Does your house smell kinda bad from time to time? This can be pretty embarrassing, especially if you are expecting guests over.
In this article, we will show you simple ways to make your home smell great again, as well as pointing out some common reasons why you may be experiencing strange odors.
Why Does My House Smell?
Unfortunately, if you don’t keep on top of the housework, your house can start to form some unsavory scents.
Even worse, we can often become ‘nose blind’ to the not-so-sweet odors in our homes, and we may only become aware of them if visitors come over and comment on them.
This can be an embarrassing situation to find yourself in.
It is impossible for us to tell you specifically why your house smells, as everyone has different living conditions.
However, here are some of the most common reasons that your house may smell bad at times.
Pets
As much as we love them, there is no doubt that our furry friends can create some ghastly smells.
Even if they have been freshly bathed, pets tend to carry certain scents around with them, and this is a natural thing.
Pets, specifically cats and dogs, will get dirty for a number of reasons.
This may include rolling around in your garden, or their waste (pee or poo) lingering on their coats after they’ve gone potty.
You can try to minimize these scents around your home by not allowing them onto your couches, beds, etc.
Mold
Mold can grow in the strangest of places, but it can usually be found in areas that are more likely to get damp from steam and condensation, including bathrooms and kitchens.
Because mold requires an abundance of moisture to flourish, it always has a specific stench.
This is akin to how severe mold and moisture issues can cause organic elements that make up surfaces where mold thrives to rot and degrade.
Blocked Drains
This one speaks for itself. Sometimes, you may feel too tired to fully scrape your plate after eating, letting the small, miniscule leftovers to flush down the drain.
While you may think those tiny pieces of food won’t matter, in the long run, the food will build up inside the kitchen sink’s drain.
This food will begin to rot, causing a disgusting stench as it builds up.
Additionally, this will lead to your sink eventually blocking. You would be much better off scraping every plate before putting it in the sink.
Tobacco
In recent years, less and less people are smoking tobacco, and even less choose to smoke inside their houses.
Tobacco tends to soak into fabrics, meaning that when you smoke inside your living room, the smoke attaches to your couch, curtains, rugs, and any other products inside that room.
It may even cause the fabrics to become a yellowish color.
Unclean Fridge
Even if you think that your fridge is pretty clean, and you refill it every so often, you may be unaware of small leakages in the back parts of the refrigerator (see also 'How To Clean Refrigerator Coils').
Split food and drink will go sour over time, creating smells that become unignorable.
Your best bet is to give your fridge a thorough cleaning every couple weeks, ensuring that nothing is rotting in there.
Even if your fridge looks clean, you never know what could be lingering in the areas towards the back that may be covered up.
6 Ways To Make Your House Smell Amazing
Now that you know why your house may smell funny, here are 6 ways that you can help cover them up.
1. Use Air Freshener Sprays
Air fresheners can be purchased as aerosol sprays, candles, and pump sprays. They are fairly cheap to purchase, and you can find them in most stores.
Although they are only temporary solutions, they are incredibly simple to use to get rid of unpleasant odors.
2. Light Some Candles
Candles with scents have been traditionally used for millennia to promote relaxation and medical recovery.
These days, we make use of them to set the mood, as aesthetic focal points, and for aromatherapy.
Create your own candles if you prefer, or pick from a wide variety of scents.
The candles made of soy, vegetable, or beeswax should be your first choice because of their propensity to last the longest.
3. Use Diffuser Sticks
Diffuser sticks slowly spread a coating of fragrance around your home as the scented liquid is drawn up the rods composed of biodegradable materials.
You can construct your own room diffuser using a container, or purchase ones in a wide variety of aromas.
Another excellent option is incense sticks, though you should keep an eye on them to prevent any fire concerns.
4. Try Some Essential Oils
Essential oils smell great, and spread all throughout your home.
You can use an essential oil diffuser that matches your home decor, since they come in a variety of sizes and designs.
Many use an ultrasonic plate to break the oil down into foundation molecules, then distribute those molecules through into air as a sleek mist, using water as a transfer medium.
5. Put Out Some Potpourri
Potpourri gives dishes and jars a picturesque appearance and can enhance a room's odor.
Anyone can create their own by collecting elements of nature, such as dried flower petals, letting them dry for a couple of weeks, and then mixing in a few more components to create lovely scents.
6. Try Cooking/Baking
Real estate brokers bake cookies or stew seasonings in water on the stove top, since they understand the value of calming fragrances in promoting a property's sale.
The same procedure can be done at home.
Simply cooking something that smells pleasant, like some baked goods, is your first option.
After that, your home will smell lovely, and you'll have something to eat afterwards.
If you don't feel like cooking, just put some spices in a small saucepan with some water and bring it to a boil.
After three minutes of boiling, let them simmer for a short while. Your home will smell wonderful after this.
Final Thoughts
So, there you have it. If you are experiencing bad smells due to mold, bad food, or even your own pets, there are ways that you can minimize the smell.
However, the best way to eliminate bad smells is to go straight to the source.
Be sure to keep your house as tidy as possible, and this will ensure that it always smells good.
We still recommend buying some candles, though, to add some extra yummy scents.
We hope you found this article helpful.