I’m going to visit my grandfather this weekend. His house smells like a skunk rolled around in some rotten cabbages, died, and got eaten and pooped out by a water buffalo. Thankfully I dont have to sleep there, but I do have to visit for a few hours, a couple days in a row. Last time, I wore a mask with mint toothpaste rubbed inside, which didn’t help at all.

Google is failing me; the only results I can find are how to get rid of a smell, and that’s just not possible here without a great deal of fire. So can anyone recommend how to live with a uniquely terrible smell for a few days?

  • Hyperreality@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Fun fact: Incense was historically used for funerary purposes. It hides the smell of decaying bodies. It’s also used in some churches, pilgrims can be very smelly. The egyptians used frankincense for mummification.

    The smell is probably from the sewer btw. It’s possible the water level in one of the sinks or toilets is too low, but your grandfather doesn’t notice the smell anymore. It may be enough to simply run the taps a bit.

    Or your grandpa murdered someone and hid them under the floorboards.

    • tipicaldik@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I worked in an office that had a water fountain that everyone stopped using after we got a filtered dispenser installed in the kitchen. Every couple of weeks or so we’d walk in the door first thing in the morning and get a nice little aromatic reminder to run a little bit of water through it…

    • veroxii@aussie.zone
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      1 year ago

      Yeah despite OP’s colourful description they didn’t really describe the smell. Does it smell like sewerage? Do as you suggested. Does it smell like something dead? Check for dead nice or rats? If it just smells like old man, open some windows or put on a load of laundry. Spoiled food - clean out the kitchen.

    • EmoDuck@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Or a patient escaped from your local mental hospital, killed your grandpa and assumed his identity. If that sounds stupid, don’t worry, it’s already a movie plot