New house smell

[Parakeet88]

I’m closing on my first home in a few days. It’s a brand new mobile home and has that new formaldehyde smell to it. I’m sure this isn’t good for the flock so I’m looking for ideas to help get the fumes out. It is winter here so keeping windows open isn’t really an option. How can I know when it is safe to move the flock in?

 

[Shezbug]

Not sure if it will help but my mum used to always put onions cut in half around the house when it was freshly painted.....onions are quite porous and will soak up flavours and smells. They used to work a treat for fresh paint before paint didn’t smell so much.
I also use boxes of bi carb soda to soak up stinks. I have used it in a fairly new car that I found the chemical smell rather offensive and it did seem to help.

 

[Shezbug]

Oh....how rude of me!!!


On your new house

 

[faislaq]

How exciting!

onions are quite porous and will soak up flavours and smells.

They soak up smells, too?

I only think of opening windows and running fans, but that's not feasible most places this time of year.

 

[Shezbug]

Yeah but they also leave the raw onion smell behind

 

[Parakeet88]

I wouldn’t mind the onion smell

 

[Shezbug]

Lol.
It’s not perfect but I do feel it helps. I also don’t mind the onion smell hehe.

 

[MommyBird]

There are air purifiers like the RabbitAir BioGS 2.0 Ultra Quiet Air Purifier that have a filter that will remove the VOCs (Volatile Organic Carbons) causing the smell.
I'm sure others may have it too. You'd need to have the activated carbon filter.

 

[Karen]

I’m closing on my first home in a few days. It’s a brand new mobile home and has that new formaldehyde smell to it. I’m sure this isn’t good for the flock so I’m looking for ideas to help get the fumes out. It is winter here so keeping windows open isn’t really an option. How can I know when it is safe to move the flock in?

Congratulations!!

IMO, you have to air it out the same as you would a new RV. They both use lots of glue and will off gas formaldehyde terribly. I ran an Austin Air purifier continuously. For weeks I left windows open, opened all cabinets and closet doors and set up several large fans to push the air out. We moved as much as we could outside to air it out ie: cushions, furniture, etc. We washed down everything, every wall, ceiling, fixture, trim, window, etc. Curtains and anything washable were washed in the washing machine. You can heat up and air out the unit several times. You can use the ammonia method (not when birds are nearby) which is explained in the 1st. link. You'll also be able to search for additional tips on the internet. There is a lot of information out there.

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