This may be impossible to answer, but here goes: My studio apartment has a mysteriously bad smell. It’s not mold (at least not the kind I’m used to smelling on sponges or towels left damp too long), and it’s not food… It’s sort of a musty smell, sometimes sweet, sometimes sour, that seems to get stronger or weaker at random — though it never fully goes away. What might this be? And is there a top-to-bottom cleaning process that might eliminate the mysterious source? Air circulation is not great because the windows are only on one wall, but I do have a window fan…help!I’ll level with you and say that it’s tough to accurately identify “mysteriously bad” smells and prescribe a solution via the Internet — but the good news here is that I don’t think you need to do a top-to-bottom cleaning of your home. You can even lie and say you did. What I think is going on is that you have an abundance of moisture in your home. I had this once too! And there is an easy solution for it!

There’s a product called DampRid that is the most phenomenally weird and fantastic thing. It’s these, like, pellets and you put them in the little plastic bucket they come with and then you stick the li’l bucket in a corner and then, like, after three or so months it will be full with the water it’s been absorbing from your home. It’s so cool and gross. Seriously, you’ll love it. (Also when it’s full you just flush it down the toilet la la la gooood-byeee!)Anyway, give that a whirl and maybe set out a bowl of white vinegar for a spell to help absorb the smell? Or buy one of DampRid’s fun scented versions? You might also want to consider getting a standing fan to place in the interior of the apartment to help with circulation if space and your decorating choices allow for it.My boyfriend just kicked a bottle of hot pink nail polish off of the coffee table. The neck broke and nail polish went all over the floor. I mostly was able to wipe it off of the sealed hardwood (there’s still some pink residue, but it isn’t super noticeable), but it splattered onto my nice cream wool rug.

I’m scared to use nail polish remover in case it eats through the fibers or something? Can it be salvaged, or does he have to stand on a chair in the corner with a “rug ruiner” sign around his neck? Is there a way to get the hot pink residue off of the hardwood?Well certainly, put the sign on him! I mean, I’m never going to object to signshaming the menfolk. Please.While he’s busy in the corner Thinking About What He Did, you can go get yourself some Motsenbocker Lift Off (#3). steam cleaners for carpets rental(They have a whole line of Lift Offs, but #3 is what you want for nail varnish.) carpet cleaner for bad stainsThat will work on both the rug and the hardwood. floor steam cleaner for laminateThe Motsenbocker (and seriously how fun is that to say??) site includes a “where to buy” section, but most hardware-type stores will carry it.

Hey gang, Jolie here! I’m changing things up a bit and asking you, my beloved Dirty People, to answer a question for me: What are your favorite green products/non-toxic cleaning solutions? What delightful shortcuts have you discovered on the way to saving our great green earth? What products do you substitute for those nasty hazardous chemicals like bleach?Make your voices heard by submitting suggestions or leaving them in the comments. Select answers will be used as part of a very special episode of Ask a Clean Person.Previously: Toilets, Ovens, and the Importance of Rubber Gloves.Jolie Kerr is not paid to endorse any of the products mentioned in this column, but she sure would be very happy to accept any free samples the manufacturers care to send her way! Is anything you own dirty?nail polish on the carpet, oh my! June 25, 2010   Subscribe How To Get Nail Polish Off Wood Cloth and Carpet When I was five years old I decided to give myself my first manicure…without my mom knowing…on her new white carpet…with red nail polish.

Yes, you can guess how well that went. Needless to say my mom was horrified to find my messy polish crime scene which I thought I could fix by sprinkling baby […]Needless to say my mom was horrified to find my messy polish crime scene which I thought I could fix by sprinkling baby powder over. (Hey, at five years old it seemed like a great solution.) While my blog post twenty years later won’t do much for my mom I hope it will help you if this happens in your home, whether the mess is from your child or an accidental spill you had. Removing Polish From Carpet First of all, what color is your carpet? If it’s light or white, using a non-acetone polish remover is probably your best bet. If it’s dark and you’re not sure about whether the dye might interact with it, try pouring on hair spray or rubbing alcohol and then blotting the polish up with a sponge or paper towels. Don’t give up if the polish just seems to keep coming — you want to get every last bit out. Removing Polish From Cloth

Probably one of the most common polish problems, this is also a tricky one. Nail polish remover can interact with some dyes and fabrics (it’ll actually melt acetate), so perform a spot test before you use it. If you use remover on your fabric, make sure to launder it directly afterward. And if remover isn’t an option, you can always try hair spray. Dry cleaning solvent can also usually remove polish, so if you can’t get it out at home, don’t be afraid to run it down to your cleaners. Removing Polish From Wood First rule: don’t use nail polish remover on wood. It actually ruins finishes and leaves new, maybe even worse looking, stains. Don’t panic, though, because there’s actually a really easy way to fix the polish-on-wood problem. Just spritz your polish puddle down with plenty of hair spray (we use Aqua Net), let it sit for about 20 seconds, and then wipe it off. You might need to repeat the process a few times, but it’s far, far preferable to having splotchy furniture.