor ended up white and brown again with an almost mirror finish.

While working on the house I discovered 3 great products:
Easy Off Oven Cleaner for the floors,
Rejuvenate for floors and all wood (the original wood kitchen cabinets and all doors also came up like new), and
Zep Degreaser - amazing Stuff - cleaned ALL the stains from the counter tops. Made the 20 year old stove and fridge look like they were brand new.
The house sold in 5 days for more than the Real Estate Agent had thought I should even list it for. Good thing I set my own price and didn't listen to the agent!

As for the smoke smell issue.......toss it. Can you tell I am a non-smoker?

Congratulations on your new apartment. It sounds like you are on the right track trying to get a grasp on the small issues before they become big issues.