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Got a foul odor in your home? how to fix it right now

Writer's picture: Maintenance BoyMaintenance Boy

Do you ever walk into your home and get hit by an extremely unpleasant scent? If you do, and you don't have a pet skunk, you can look to indoor odors as the source. We promise you there are SAFE ways to reduce or eliminate odors in your home. It's essential to attack the odors head on, rather than mask them with candles or spray. If you need a quick fix to make your home smell fresher, here are some tips:

  • Change your air filter(s) on a regular schedule. The air in your home cycles through your air filter(s) multiple times per day. If your filter is not clogged or saturated, it will do a great job of capturing contaminants and pollutants that can make your home stink.

  • Simmer a bowl of vinegar on the stove. This neutralizes odors rather than masking them, like burning vanilla or cinnamon do.

  • Steam clean soft surfaces like drapes, curtains, and sofas. These items often get neglected in the cleaning process. Steam cleaning them is effective at eliminating dirt, dust, and, most importantly, odors.

  • Deodorize your stinkiest rooms by placing a mixture of 3-parts water, 10 drops of citrus oil, and 1-part vodka in a decorative bowl. This is especially effective in rooms with strong foot or body odors like mudrooms and laundry rooms.

  • If you, anyone that lives in your home, or any of your guests/visitors smoke, do so outdoors. We cannot stress this enough. Do. Not. Smoke. In. Your. Home. Cigarette smoke clings to all porous surfaces, including walls.

  • Pets can add all sorts of smells to a home. Keeping up with their hygiene will go a long way in keeping your house smelling fresh.

  • If you have a garbage disposal, avoid discarding carrot, onion, or potato peelings down it. Not only can they block up your disposal, but they cause a horrible stink when they begin to decay.

  • Often times, your garbage can will begin to stink. A simple fix for this is washing it out with white vinegar and water to eliminate any leftover odors.

  • If your laundry basket is filled with stinky clothes, consider sprinkling some washing soda onto the pile until you get around to doing the laundry, as this will neutralize the smells.

Those are some of the basic things you can do to freshen up the scent in your home. Now, if you feel like you may need even more information on how to eliminate home odors, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a complete guide to all things indoor odors and how to deodorize your home:

  • What is an indoor odor?

  • Dangerous odors

  • Why does my room smell?

  • How to get rid of home odors

  • Clean your cleaning supplies

  • Using an odor eliminator

  • Maintain your pet’s hygiene

  • Wash laundry

  • Ventilate

  • Keep flooring and surfaces clean

  • Clean your kitchen

  • Keep your bathroom clean

  • Change your air filter

‍Clean your cleaning supplies

Before you tackle those odors, make sure the supplies you use are free from odors themselves.

If the same sponge you used in February is still sitting beside your sink, it's probably a good idea to find a replacement. Depending on usage, sponges should be replaced at a minimum of once a month to ensure that you're not cleaning your dishes with unwanted bacteria. To make sponges last longer, run them through the sanitize cycle in your dishwasher to temporary stop bacterial growth.

Towels can also smell pretty bad if they're left damp for too long. Make sure towels are laid out to dry after use, so mildew doesn't have a chance to grow. If your towels do smell like mildew, throw them in the washing machine with either one cup of white vinegar or one cup of baking soda, no detergent necessary. We recommend washing towels once a week to make sure they always smell fresh and never need to go through the vinegar or baking soda treatment.

Lastly, keep regularly replacing the bag or emptying out the canister in your vacuum cleaner to keep it on the nice smell list. Rinsing it out with soap and water should also help remove some of the dirt that it has been collecting over time. Blockages from hair or fur should also be cleared out. If your vacuum has an air filter, make sure to follow the manufacturer's cleaning guidelines!

Use an odor eliminator

There are plenty of things you probably already have in your home that can naturally clear odors from the air. Some of the best odor eliminators are coffee grounds, tea, vinegar, oats, and baking soda. Leaving a bowl of any of these odor absorbers out in a room that's due for a little freshening up will help clear out the less-than-pleasant smells from the air.

Baking soda is probably one of the most useful tools in eliminating odors from your home. Instead of masking odors like air fresheners and candles, baking soda absorbs and neutralizes them. It has a reputation for being one of the best carpet deodorizers. Sprinkling it across any carpeted areas and allowing it to sit there for a few hours will have your carpet smelling fresher in no time.

Another place you should put baking soda? On your mattress! Your mattress is a trap for sweat, dirt, and dead skin. Definitely not the ideal things to sniff while trying to fall asleep. Just let it sit for several hours, then vacuum it up, and voila, you have many future better smelling nights of sleep ahead of you. Mattress covers are also great at keeping your mattress from collecting all of that nasty stuff. Especially if you have allergies, mattress covers can be a savior.

Pet accidents? Baking soda's got your back there too. Here's how to eliminate urine odor from your carpet:

  1. First, place a layer of paper towels down on top of the wet spot.

  2. Then add a layer of newspaper to absorb as much of the urine as possible.

  3. Next, sprinkle about ¼ cup of baking soda evenly over the affected area, and let it sit out for awhile. Overnight or around 8 hours would work, but the longer it's left out, the more effective it will be.

  4. After the baking soda has had time to neutralize the odor, vacuum it all up.

Use an odor eliminator

There are plenty of things you probably already have in your home that can naturally clear odors from the air. Some of the best odor eliminators are coffee grounds, tea, vinegar, oats, and baking soda. Leaving a bowl of any of these odor absorbers out in a room that's due for a little freshening up will help clear out the less-than-pleasant smells from the air.

Baking soda is probably one of the most useful tools in eliminating odors from your home. Instead of masking odors like air fresheners and candles, baking soda absorbs and neutralizes them. It has a reputation for being one of the best carpet deodorizers. Sprinkling it across any carpeted areas and allowing it to sit there for a few hours will have your carpet smelling fresher in no time.

Another place you should put baking soda? On your mattress! Your mattress is a trap for sweat, dirt, and dead skin. Definitely not the ideal things to sniff while trying to fall asleep. Just let it sit for several hours, then vacuum it up, and voila, you have many future better smelling nights of sleep ahead of you. Mattress covers are also great at keeping your mattress from collecting all of that nasty stuff. Especially if you have allergies, mattress covers can be a savior.

Pet accidents? Baking soda's got your back there too. Here's how to eliminate urine odor from your carpet:

  1. First, place a layer of paper towels down on top of the wet spot.

  2. Then add a layer of newspaper to absorb as much of the urine as possible.

  3. Next, sprinkle about ¼ cup of baking soda evenly over the affected area, and let it sit out for awhile. Overnight or around 8 hours would work, but the longer it's left out, the more effective it will be.

  4. After the baking soda has had time to neutralize the odor, vacuum it all up.

Ventilate

Ventilate, ventilate, ventilate. Proper ventilation is vital in ensuring that odors don't intensify. Make sure that you're opening windows and using fans generously so that any odors don't remain stagnant in one place and can naturally dissipate. If it's pollen season or if you live in an area that has a lot of smog, windows should remain closed. Other than that, outdoor air quality is typically better than indoor air quality. That's why letting in outdoor air will improve both the air in your home and circulation. Special attention should be paid to the ventilation of the kitchen and the bathroom where odors have a tendency to accumulate.

Keep flooring and surfaces clean

Start off by dusting the surfaces in your home from the top down. For harder surfaces like shelves and cabinets, a damp cloth or duster works better to actually remove the dust instead of just moving it around to a different place. For walls and painted surfaces, a dry sponge will be more effective.

Next, make sure that you vacuum your home thoroughly. Vacuum it again. And again and again. Keep vacuuming. Vacuum until you can vacuum no more. How do you deodorize carpet? You vacuum. This is because carpets are a magnet for pet hair, dander, mold, dirt, and dust, none of which smell particularly rosy.

For hardwood floors, regular sweeping and mopping should be enough to keep them odor-free. If you do notice any particularly strong odors, mopping with one part vinegar and one part water should do the job.

‍Keep your bathroom clean

Some hot spots to hit here are toilets, sinks, and showers. Where there's water residue, there's always a chance of mold. Keep your toilet clean by cleaning it at least once a week with toilet bowl cleaner. Pouring half a cup of bleach or vinegar into the toilet, then letting it sit for around 30 minutes before flushing is another way to keep your toilet odor-free. You can clean sinks and showers with bleach, or to keep things more natural, you can use a paste made from baking soda, lemon juice, and vinegar.

Around once a month, pour a mixture of half a cup of vinegar and half a cup of baking soda down all drains. This will help to both neutralize odors and reduce clogging.

So how do you keep your home odor-free? Basically clean. Shouldn't be too hard. That's what kids are for, right?

‍Change your air filter

Anywho, regular air filter replacements are a necessity in keeping your home smelling nice and pretty. Your air filter traps all kinds of particles like dust, mold spores, and dander that would otherwise contribute to an unpleasant odor in your home. To keep your filter working as efficiently as possible, you should replace it at least every three months.


Does Steam Cleaning Remove Odors?


With a steam cleaner, steam permeates deeply to lift and remove every bit of stain and odor. The extractor then removes the source of the odor to ensure it doesn’t return when drying. Whenever you want to clean your home thoroughly and get rid of lingering odors, steam cleaning is the way to go. This way, you’ll know that your carpet is clean.


Steam Cleaning is the way to go to keep you house clean and smelling good

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