Your home is your permanent dwelling place. When our dwelling place develops an odor it can be a very uncomfortable experience.
As a result, you may not even want to invite people over or stay there yourself. A bad odor is a sign that your home needs to be cleaned and refreshed.
Here are 20 hacks that will help you to ensure that your home always smells fresh and ready for guests.
1. Do a Deep Clean
If you’re not able to clean your house regularly, it will help to give it a deep clean when you get the chance. This is never a bad idea if you want your house to smell fresh and look extra clean.
When you do a deep cleaning you focus on all areas. This will help to clear any build-up of dust, dander or dirty clothes that may be causing a bad odor.
2. Using vinegar to absorb smells
If you’re battling with a bad odor, one of the first things you can reach for is vinegar. It will kill odor-causing bacteria as opposed to fresheners that just mask the odor.
Simply pour a cup or 2 of vinegar into a container and place it near the source of the odor and let it sit for about 30 minutes. This will neutralize the odor.
3. Boiling spices:
I love the smell of spices and essential oils. My favorite ones to use for my house are cinnamon and vanilla. Pour 1 cup of water, 1 tbsp of cinnamon or 1 cinnamon stick and 1 tsp of vanilla into a saucepan.
Allow boiling until the scent travels throughout the house or until you’re satisfied. Turn the flame to low and let simmer. This hack will also work if you’re expecting guests on short notice.
4. Baking:
Baking food or pastries will naturally leave your house smelling fantastic. If you’re not planning to bake, this can be replicated. Simply put two teaspoons of vanilla in a small baking dish and let it bake at three hundred degrees for about an hour.
Your home will smell like you’ve been baking the most delicious cookies. Most of all the bad odors will be at bay.
5. Burning incense sticks:
Incense sticks are an acquired taste, if that’s something you like, then they are an option for odor reduction in the home. As they burn slowly they release aroma in the air.
This aroma can spread throughout an entire room. This helps to freshen your house. Incense sticks also come in various scents such as lavender, vanilla or nutmeg.
6. Using reed diffusers:
These are very safe and convenient to have at home. Reed diffusers can be used in spaces where you can’t use candles. There are different fragrances for you to choose from.
These make your house smell great. Just set one inside the room you need to freshen and it will release a fresh scent over time. This will help you to maintain freshness for areas that you already cleaned.
7. Using scented garbage bags:
Scented garbage bags are very useful when it comes to getting rid of bad odor. These will help to keep down the smell of garbage around the home. This product doesn’t get rid of germs, rather, it only masks to odor.
Therefore it is always best to wash and sanitize garbage bins to get rid of germs and always allow bin to be properly dry before placing a scented garbage bag inside.
8. Keeping dried herbs around:
Dried herbs have so much power. It’s very beneficial when boiled for tea. However, it’s smell can also be beneficial to the house. There are many types of herbs to use around the home such as rosemary, sage, peppermint or thyme.
For fragrant purposes, you could tie them in bundles and hang them around similar to store-bought air freshener sacks.
In the photo above, I created a nice looking and great smelling centerpiece using rosemary, star anise, and Purex crystals. It both beautifies and lifts the scent of the surrounding.
9. Lighting scented candles:
Lighting a scented candle is one of the quickest ways to make your house smell better. Scented candles are available in different fragrances. You can use different scents to evoke different moods or feelings.
It is as easy as lighting it and leaving it. I enjoy a good scented candle in my bathroom when it’s not in use or throughout the day time. It is important to remember to blow it out once you’re leaving the house or going to sleep.
10. Placing oats in your fridge:
Oats absorb liquid until its grains becomes soluble, similarly, it absorbs odors until it starts breaking down. Sometimes your fridge may be a house of bad odor.
To resolve the smell coming from the fridge, you may place a bowl of dried oats to rest in your fridge. This will absorb any unpleasant odor but will only last for a day or two before you have to change it or it will start developing mold.
11. Attach a clip-on air freshener to vent:
This is pretty simple to do. Just attach the air freshener to the vent. By doing this the smell will automatically diffuse throughout the house.
Therefore, your home will smell better over time. Clip-on air fresheners are very convenient to have around and will cost a lot less than aerosol sprays.
12. Making lemon teas:
Lemon can release a strong aroma when it’s boiled. To activate this aroma, you can add two cups of water and lemon slices to a teapot. Allow the water and lemon to boil.
As a result, a lemon-fresh scent is released that will spread throughout your entire house if left on long enough.
However, if it doesn’t spread and you would like it to, just pour some of the hot water into a cup and add 2 slices of lemon. Subsequently, take this mixture to another room and let sit to freshen the air.
13. Placing tea bags in your closet:
Who would have thought that hanging tea bags in your closet could get rid of a musty smell? Just by hanging a few tea bags in your closet, you can get rid of that smell.
This can be done as often as necessary to eliminate musty odors, over time they will lose their fresh scent. After that, be sure to change them out for fresh ones. You could also add a few drops of essential oils to the tea bags before hanging them.
14. Keeping indoor plants around:
Keeping indoor plants around is one natural way to refresh your house. There are numerous plants out there that can be used indoors. These plants not only provide a fresh smelling fragrance but they’re also very beautiful.
In the same vein, they work to flood your home with oxygen while thriving off the carbon dioxide we emit. As a result, the more oxygen we have around the fresher the house will be.
Here are a few indoor plants that are nice to have.
Hippeastrum
Tulips
Flamingo Plant
Succulents
15. Putting essential oils on cotton balls:
Essential oils have multiple benefits. The most obvious is the appealing smell. for a more delightful scent around the home, try adding essential oil to cotton balls and place them around the house.
These cotton balls can also be stored in drawers and just about anywhere that you wish to have a better smell.
16. Using linen spray:
Linen spray does a terrific job at freshening not only your linen but also towels, clothes, and carpets. Anything that is locked away for too long tends to have an odor at times. If your house has been locked up for a while you can apply linen spray to the curtains, sofa or anything else that the spray can be used on to give your house a fresh smell. Washing is not always necessary when you have linen spray.
17. Putting baking soda on rugs:
Rugs aren’t easy to remove to do cleaning all the time. To help to make them fresh you may sprinkle baking soda and them and let it stay there for about an hour. After the hour you may vacuum rug regularly.
Baking soda has deodorizing properties and it helps to take away unpleasant smells. You may repeat the method as often as necessary to get rid of odors.
18. Hanging fresh mint in the shower:
For a bathroom that’s just minty and cool, try hanging freshly cut mint in the shower. To achieve this, gather a small bundle of mint. Tie it together and hang it in the shower.
After this is done you may turn on the hot water pipe and allow the steam from it to penetrate the fresh mint, thus releasing the minty fragrance.
19. Putting dry paper in bins after emptying it:
Garbage bins can have a strong smell at times. The dry paper absorbs odors. To get rid of odors in your garbage bin you can try placing paper at the bottom of the bin.
This will help to absorb any leakage that may even be causing the odor as well. The paper should be changed as often as necessary or whenever you are changing the garbage bags.
20. Placing baking soda in the bin after emptying it:
Sometimes after you have emptied your bin, a little odor may reside there. To eliminate this you may sprinkle baking soda in the bin and allow it to remain there for about an hour before removing it.
Similarly, you may add a few drops of essential oil to the baking soda to make it smell even better. If you want to perpetuate this, you can leave the baking soda sitting in the bin until you’re ready to empty it.
In concluding this article, you must decide whether or not you want to mask odors or get rid of them. Getting rid of odors can be done naturally or artificially. Some products may contain toxins, some may trigger allergies.
Be sure to Keep highly flammable products away from fire. It is not encouraged to put lighted scented candles under a bed or anything that may start a fire. Be sure to wash your hands properly after handling any product that has any harmful toxins.
20 + Awesome Home Smell Hacks
These are some awesome tips and tricks that will help you to easily have a home that smells really awesome.
Instructions
1. Do a Deep Clean
