Monday, May 25, 2009

New Fresh Clean odour control

I don't know about you, but I always like to keep my rooms clean and sweet-smelling. Unfortunately, it doesn't always happen that way. Many times I come across some or the other kind of foul odour that simply refuses to leave my rooms, even after I have cleaned them multiple times. I have tried to eliminate odour using specially imported fragrances and branded air purifiers, but unfortunately, neither of them have worked for me. However, I have found three easy and effective ways to eliminate odour. In this article, I am going to share them with you.

If you are wondering why neither air purifiers nor fragrances worked for me, here's the fact: I once asked this same question to a specialist and he replied that neither fragrances nor air purifiers make any effort to find the root cause of the foul odour. Far from eliminating the odour, they actually hide it from us for sometime. No wonder that as soon as their effect is gone, we start getting the foul odour again. Right now, I only use three methods to eliminate odour:

1. Baking Soda: If you have not been using it, you should. It is by far one of the best and cost effective ways of eliminating odour. While it cannot eliminate any deeply penetrated odour, it can easily eliminate any surface odour. Before you use it, you first of all need to clean the area from where the odour is coming. Then sprinkle baking soda over the area. Then rub the baking soda into the wet area. Let it dry. Then brush or vacuum the area to remove the dried materials.

2. You can use a product such as Anotec to eliminate odour. To use this, first wash the spot with clean water. Then spray the chemical on the urine spot. Then take up a white absorbent cloth and press it firmly on the area. Make sure you don't rub the cloth on the area: just press it and keep pressed for about 30 seconds. Repeat this process until the spot gets dry. If the odour still remains, repeat the process


The Process Of Sewage Cleanup

Seeing sewage from a weather event or sewage backup is not a pretty sight. In fact, just looking at it will make you want to run. When the drainage lines get full, you get a backup of sewage from the nearest area.

Another things about sewers, especially those in urban areas, is that they have aged to the end of no return. Another reason for sewage backup is lack of regular maintenance with the septic systems. When it rains a lot, the soil can cause a sewer to back up and stop working.

When people are exposed to this toxic garbage, it can cause serious health risks. The water from the sewage has lots of bacteria and fungus because of all of the garbage that has been stopped up. If the sewage is not cleaned and removed, it can pose a serious danger to the people that live in that affected area.

There is also the risk of toxins, viruses and parasites within the sewage. Of course, it should be cleaned as soon as possible. However, this should be left up to experienced and trained technicians to do the sewage cleanup. A professional company will be able to conduct the sewage cleanup in a safe manner.

One of the first things that would have to be done is remove the sewage. The technicians have equipment that can take care of that. Then they would use antifungal and antimicrobial solutions. In addition to that, they would also use mildecide.

If the sewage affected the inside of your home, a dehumidifier would be used. They may have to use additional solutions to make sure the affected areas are properly sanitized. They want to make the home the way it was prior to the sewage backup.

The technicians would have to remove any material that was affected, such as wood, drywall and carpet. These materials are known to suck up moisture and can also contribute to mold and mildew. Then it would be a matter of getting rid of the smell. They should also check for leak stains, musty smell, mildew odor and peeling material, just to name a few.

It's a good idea for the sewer cleanup companies to have 24 hour service in the event of an emergency. They never know when they'll have to come to the rescue and help someone get rid of sewage. Hiring a professional company to do the job is the best way to ensure your safety and your health from contamination.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

What’s That Smell?




What’s That Smell?
Porcini or "beliy grib"

Russian biophysicists and economists found out, which components form smell of porcini (Boletus edulis) and oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus). Scientists advise how to cook these mushrooms to preserve their delicious aroma.

Scientists know about 150 volatile chemical compounds, which are responsible for mushroom odour. Quantitative and qualitative composition of these compounds strongly depends on mushroom species, conditions of their growth, and even what part of a mushroom emits odour. Porcini are among tastiest and smelliest mushrooms in Russia, and oyster mushrooms are very popular in our country.

Researchers collected porcini in forests of Smolensk and Tver Regions, and as for oyster mushrooms, they were grown in an agroindustrial firm. Since mushroom lovers mostly care about smell of already coked mushrooms, they were boiled, and porcini were also pickled without any spices to keep natural aroma intact.

Volatile substances from porcini consisted from over 100 chemical compounds, moreover, amount of some compounds was extremely faint: several nanograms in 100 grams of mushrooms. Aroma of oyster mushrooms is not so rich, it contains only 50 volatile substances.

”Oyster
Oyster mushrooms
Heat treatment (boiling, roasting, preserving or drying) has a great effect of composition of volatile substances, that is why cooked mushrooms smell differently than raw ones. Porcini, no matter boiled or pickled, contain substances with strong smell of raw, boiled and roasted mushrooms, as well as mushroom soup. Oyster mushrooms have the same, but less intensive smell. Sometimes mushroom mix smells not like its individual components, and the reason is that some volatile substances can change odour significantly, being the minor part of the smell. Alkyl pyrazines, for instance, smell like roasted mushrooms and add hints of mushrooms aroma to various substances, which smell in a different way.

Raw mushrooms owe their smell mainly to alcohols, compound esters and ketones with eight carbon atoms. Raw porcini contain significant amount of alcohols, pickled ones have less, and boiled porcini contain traces of alcohols, which is possible due to loss of alcohols during heat treatment. Oyster mushrooms also contain eight-carbon alcohols, but much less than porcini. However, key chemicals, which form mushroom smell, are ketones. Mushrooms contain only traces of ketones, but their smell is very strong.

When mushrooms are exposed to heat, sugars and amino acids start chemical interaction, known as Maillard reaction. This reaction results in many compounds, including volatile substances, which smell like cooked mushrooms. Most important component of this smell is called “methional”, which has very intensive smell and changes odour of raw mushrooms despite its low content in them. Since volatile substances in Maillard reaction depend on concentration of free amino acids and monosaccharides, mushroom smell can possibly become even more intensive, when glucose or sucrose are added during cooking.

Moreover, researchers believe that for strong smell of cooked mushrooms, they should be exposed to heat very shortly and without air – this prevents smelly substances from degrading and oxidizing.

Source: Science News

Kizilova Anna