Science of Stink.
Judgment:
Real estate agents, homeowners, guests, and buyers alike pass judgement about the quality of a property, it’s cleanliness and its value, before they even walk through the door for the first time.
How, you ask?
Odor!
That same part of the brain that gives you comfort, smelling fresh baked cookies and warm sunny summer days after long rain showers, is a highly honed machine. That part of the brain is capable of picking up the slightest scents and amplifying them to alert you of potential hazards.
This part of the brain is called the Olfactory.
So what is the Olfactory?
The Olfactory is a specialized sensory receptor cell which converts a chemical substance and generates a biological signal out of it.
The Olfaction has many purposes, such as the detection of hazards, pheromones, and food. It integrates with other senses to form the sense of flavor.
Why does this matter?
Our sense of smell is closely linked with memory, likely, more than any of our other senses. Therefore, smells evoke particular memories and emotional responses, sometimes powerful ones!
Speed of smell
If a train is leaving Boston at 8 am at 60 miles per hour….
Yeah, it's not going to be like that. We can break down the math if you want. The reality is, before somebody even walks into the doorway of your home, a potential property to buy, or a listing you're trying to sell or rent, they have already been inundated with a lifetime of past emotional responses.
A laundry list of potential red flags have begun to filter the information and pass judgement on you and the home or property behind that door.
Well, by the time the door opens, you have 10 to 30 milliseconds to make your first impression!
That's only .01-.03 seconds, people!
Now it's time to put your best foot forward!
What causes odors in a home?
Well, short answer… living in it...
Mildew, damp laundry, garbage disposals, trash cans, cooking, smoke, tar, nicotine, dander, allergens, plants, bacteria, pets, dust, your own natural oils, skin cells and so much more! The list is endless!
Can you clean these smells?
Sure, a little bit… You can scrub all day long and still not reach all the places these odors can hide.
Why, you ask?
Well, particulate is required for the Olfactory sensory receptors to send a sensory response to the brain.
If we have particulate, we know it's airborne, or how else did our nose pick it up?
What's another word for airborne particulate? Vapor or better Volatile.
So, now we have an organic particulate known as a compound made up of a lot of yuck, that's built up over the years, and it's airborne…
Well my friends reading this, you now have a whole bunch of Volatile Organic Compounds or VOC's in your house made by you, mixing with the VOC's your carpets, the paint on your walls, your furniture and just about every other surface in your house or property is giving off.
All of these VOCs have to go somewhere… and considering VOCs are microscopic, they can absorb into soft furnishings, back into your carpets, into the tiny crevices in your cabinets, behind them, into the ventilation system and under your flooring. These VOCs can penetrate porous and in some cases non-porous surfaces in your home or property.
I don't know about you, but I'm not cleaning under my flooring and behind my cabinets on a regular basis, let alone dismantling my HVAC system to remove these VOCs!
Can't I just clean my vents?
Sure! You should already be doing that semiannually to annually! But here's the kicker, you can't just vacuum out or brush out VOCs!
Most VOCs are oil based… Why? You sure are full of questions!
Well, most living things are covered in and made up of oils.
So, now you think your vents are vacuumed and brushed clean? Most VOCs are oil based… How well do you think you could clean your counter if the next time you spill oil on it you had to clean it with a paintbrush?
So, now that we have all of these oily VOCs in all of these places we can't reach, why do we keep smelling them?
That's simple, organic compounds become volatile at room temperature, and because we were paying attention, volatile means it's airborne…
But now the fun part… what grows on oils? That's right, bacteria! Bacteria not only make people sick, but release disgusting smells, as does the mildew in the bathroom, the yeast from your skin cells dropping by the millions, the fungus growing where you can't reach…
So, still think you can just clean it all away?
Even if you could remove all of the sources of odor, which you now know you can't, could you clean the air so these VOC's don't land on any of your surfaces and start the process over?
How do I stop the odor?
You want to make that good impression for your dinner party.
You want a potential buyer or renter to want your property before they cross that threshold.
It's simple, call Renovair's IICRC trained professionals that can sanitize the air, ripping apart the bonds that once held VOCs together, and turn them into water vapor and carbon dioxide. It will also do the same on all of the surfaces in your home as well.
Renovairs IICRC trained professionals can also filter and extract the now dead pathogens, neutralized VOCs, dust, dander, trace oils, soil and other foreign contaminants from the air and from the soft surfaces in your home.
After a full treatment Renovair's IICRC trained professionals will then go one step further, defusing the entire house with a preventative deodorizer which will keep the property smelling fresh and removing potential odors for up to 6 months.
So, call Renovair and actually clean your house. You can stop eternally scrubbing with no chance of actually fixing the issue.
Let Renovair’s IICRC trained professionals do the hard work for you.
