Removing Garlic Smell infiltrating from neighbours kitchen through gaps in adjoining wall

peter021072 · 26 July 2023 at 2:16PM

I was wondering if anyone had any ideas which are effective at removing the smell of garlic. The problem with extraction fans and opening some windows to vent it out is that it just draws more in air from the neighbours kitchen through the cracks in the wall and makes it worse.

I have a circulating fan in the Kitchen with a paper filter and activated carbon, but the amount of carbon on the surface of the filter is miniscule. I was thinking of buying a decent amount of activated carbon and sprinkling it inside the filter mechanism.

It usually enters around 7pm and it can take several hours before it dies down. The other method I've tried, which is partially successful, is to open a window and place a fan there blowing air into my house, pressuring it slightly, so it blows air through the cracks in the other direction. It is a tad inconvenient doing this every day though. Note the smell doesn't enter through any of my windows, it's enters directly through gaps, boiler ventilation ducts or floorboards from the adjoining house.

The exact route is a mystery. So far attempts at finding cracks and blocking them have been unsuccessful, although I'm thinking of getting quotes to do this professionally. Alternately it might cheaper to move house or just move into the adjoining house!

booneruk · 26 July 2023 at 2:23PM

The other method I've tried, which is partially successful, is to open a window and place a fan there blowing air into the house pressuring it slightly so it blows air through the cracks in the other direction. It is a tad inconvenient doing this every day though. Note the smell doesn't enter through any of my windows, it's enters from the adjoining house which is upstream of the prevailing wind.

Bar sealing up every crack and opening, I think what you're doing here seems to me to be the best - creating positive pressure in your kitchen so no air is drawn through the cracks but pushed out instead.

I guess you could try bringing air in from a more convenient low level, like through a catflap since presumably the garlic smell is heated by the cooking process and would be travelling upward.

And if you excuse me for being daft for a second - a peg on the nose?! That's pretty old style

peter021072 · 26 July 2023 at 2:26PM

booneruk said:

And if you excuse me for being daft for a second - a peg on the nose?! That's pretty old style

I've considered contracting Covid, I'm told that works!

YoungBlueEyes · 27 July 2023 at 8:13AM

Try asking your question on this board Peter, you'll probably get more responses -

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/in-my-home-includes-diy-moneysaving

Edit - as the smell is at a particular time have you tried something like lighting a pungent candle to cover it before it starts seeping through? You can get candles specifically for kitchen smells, but maybe something like a sharp lemon smell would suffice?

peter021072 · 27 July 2023 at 9:52AM

YoungBlueEyes said:

Try asking your question on this board Peter, you'll probably get more responses -

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/in-my-home-includes-diy-moneysaving

Edit - as the smell is at a particular time have you tried something like lighting a pungent candle to cover it before it starts seeping through? You can get candles specifically for kitchen smells, but maybe something like a sharp lemon smell would suffice?

Yes I already have, but I wondered if there's anything old fashioned and simple like activated charcoal which might be useful in the cooking hood fan circulator. It might be expensive if I need to keep replacing it. There's a way of making activated charcoal from normal charcoal but it looks like hard work.

bupster · 30 July 2023 at 9:26PM

Febreze was designed to neutralise smells, rather than just cover them up - try that? You could just spray the kitchen when the smell gets too much. Or cook your own food so the smells are competing!