There have been a lot of calls lately for DIY curry odor removal, and if it is even possible.

The answer? Well, yes and no.

If a person cleaned well enough and got rid of all the odor-causing oil that has the turmeric spice (curry flavor) in it, then yes, that home or apartment would be free from curry cooking odors.

However, I have only ever come across situations where the oil molecules have also traveled through the HVAC system, so the curry odor is in the air handler and the ductwork. Some could really clean the ductwork and air handler and have some success minimizing the odors, but there will still be some embedded odors in the HVAC system, though they may be so faint that no one notices them any longer. That would be a remarkable duct cleaner.

The curry odor molecules float EVERYWHERE! Because oil never dries out, the home won’t “air out” any more than tar roofing shingles dry out or air out. Even removing a 20-year old shingle roof is stinky, and that’s because oil doesn’t dry out.

Turmeric oil floats up and out of the pan that is being used to cook curry. The oil floats everywhere, and can soak into the paint on the walls and ceilings, and the kitchen ceiling above the stove is typically very dirty.

DIY curry cooking odor removal requires excellent cleaning AND a way to get those hidden, microscopic odor-causing molecules. We use chlorine dioxide (no, it’s not chlorine gas) as a gas vapor to penetrate deep into surfaces–painted walls, ceilings, grout, HVAC ductwork and air handler, woodwork, carpets, etc. ClO2 (chlorine dioxide) is a great selective oxidizer and is able to break down the oil-based odor molecules that come about during cooking.

So, can someone DIY odor removal a curry home by getting rid of all the odor-causing molecules via thorough cleaning? Yes, absolutely. However, the deeply embedded molecules may be out of reach without something so tiny such as a gas vapor that can break down those stinky molecules.

We’d love to help if cleaning does not get the odor out of your new home.

Here is some more information about curry odor removal

We have a YouTube channel with a few videos about curry cooking odor removal (a retired teacher’s new home in OH) and this home in AZ (a follow up video from the original video that’s over at my personal YouTube channel that caused us to make a Master Germ and Odor Removal channel).