Not looking for medical or legal advice…NEED ANSWER FAST!
Rewash.
Use plenty of fabric conditioner.
(If the smell isn’t in clothes, please ignore this answer.)
oops…under the sink and in the cabinets around the sink.
The only way I know to do this is make sure that they dry out completely and remain dry.
I don’t doubt that there are ways to temporarily mask the smell but it will certainly return and the smell of industrial perfume mixed with malodours is often worse that the bad smell alone.
Use a disinfectant. It’s up to you check for problems before you coat everything in disinfectant. Try Lysol spray, or a bleach solution. Don’t forget the mildew will be back if you haven’t fixed the moisture problem.
Go to a health food or pet sstore and buy some zeolite. Wash the area with it and then hang some up. Problem solved.
even a small amount of mildew residue will smell. clean all cracks, crevices and joints.
This. The smell isn’t going to go away until all the mildew is gone. So get rid of mildew first. I usually use chlorine bleach, if the item can stand the bleach.
Great advice so far, thanks.
Couple follow-ups:
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What’s the best way to apply the bleach? How many parts to water for this job? I have a spray bottle I can use.
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I read a previous thread where they recommended using a fan to dry it out. We have a scented candle container (so it should be safe to put under there.) Bad idea?
With bleach it’s more a question of: ‘is there anything that is going to be harmed by coming into contact with bleach’.
Keeping it dry is really the more important consideration.
If it got wet through some freak accident then, yes, do whatever it takes to dry it out and it should be OK - but beware of candles if there is anything combustible close to the top of the flame, or they are not on a stable base or there is anything that might blow into the flame, etc, etc, etc.
According to the reps given advice after flooding you should use 10% solution. People that use a stronger solution will find the bleach doesn’t work correctly.