Are you considering renovating due to bad indoor odors?
Now there's a cheaper alternative: remove odors with ozone.
– We were thinking of tearing up the floors, but we tried the Ozoneair machine instead, says Mikael Nilsson, who lives in a house in Norrbotten.
Read more about Ozoneair and find the model that suits you here
Most people are probably familiar with the musty smell of mold. About one in five Swedes has dampness and mold in their home, according to a report from the Public Health Agency of Sweden*.
It's not always possible to see the mold, and infestations can be difficult to remove with traditional cleaning agents.
The odor can be difficult to trace
Other odors that sometimes cannot be scrubbed or aired away include the stench of old tobacco smoke or pet odors that cling to textiles and furnishings.
Often, the bad odor is difficult to trace. It can be linked to drains, poor ventilation, or old materials in the house, such as linoleum floors or wall panels. The impregnating agent pentachlorophenol can also spread a sharp odor similar to mold. Pentachlorophenol was primarily used in house construction in the 1960s and 1970s.
”Clung to our clothes”
For the couple Mikael and Camilla Nilsson, the odor came from the ground. Their 70s villa has a crawl space that releases moisture and odor. The house was not mold-infested, but the odor had taken hold throughout the villa.
– It smelled musty and earthy, says Camilla, who has lived in the house for about 10 years.
– I stopped noticing the smell when I was at home, but when I had been away and came in, I could smell it strongly. The smell could also cling to our clothes.
Discussed renovation
The couple discussed whether they would need to renovate.
But then they decided to first try a cheaper alternative: the Swedish product Ozoneair – a unique machine that you can use in your home without any prior knowledge.
Ozoneair converts the oxygen in the air into ozone gas, which attacks and neutralizes air molecules. Bad odors disappear, as do mold spores, bacteria, allergens, and other harmful microorganisms.
Ozone has been used by remediation companies since the 1970s to sanitize homes and premises from fire, tobacco smoke, mold, and other odors. Only now is there a product that makes it possible for private individuals to clean with ozone.
”Was skeptical”
Mikael was skeptical, he admits:
– Yes, it sounded too good to be true. But better to try it than to start tearing up the floors, I thought.
And today, the musty smell is gone.
– It's fantastic. The bad odors are like magic, and it feels like we have a new home.
The couple started by sanitizing the crawl space by placing the machine under the house. It worked there for ten hours. Then they moved it and let it work for another ten hours.
Then they sanitized indoors, room by room.
– It's super easy. You plug the machine into an electrical outlet, press start, and leave the room. When it's finished sanitizing after a few hours, you move on to the next room, says Camilla.
Ozone breaks down the carbon chains that make up the bad odors, explains Johan Lundberg, founder of Ozoneair, a technology company in Luleå.
What odors does Ozoneair remove?
– Virtually all – such as mold odor, musty odor, smoke odor, pet odor, urine odor, chemical odor.
Can ozone really remove mold? Read more here
*Environmental Health Report 2017 from the Public Health Agency of Sweden in collaboration with Karolinska Institutet.
Exclusive offer: If Ozoneair does not completely remove the odor, return it within 14 days for a full refund, no questions asked.
Guide: Sanitize with ozone – step by step
• Move flowers and other plants out of the room to be sanitized. Open doors to cabinets where you store clothes, textiles, and other items you want to freshen up – ozone also cleans materials. Close windows and doors.
• Connect Ozoneair to a standard electrical outlet and set the room's area using a dial. Then press the start button.
• The machine is fully automatic. While it's working – usually 2-6 hours – you should not be in the room. Pets should also not be in the room as inhaling ozone is harmful.
• Two hours after the operation is complete, you can re-enter the room. By then, all ozone molecules will have decomposed into normal oxygen. Ventilate, there may be a slight smell from the ozone treatment afterwards, but it disappears with ventilation.
• Perform the same procedure in the next room. Sometimes you may need to repeat the treatment a few times.
Use ozone safely. Always read the instruction manual and product information before use.
