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.
Understandable. Sucks to not have family or friends nearby you could crash with. I’m in a similar situation after moving across Canada recently. Incenses might cover up the smell or just combine with it, but someone sensitive to these things would still have an issue because the source of the problem hasn’t been solved. Try and get some activated charcoal, or just regular charcoal, as that can actually absorb the bad smells.
The paint smell and “old building smell” are caused by Volatile Organic Compounds. The paint is offgassing these compounds and will continue to do so for months or years, though the bad smell will lessen in a few weeks or so. The “old building smell” is caused by microbes, and can be reduced in the future by regular and deep cleaning of the place, especially in areas that people are unlikely to clean: up high, behind things, or in things. The best way to get rid of the current bad smell is to get those compounds floating in the air out of your apartment, either by sequestering it into charcoal which you then throw away after maybe 6 months, or by circulating air out of the apartment by opening the windows.
You have to get this bad smell out to get a good smell in.
I wanted to have the place deep cleaned but I don’t speak the local language. If I don’t forget I’ll ask at work if any such thing can be paid for here. The landlord didn’t have the flat cleaned before handing it over. :(