Pittosporum undulatum, VICTORIAN BOX. Joe

It could be refrigerant leaking, but I doubt it personally. R410a refrigerant has a sweeter odor to it. It could also be dirty sock syndrome. Search that on Google and you can learn about it. A service tech would be able to properly diagnose this issue and propose a solution. Take care.

Keep in mind that baking soda, bowls of vinegar or vanilla do not work overnight and if the windows are open you're limiting the effectiveness of it. Essentially you're working on the whole outdoors rather than just the room. Vent the room for the major stuff and while people work in there, then close it up. It can still take weeks to absorb the odors. If they spilled it in there then you may well have to remove the carpet. If it's fairly new, possibly a square yard or so, (depending on how widespread the spill was) could be removed and replaced with new carpet so you wouldn't have to replace it all. I'm hoping it wasn't so much that it soaked down into the flooring beneath. If she spilled THAT much though and didn't say anything, I'd be having a very serious conversation with her. But back to the issue. Frankly, wouldn't it almost be better to pull the carpet with your sensitivities? If you don't have hardwood under it you could put a parquet, tile or vinyl down. Easier to keep clean, less dust and allergens and throw rugs could be used and tossed in the washer even in the event of a repeat spill. It just stinks (pardon the pun) that you should have to endure this. Whoever did this should kick in on the cost IMO, but of course that's up to you. I'm wondering about the carpet cleaning places though. Most use chemicals that could cause you trouble. There's one around here now advertising that they use activated water and if it works, that would be the route to go to avoid more irritants. Possibly someone could try a cleaning with vinegar water, let it sit a while and then use the charged water system. From what I understand, it works in a similar manner to an air ionizer. The water is electrically charged and dirt and the like has a positive charge so it's attracted to it. There's places selling the cleaner bottles that work this way now for "green" cleaning and I do know that ionizers work so I'm inclined to think this does have merit. Again I wouldn't count out a good ionizer. I have great experiences with them. Again, possibly a friend could rent a cleaner, especially a scrubber and use a vinegar water to absorb as much as possible. Then have the ionizer going with windows and doors shut. I used ionizers back when I smoked and people didn't know I smoked other than having ash trays out. Had a small 12 volt one in my truck too and my dad, who was a nut about smoking, had no idea. Also a friend's company has some that get used by cars or places that have had small fires in them and he cleans them up, puts the ionizer in there for a couple days and it's amazing what it can do. I'm talking about a good one, not a cheapie. Another thought or two. Check with a disaster cleanup place for ideas. They deal with fire and sewer smells all the time so they should know what it takes. Also you should find out exactly what perfume she spilled so you can contact the manufacturer, tell them the situation and maybe they could tell you how to neutralize it? Or if you know what's in it you could do some research on it. Lastly, I'm not sure if your or your guest's homeowners insurance would cover this so it could be a long shot but it might be worth checking it out, especially if you have to replace carpet and the like. Theirs might be more likely to cover it or possibly part of it. I understand your situation. I can't go into a room where people are burning scented candles anymore. I cough nonstop and people can be very insensitive about it. BTW, plain, paraffin, unscented candles, well any fire, candle, lantern, portable burner etc, will help absorb odors too. Obviously they shouldn't be left unattended. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that you can get that smell out. I know how it lingers from someone being in an elevator a couple minutes, much less soaked into a carpet. Good luck and keep us posted.

I had the same situation with a dresser. Nothing I wiped it out with worked. So I got a couple odor absorbing tubs, placed them in the empty drawers and every few days I'd rotate them to a different drawer. I left all the drawers cracked open maybe 3" - 4" because the odor absorbers work better with some air circulation. It took a few weeks but it did get the perfume smell out. I use odor absorbers in rentals between tenants so have tried several brands. (Note: these aren't air fresheners that mask odors, they actually do absorb them.) Natural Magic is my preferred brand and what I used in my dresser. And I use the gel form, not a fan of the beads. Citrus Magic brand is also good. Avoid dollar store brands, they are a bit less expensive but don't work as well in my experience.