Want to know some quick, guaranteed ways to make your home smell good? Keeping your home fragrant and fresh requires dedication, but sometimes you need a quick fix.
Maybe unexpected company announced they’ll be over within the hour, and your house smells stale. Or worse, it smells like yesterday’s fried bacon or attempted meal prep.
If you spend a lot of time in your house, then it’s easy to become accustomed to the funky odors that outsiders might detect right away. The good news is you can eliminate those pretty quickly, and it doesn’t cost very much. Here are 8 ways to refresh your home:
- Clear the air.
- Eliminate the smell at the source.
- Candles, air sprays, incenses, and plug-ins.
- Carpet freshener is a must.
- Make a stovetop potpourri.
- Do a quick wipe-down with a great-smelling household cleaner.
- Candle warmers are magical.
- Fabric refreshers are on your side.
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Clear the Air.
The best way to get the old, musty air to move out is to open the windows and let clean, fresh air come in. For best results, open windows in multiple rooms to get a cross-breeze. Turn on your ceiling fans and place box fans or desk fans near the windows to draw in the fresh air if there’s no breeze flowing in.
This might not be practical if it is very cold outside, but even a few minutes can help the rooms smell clean. If you just want to impress a few guests, try airing out the rooms they are most likely to visit if it is too chilly outside for opening all the windows.
Eliminate the Smell at the Source.
A bit more time-consuming, but you won’t be free of the yucky smells until you’ve tackled the source. Try to implement the 3 wave system next time you clean. Sometimes, this can take a bit of sleuthing. Some of the culprits:
- Trash cans/diaper pails
- Dirty throw rugs
- Musty pillows
- Dusty places
- Pet beds
- Garbage disposal
- Unclean upholstery
- Damp laundry
- Old leftovers in the fridge
- Expired produce
- Mildewed bathroom corners or windowsills
- Oven or microwave
- Kitchen and bathroom sink drains
Dust stinks, don’t forget that it is made primarily of decomposing skin cells. To help cut down on dust in your home, try decluttering before you start deep-cleaning. It’s much easier to keep clean, clutter-free surfaces dust-free and smelling nice!
Speaking of decomposition, if you notice a particularly rotten stench, you might want to look into corners and behind furniture for dead insects. Deceased crickets and large spiders can reek.
Candles, Air Sprays, Incenses, and Plug-ins.
Candles, air sprays, incenses, or plug-ins are excellent weapons against bad smells. These products are a strong and fast way to bring some lovely fragrances into your home. However, to keep from being stifled by too much perfume, it is best to make sure all the scents are the same, or at least complementary. Too many different fragrances and your home will smell like a potpourri factory.
My favorite plug ins are the fresh linen from Airwick or Glade. They last a long time and are inexpensive.
Note: Don’t use them in the kitchen while you are cooking. Some smells just do not go well together, and it may be more repulsive to your guests to smell onions mixed with fruity potpourri, floral air spray, and soapy candles than to just smell the onions themselves.
Carpet Freshener is a Must.
You can make your own carpet freshener or use a store-bought version. Either way, sprinkle the carpet and vacuum will make a big difference in only a few minutes.
If you have light-colored carpet, you can even get by with leaving the powder underfoot—just sweep it into the fibers for longer-lasting deodorizing. A huge plus to this is that when you vacuum up carpet fresheners, your vacuum cleaner will smell good too.
If you don’t have any carpet refresher on hand and there’s no time to make some, a quick sprinkle with baby powder or banking soda with essential oil works well, too, but I would not recommend it for darker carpets, especially if you are in a hurry. It can take a while to vacuum it up entirely.
Make a Stovetop Potpourri.
It is super-easy and one of my favorite ways to keep my home smelling good. You don’t even need to dry any flowers. All you have to do is boil a pan of water on the stove and add items that smell great, like orange peels, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and essential oil.
My favorite is to combine lemon wedges, fresh rosemary, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Trust me, it smells heavenly! You can mix and match for the perfect scent. The steam will carry the smell throughout the house.
If you need something even stronger, try filling the bathtub halfway with hot water and adding a few drops of scented oil.
Do a quick wipe-down with a great-smelling household cleaner.
It may be hard to find now, but citrus-scented Lysol is the truth. It smells wonderful! I keep some diluted in a spray bottle and use it whenever I need a clean smell in a hurry or to sanitize anything.
You can wipe just about anything with Lysol. It’s easy to go over furniture, tables, fridge, counters, and other areas in those few minutes before guests arrive. You can also add some to your toilet bowls, and the scent will quickly fill your bathroom.
Another cleaner that will do the trick is regular Pine-Sol. I keep it diluted in a spray bottle to use as both a cleaner and a room deodorizer. I love the way it makes the house smell almost outdoorsy after it has dried. Perfect if you don’t like heavy, floral, or fruity scents. You can use whichever cleaner you’d like. I have an embarrassing addiction to Mrs. Meyers Multi-Purpose spray so, have at it!
Candle warmers are magical.
Candle warmers are a great tool to use instead of lighting an actual candle. There are 2 variations. One being a candle burner or plate that warms a candle in a jar without lighting the flame, making the candle last longer and the fragrance smell stronger. The other is for the candle wax itself sold in containers to be broken off & melted in the candle warmer.
Save those empty candle jars and use them to make your own potpourri. I’ve used them to warm a lot of different concoctions on my candle warmer:
- Fabric softener
- A favorite cleaner
- Essential oils
- Febreze
As far as I know, just about any liquid that smells good will smell even better when it is heated. It is safer and more efficient than leaving the stove on for hours to boil potpourri, too. Heating a diluted cleaning mixture can make it seem like you’ve been slaving away all day over a hot mop.
Fabric refreshers are on your side.
You can use the Febreze brand or generic alternatives to take the stink out of furniture, carpets, and curtains. The result is a fresh rather than perfumy scent.
Another great trick I have used is to lightly spritz fabrics with a bottle of diluted Lysol. Whereas Febreze temporarily masks scents, Lysol kills the germs and bacteria causing the odors, so it lasts a lot longer. The kind I use leaves the sofa smelling faintly of oranges.
If you want something a little more clean or soapy-smelling, you can make your own fabric refresher by diluting some fabric softener in water. Homemade Febreze for just a few pennies? Life can’t better than that!
Keep On Top of Household Odors and Always Have a Home That Smells Great!
Most of these “solutions” are quick fixes for semi-emergency situations.
For long-term good smell, you do have to keep the odors from starting in the first place. See option two above for areas that need daily or weekly attention to prevent a build-up of horrific stench. And don’t forget to air your house out regularly. It is great for you, your home, and your future guests.
Thank you for being here Family!
For ideas on starting a weekly cleaning routine & how to clean more efficiently, check out this article:
3 Wave Cleaning System with BONUS Weekly Cleaning Routine
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