Yellow jackets are beneficial insect predators in my garden, so I only kill them if their nest is in an area where they are likely to sting me or my grandchildren. Since I try to avoid the use of toxic chemicals, I looked for an alternative solution. This turned out to be a shop vacuum, with the nozzle lodged in place just below the entrance hole. It catches them both leaving & returning, and the noise angers them - so it catches even more. I place the nozzle at night & turn the switch on, so I can plug in the extension cord from a safe distance to start the vacuum. After running for a whole day, nearly every worker in the nest was caught. This usually kills the nest, since the majority of the larvae will starve without the workers.

Islandgirl, I have a story which illustrates that wasps will congregate around nest-shaped objects, which proves the Waspirator actually works. I had to replace a porch light on my front porch. Now, usually porch lights are mounted on the wall of the house. This one was mounted under the eaves by a previous owner. I didn't want to move the wiring, it would have taken me 1-2 hours to move the wiring and patch up the old hole. So I put a jelly jar light up there. (My family knows that I attract angry yellow jackets when I sweat, and they do sting me. So I avoid working outside in hot weather if there are YJs around.) Now this jelly jar light looks just like a wasp nest, if you just look at the general shape. It starts with a thin base that attaches under my eaves, then has a thin stem, followed by the actual light part hanging down, which is fat. Thus, the general shape of a wasp nest. Oh, it's black also. Except for the glass part. So color does not seem to matter. Each week for the past 3 weeks I have had to spray the light because 10 or more yellow jackets were just sitting on it. Weird, huh?

I swear by Natural Magic odor absorbing gel. (Link below). Similar products like Citrus Magic work, and I just found a new brand I've tried (Clean Air) that seems to work equally well as Nat Magic. Bought a vintage Drexel bedroom set a couple years ago, dead of winter so I couldn't air it outside. It was beautiful and pristine but the inner drawers of one dresser had a perfume odor that nearly bowled me over. I cleaned it with mild dishwashing liquid and a tad of bleach just for kicks (and I wanted to clean it anyway). Odor stuck, so I put 3 containers inside the dresser, kept the drawers cracked open a bit (air flow enhances the odor removal with these products per the label) and left them there for several weeks, rotating between all the drawers. Took awhile, but it completely removed the odor. I've used it in all kinds of scenarios for all kinds of odors (pet, smoke, mildew, rental houses when showing, cars, inside furniture, etc.) Never lets me down! You can find these products at most hardware and big box stores like H Depot and Lowes has a good selection. About $1 cheaper at big box stores vs smaller hardware and paint stores. Oh, also Gonzo odor absorbing volcanic stones. You can get them in small bags for closet size and larger for room size. I've seen those at Home Depot. Seem to help, but the gels mentioned above are tried and true for me. Here is a link that might be useful: Natural Magic

Tilex, I had a mildew problem in a bathroom and it cleaned up great. Just make sure it's venilated well in there, it has a strong smell to it.