We had that problem with a condo we owned and rented out. The tenant was a heavy smoker and it simply reeked. We wanted to put it on the market but the agent said not to list it til the smell was GONE. We replaced the carpet too. This is what worked: Kilz (as recommended above) on the walls. Then we set bowls of vinegar all over the room, along the walls so we didnâÂÂt trip over them. On top of the vinegar I put a few drops of an essential oil. I bought food grade pure oil at Whole Foods, as it has to be âÂÂrealâ essential oil, not just an oily perfume. The vinegar volatilizes and makes the oil evaporate into the air. It took about a month. I went over there at least once a week to refresh the bowls, adding more vinegar and oil. I could tell the odor was a bit better every time I went in. ItâÂÂs probably the vinegar rather than then the oil, but this is what I was told to do when I posted MY question on the forum, so I did it that way.

Benzene in soda was all over the news for a couple of days a year or two ago. I think it happens with diet soda. When it sits around too long in certain conditions and the stars line up a certain way the sodium benzoate (or something like that) can convert to a small amount of benzene or precursor to benzene. You'll have to look it up, I don't recall, but I don't drink diet soda much either. Don't eat a lot of processed foods anymore too. Mostly stuff that came from didn't make more than one stop between the farm and the store, but I haven't gone organic... yet.

THE RUGS I RECEIVED OUTGAS. QUESTION IS, WHAT IS THE CHEMICAL? Edit: Since posting this I found a web page on Overstock that explains it. Search for "overstock how-to-get-rid-of-new-rug-smell" I bought a polyester Savahieh rug from Amazon.com and returned it, and today received a wool Savahieh rug from Overstock.com. I returned the polyester one because it filled the room with a mildly disgusting 'sweet' smell of some kind, a volatile compound. It seems like the rug must have been soaked in or sprayed with during manufacturing. The wool rug I bought as replacement was received today. Sadly, it has the same issue. I'd hoped it was just the polyester rug that had the problem. This time I took it outside to air immediately. Now I will look into products that might remove the chemical that causes the smell, because the rug is otherwise nice (and a hassle to return). There is, as other posts in this discussion mentioned, a distinct sort of oil/silicone/teflon feeling when you rub your hand over the top or bottom of the rugs. It leaves enough residue on your hands that your fingers will be a bit slippery against the palm, but it washes off easily with soap and water and odor goes with it. I want to know what that chemical is, what the rug is sprayed, soaked or coated in. I want figure out if it is a toxicity issue for us or, our cat. I definitely had the burning eyes, which at least one other poster in this discussion mentioned. That tells me there is a definite volatile irritant, and if it turns out to be toxic that would be worth reporting. I hope someone can clear up what it is as I'm forced to keep digging for information. The eye burning and mild upper respiratory irritation that I experienced showed up after a few days of the rug outgassing; and that was in spite of running a fan in the room multiple times daily, as an exhaust fan in the doorway venting to the outside. Although it didn't move out as much air as I'd hoped. The eye burning went away quickly after removing the rug. It is discouraging to read that the vendor is denying this. People have a right to know if we're being poisoned by these products or being exposed to carcinogens. I'm not saying that's exactly what's happening, but we need to find out and the vendor should cooperate and also advise on what if anything can be done about it by the consumer and or their company. We need to know if this is a consumer safety problem or not.

Thank you, Mush, for that suggestion! We will definitely look into getting some of that stuff. "I hope you find a remedy soon...it sure makes for not wanting to sit on your deck doesn't it!" Oh, Liz, you're so right!! We have incredibly comfortable furniture on the deck (it's by O.W.Lee - the Montrachet wrought aluminum collection), and I would so dearly love to be sitting out there reading good book on my Kindle, sipping a glass of wine and listening to the watefall into the pool... I know that when the words "redwood deck" or just the word "deck" is used, most folks envision something elevated. But our redwood deck is ground level. Because of the way the yard has to be graded (for the water runoff swale), we couldn't do a concrete patio. Well, we could, but in some places it would have to be three feet (or more) thick. So, we opted for a redwood deck (which I prefer, anyway). Here's a photo of what we refer to as the "east wing" of the deck. (It's so named because it's on the east side of the house.) There is a walkway that connects it to the large main deck, but it's all on the same level. This photo was taken in 2004, when the yard was torn up because we were putting in a pool. All that dirt that you see heaped up in the upper left of the pic is part of what came out of the hole that was created to become the pool -- that area of the yard is actually the side yard on the east side of the house. Our lot is sort of pie-shaped so the side fences really angle away from the house rather than run parallel to it. Anyway, hopefully this will help you folks to understand how our deck is constructed and why we can't just get under there to find out what's going on. If you look closely at the photo, you can see that there aren't any nails or screws showing, which is why we can't just pull up a few boards to look underneath. Each board is nailed to the board next to it by nails that are in the sides of the boards...