How do I remove yellow stains from fridge door?

margecat

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My elderly Mom has decided to sell her house, and move. I'm trying to help her clean it out and up. Her formerly white fridge door is mostly yellow--probably from heavy smoking and perhaps oil heat (I know it's not cooking oil, as she lives alone, and doesn't do much frying). Also, her wall paneling is nearly as bad. It's a printed, kinda faux wallpaper printed kind of paneling (think "wood" paneling without the "woodgrain", but a floral print). Can anyone tell me how remove the discoloring (it's REALLY gross!). Also, how do I remove the smoke smell, if that's possible?

Also, her cat likes to drag her poopy butt on the carpet--which has left brown (yuck) streaks. Has anyone had experience with removing these?

Frankly, I think someone's going to buy the house only for the land, and knock it down, as it's so old and nasty; but I'd still like to freshen it up before showing it, even if Mom doesn't care to! I just can't stand to look at it!

Thanks!

MargeCat
 

mybabyphx

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I guess I dont have much experience with this.... but the cigerette smoke is going to be real hard to get off... If someone is looking at the place to buy it, not to buy to knock down, but to actually buy it... I would seriously consider putting up a fresh coat of paint. It will make the place look MUCH better (and I'm not just saying this cuz my dads a painter
) For the fridge, the only thing I can think of is use lots of bleach, and keep scrubbing at it. It worries me cuz it has probably been there for a while, and will never completely come out.. For the carpet, try steam cleaning it really good and using lots of stain removal products... It may help. Good luck
 

cheylink

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Fridge stains, Clorox with bleach.......Smoke smell you really need to paint and wash all curtains, treat upholstery and carpet......smoke is difficult and some are very offended by it
 

karmasmom

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My DH and I both smoke, in the winter inside and outside the rest of the year. The 3 months that we are inside builds up a bit of residue. We just did our big spring clean and removed aall the staining. Our fridge is always the worst. Smoke seems to be drawn to it and still like glue. You need to use something that is a degeaser before you bleach it. The bleach will not cut through the oils in tabacco smoke. We use something like orange clean or simple green. Vinager also works very well. You need to treat each surface accordingly based on what it is made off. I found a link for you that will help with everythig.

http://home.howstuffworks.com/how-to...tte-stains.htm

Also Fabreeze will become your best friend. It is the only thing that I have found to actually destroy the smoke oder completely. You need to soak all fabrics thougholy and let them dry. You can even buy laundry detergant with fabreeze added. Those work very well.

Since our big clean we had some friends over and they actually asked us if we had stopped smoking. None of them could tell we ever smoked inside. The ones who noticed it the most were non smokers, they really thought we had quite.

Do a Google search on how to remove cigarette smoke and you will find thousands of ideas and remedies. Even if someone is buying the house for the land, any appraiser will tell you the nicer and cleaner the house, the more you can charge even if the new owners are going to tear it down. Its always a good idea to repaint, fix the yard,etc etc, you know give it a miner beauty upedate. Just make it look pretty.
 

starryeyedtiger

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Mr Clean Magic Eraser!!! Those things rock!!!
And i've used them in my fridge/freezer before and had great results!!
 

momofmany

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Originally Posted by maddensmom

Mr Clean magic eraser!! They are awesome!!
I was thinking about these for the yellow on the fridge, but for the cigarette smell on the walls, etc, try Mean Green. I had a professional cleaning company come out to assess my house once to get a fire smell out of the walls and told me to save a lot of money and use Mean Green. It worked. It's industrial strength cleaner and degreaser. I can't remember where I found it, but probably at either a Home Depot or Target. It's a little tough to find.

http://cleaning-supplies.gillroys.co...r-s646334.html
 

momofmany

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Originally Posted by mybabyphx

I guess I dont have much experience with this.... but the cigerette smoke is going to be real hard to get off... If someone is looking at the place to buy it, not to buy to knock down, but to actually buy it... I would seriously consider putting up a fresh coat of paint. It will make the place look MUCH better (and I'm not just saying this cuz my dads a painter
) For the fridge, the only thing I can think of is use lots of bleach, and keep scrubbing at it. It worries me cuz it has probably been there for a while, and will never completely come out.. For the carpet, try steam cleaning it really good and using lots of stain removal products... It may help. Good luck
Smoke stains need a degreaser and painting over nicotine will not eliminate the smell. I agree with a fresh coat of paint, but only after Mean Green. And it only took me about an hour to clean the walls in a bedroom.
 

MoochNNoodles

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I love the Mr. Clean Magic eraser too. I used that on our doors to get some of the icky smoke stains off from the previous owner. For the walls DH got a really good primer to block it. It was something like $20-$30 for 1 can but the stuff worked. He steam cleaned the carpets in here multiple times before he moved in too.
 

karmasmom

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We tried the Magic eraser but later in the day my DH went to rewipe the fridge with bleach, when he did we noticed huge amounts of smoke scum that we could not see, because the eraser removed the stain but not the oils from the fridge. Apparently it removed the stain but not the oils. The oils is where the smell lives. You really need to use something like orange clean to battle the oil before you go after the stain. Magic eraser is great when you just have a stain to battle but when you have a smell and stain to battle it is going to take more power. Start with orange clean, amonia, or vinager to battle the actual stain. After that use bleach or the Magic eraser. If you don't break the initial seal, nothing will work.

To clarify my statement, we used Magic eraser at first, visually it looked clean, pure white, beautiful, like new, but when my DH sprayed bleach on the fridge to rewipe it, we had orange lines running down the front of it. To the naked eye it looked clean but when we really took the time, the Magic eraser did nothing. Our fridge was not clean until we used something to battle the oil, ie orange clean then bleach. Nothing else worked.

My DH has worked with this. He says to go buy TSP, the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trisodium_phosphate

Tsp will remove any type of smoke from the walls. You will also need to spend the time to repaint the walls with a really good primer.

According to my DH and his friends who have all worked in the construction field, you would be beter off just buying new applyances.
 
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margecat

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Originally Posted by MoochNNoodles

I love the Mr. Clean Magic eraser too. I used that on our doors to get some of the icky smoke stains off from the previous owner. For the walls DH got a really good primer to block it. It was something like $20-$30 for 1 can but the stuff worked. He steam cleaned the carpets in here multiple times before he moved in too.
The primer could have been Kilz? It's used to cover mildew, smoke, and any other strong smells (and it does work very well--I used it on the concrete and wood sub-floorings in my house, when we tore up kitty-stained carpet from the previous owner. We then laid wood laminate--great when you have pets. Kilz will knock a buzzard off a poop-wagon, but that's why it covers the smells! Once you cover IT with something else, such as new flooring, or regular paint, the smell dissipates. I find that it's cheapest at WalMart, too.)

MargeCat
 

calico2222

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I would recommend vinegar first. Then clean it with a degreaser. As for repainting, I sold 2 houses last year (my parent's house and their rental), and the agent told me not to bother because most people buying older houses know they need to be fixed up, and it's an extra expense to the seller when it isn't necessary. They will only repaint them anyway. Vinegar and Febreeze is the homeowner's best friend!
 

Kbutler868

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For the smoke odor I have found that Zep Smoke Odor Eliminator is AMAZING!!! It doesn't mask the smell, it eliminates it. It's an amazing product. I found it at a local Home Depot store.
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Mother Dragon

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The folks who write the Happy Handyman column usually recommend things that REALLY work. We've used many of them and every one did what it claimed to do and did it well.

Here are some answers to help you.

HAPPY HANDYMAN: Handyman: Three product recommendations from our shelves

Happy Handyman: Products to help neutralize the smelliest odors

Question: Hello – I am desperate for advise. I have a rental property that was left with dog poop and urine in the garage and in 2 of the bedrooms and also cats were kept in a bathroom and closet and sprayed all over the walls. I am planning on ripping out all the sheet rock and replacing it and also ripping out the carpet in the entire home. The problem is the smell. You can smell it before you even open the front door. What can I do to get rid of the terrible smell.

Answer: After you rip out all the sheet rock and carpet and you are down to the concrete slab. Flood the floor with Bio Zapp. Mop it around and cover every area. You might have to do it twice. Then put Air Sponges in each room. Air Sponges come in 3 sizes and I would get the 1 pound ones. Then after you are putting in new materials...keep the Air Sponges going...that smell gets into everything..but the Air Sponge will attach to the odor, bring it down to the floor where you can vacuum it up. Good Luck.

Check out the website. There are videos along with product information.

Johnnie Chuoke's Home and Hardware

Make sure the wallpaper is washable or scrubbable before you use anything on it or you may wind up having it look worse than ever.
 

Mother Dragon

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Good grief! I didn't notice how old the post was, either. Oh, well, maybe the information will help someone today because those problems are universal.
 

Willowy

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Haha, almost a full 10 years! Impressive.

So now I want to try Bio Zapp and Air Sponge for cat odors. Amazon has Bio Zap and about a zillion different brands of air sponge (Bad Air Sponge, Nature's Air Sponge, etc.). Do you think that's the same Bio Zap(p)? And which air sponge? I looked at the original Happy Handyman article and they don't specify :/. There was probably only one brand when they wrote that.

ETA: OK, your Johnnie's link has Nature's Air Sponge, I guess I'll try that one. Still trying to figure out if Bio Zap is the same as Bio Zapp.
 
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