I was wondering if there were any means of bombing it with a new scent which would idk stick. I tried stuff like air fresheners but they last a day or a few and then aren’t noticeable while the apartment smell persists. I didn’t try candles because I don’t have anything to light them on with. Are scented candles powerful enough to make the entire place smell different long term? I want to eventually invite a guy over and he asked me if the place smells bad because he’s sensitive to smells and knows they renovated it (or rather are about to finish) with me moving in.
It can be difficult to remove some smells so the answer is, “it depends”.
Either way, you can try (1) cleaning, (2) using smell-absorbing stuff and (3) lighting a nice candle or nebulizer.
If there is already a smell, you’ve gotta clean. The smell us just chemicals embedded in surfaces that are popping off due to volatility. Surfaces can often accumulate and become saturated with smelly chemicals, like when someone repeatedly smokes indoors. Cleaning those surfaces can fix some smells by removing the chemicals.
You can also use smell-absorbing stuff like baking soda. It’s an abrasive so be careful, but if you use it when cleaning surfaces it can really cut the smell. Fans/air purifiers with activated carbon filters also help.
For candles and such I’d say… go light. Just a hint of the smell. The person coming over might dislike a strong candle scent more than your adjustment’s current smell!