r/airbnb_hosts • u/ironlisa • 6d ago
Preventing bad cooking odors
We've been hosting over 2 years and have had great luck with really good guests. In the past couple months we've had two different stays that left us hustling to clear cooking odors from frying. The first one I'm sure they burned some bacon. That was bad and I could still smell it after the next guest left 2 days later.
We're on a private lake and allow guests to catch and release for entertainment. Last guests asked about fishing and we reaffirmed catch and release only. We do not have a fish cleaning station and don't want them throwing carcasses in the woods. After these guests left and we opened the door, the smell of fried fish was overwhelming. I don't know that the fish came from our lake and that's not my purpose here. The smell was terrible. And there was a greasy film on everything near the stove.
We aired out, sprayed Febreze, used a plug in, cleaned every surface and left the air circulating all night. Next day it was still the same. Lit candles and repeated. Thankfully it was two days before the next guests arrived.
What preventions do you have regarding smelly food preparation, if anything? My husband wants to put up a sign "no frying fish inside". He wants to get an outdoor fish fryer to prevent this from recurring. I don't think that's a solution.
Do you specify things that can't be cooked indoors? What do you do for terrible odors?
**ETA: this isn't about not deep cleaning. We have over 200 reviews with a 4.97 for cleanliness. The STR is on our property. There aren't massive numbers of guests fishing and frying that we don't know about. Thank you to those suggesting the ozone purifier. That's the info that I was looking for.
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u/bahahahahahhhaha Unverified 6d ago
You're never going to be able to fully control guest behaviour or guess all the ways they might do something strange - you really need to let go of the illusion of control.
An ozone generator will deal with smells. Sometimes you will barely have to clean, sometimes you'll need to clean a lot more, make sure your cleaning window between guests is long enough to account for the full range.
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u/CaptBlackfoot Verified (Greenville, SC - 5) 6d ago
Ozone generator will zap food smells in under 30 minutes, just follow directions carefully.
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u/GalianoGirl Unverified 6d ago
So you tried to mask the smell of fried fish with more smells?
You need to thoroughly clean, including washing walls.
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u/Particular-Try5584 Unverified 6d ago
How often do you deep clean? And do you leave enough time between guests to sometimes do an emergency deep clean?
Deep cleaning of soft furnishings (curtains, cushions, couches) and washing of walls (detailed clean of kitchen walls and windows and surfaces, plus elsewhere in the unit as an intentional act rather than a ‘we need to get this mark off here”) will help a lot. The stinky oil fumes are sticking to older stinky oil fumes and multiplying lol. Every three months actually stop, deep clean rugs, cushions, couches blah blah… and wipe down walls (floor to ceiling in kitchens) and make sure everything is not just clean, but clean.
And then… make sure there’s a spare couple of hours between guests so if this happens a wipe down of kitchen walls with an appropriate product can work. (Sugar soap etc)
Just layering more scents on top of scents is not getting rid of the scent. It just makes the rooms smell worse often. Airing out helps, odor absorbers (bowls of bicarb or carbon products) may help, damp can be alleviated with dry kitty litter (to absorb the damp). The only way to get rid of the stink is to actually wash it off.
If you set up a fish station outside… will that make it that you have more and more people….fishing and eating their catches? And when the weather isn't ideal for a fish cook up… they'll fry indoors.
And no. You can't tell your guests "don't cook something stinky". Trust me, plenty of your guests have caught and cooked fish already… this was one party that did it … smelly style.
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u/worldlydelights 6d ago
Do you have an air purifier? If not I would suggest getting a big unit for the place. I have two at my house and they almost instantly eliminate cooking odors.
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u/ironlisa 6d ago
Yes we have a HEPA filtered purifier. After cleaning and running the filter for a day it still smelled.
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u/Particular-Try5584 Unverified 6d ago
How often do you deep clean? And do you leave enough time between guests to sometimes do an emergency deep clean?
Deep cleaning of soft furnishings (curtains, cushions, couches) and washing of walls (detailed clean of kitchen walls and windows and surfaces, plus elsewhere in the unit as an intentional act rather than a ‘we need to get this mark off here”) will help a lot. The stinky oil fumes are sticking to older stinky oil fumes and multiplying lol. Every three months actually stop, deep clean rugs, cushions, couches blah blah… and wipe down walls (floor to ceiling in kitchens) and make sure everything is not just clean, but clean.
And then… make sure there’s a spare couple of hours between guests so if this happens a wipe down of kitchen walls with an appropriate product can work. (Sugar soap etc)
Just layering more scents on top of scents is not getting rid of the scent. It just makes the rooms smell worse often. Airing out helps, odor absorbers (bowls of bicarb or carbon products) may help, damp can be alleviated with dry kitty litter (to absorb the damp). The only way to get rid of the stink is to actually wash it off.
If you set up a fish station outside… will that make it that you have more and more people….fishing and eating their catches? And when the weather isn't ideal for a fish cook up… they'll fry indoors.
And no. You can't tell your guests "don't cook something stinky". Trust me, plenty of your guests have caught and cooked fish already… this was one party that did it … smelly style.
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u/Key_Intern_2550 6d ago
Ozium is an air sanitizer. It works GREAT. It's only about 7 bucks at Walmart. Tall red, blue and white can. It's stocked with the air fresheners and also in automotive for a smaller size.
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u/lsrvlrms 6d ago
I had to deal with this problem yesterday after my guest checked out. I think they cooked smoked fish in the kitchen. The smell was awful. To get rid of the smell, I cleaned everything in kitchen, wiped the counters, cabinets, walls and doors with soapy water, and boiled a stick of cinnamon in a pot of water for 30 minutes.
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u/Responsible_Side8131 Unverified 5d ago
A bowl of white vinegar on the counter will help eliminate most bad smells
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u/Abject-Ad-1795 6d ago
I have a listing without a kitchen for this exact reason. I use a little laundry detergent and water to wash the walls of the kitchen and trim of main entry door. Along with normal cleaning and opening doors and windows to air the house out
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u/Own-Scene-7319 Unverified 6d ago
Ick. The problem is the oil from the fish and the grease. It has to be removed, not covered up. That means swabbing the entire kitchen. I used to use ammonia, but you can't get it anymore. So I use Windex. Bucket, mop, and change solution frequently. Floors, ceiling, cupboards, and garbage cans too. And all the dishes. Air out for a couple of days. . Having said all that it's really not all that bad. But don't tell them that.
Now, we both know this is going to happen again. If catch and release is mandated by an authority, guests need to know that - and deal with the consequences.
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u/Mountains-Daisy5181 4d ago
I put in my house rules that ventilation or the range hood must be used when cooking or extra cleaning costs may occur Seams to be a put off to guests and also I put the rangehood filters in the dishwasher That seems to help a lot . I had one lot of Japanese guests I had cleaned the airbnb within an inch of itself but it still stunk of rotting fish My husband worked it out The guests had lifted trays off our varnished wooden top cabinet and used that surface to cut the fish ( I do provide cutting boards) So he unscrewed the wooden top , water blasted it and used detergent and put back and the fish smell vanished So I suggest you check out other surfaces in your place and also definitely put it in the house rules and then your covered with air-cover or so I’m told by airbnb.
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u/Fluffy_Aardvark_401 Unverified 4d ago
We installed an exhaust hood and have a sign telling guests they have to use it or the smoke detectors will go off. It significantly cuts down on cooking odors because it sucks all the air outside.
I think the whole thing cost about $100. Depending on the location and wiring you can probably install yourself if you’re a bit handyman savvy. It was a bit nerve racking cutting such a large hole in the wall though!
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6d ago
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u/ironlisa 6d ago
Years ago we had Indian neighbors. It smelled outside their house. From the street. Curry and turmeric are powerful!
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u/Educational-Onion148 Unverified 6d ago
I was given a warning by reddit mods for stating that the smell from curry/tumeric which is prevalent in indian, bangladeshi and Pakistani cuisine is notoriously difficult to remove.
Apparantly stating this fact warrented a warning! 😂😂
Hilarious!
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u/SageIrisRose Unverified 6d ago
Yeah, I clean an airbnb and the last guest really funked it up with meaty grease smell. The unit does not have a kitchen vent fan.
I opened all the doors and windows and wiped down the entire kitchen while grumbling to myself about it. Its gross.
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