No one wants their house to smell of an off-putting odor. Stenches can creep up and quickly fill entire rooms and deprive the air of freshness.
There are countless things that can make your home smelly. Yet, there remain only a handful of household formulas that can remove the odors. Thanks to these solutions almost any odor can be eliminated within your household.
General Household Solutions
General tips apply to nearly all smells within the household. By following these solutions, you can be sure that you’ll minimize any odor.
1 Open Windows
The first step to clearing an odor from your house is to open the windows. Allowing a gentle breeze to sweep through the house will carries much of your unwanted aroma off and adds freshness within your home.
2 Remove Smelly Things
If you identify the source of the odor, put the smelly item outside as soon as possible. Doing this will often solve the problem and entail no further cleaning.
3 Baking Soda
This household substance is a cornerstone in the fight against odor. Sprinkling this powder over most odor-filled spills will usually be enough to absorb the unwelcome aroma.
4 Vinegar
This substance does wonders in getting deep down within fabrics and surfaces to neutralize odors. Whether it is used to deodorize the laundry, carpeting or furniture, it is almost always successful.
5 Vodka
This alcoholic substance works wonders on short notice. By pouring vodka within a spray bottle, you can simply mist down smelly areas of the house and allow them to air dry fresh.
Smoking Smells
Smoke odors are one of the most challenging odors to remove within a home. Once the smoke gets deep down within fibers and surfaces it is usually a struggle to remove the smell.
1 Walls & Ceiling
You will need to wash down the walls and ceiling surfaces with a solution of bleach. Mix one part bleach with six parts water and scrub down all of the wall and ceiling surfaces within your home. Leave windows open during this process to allow for fresh air and faster evaporation.
2 Baking Soda
Sprinkle heavy amount of baking soda over the entirety of the carpeting. Allow for the powder substance to sit for 24-48 hours before returning to vacuum the powder up. Much of the smoke-bade odor will have been absorbed within the baking soda, leaving freshened carpeting behind.
For more solutions on removing smoke odors from your home, click here.
Urine Smells
Household urine odors can come with their own set of challenges as it is often difficult to find the source of the spills. The following household solutions help in finding these locations and neutralizing the odors. In preparation, you will need to purchase a black light and enzyme cleaning solution at your local pet store.
1 Black Light
Once you’ve purchased a black light, shut all of the blinds within your house ensuring that the interior is in darkness. Turn on the light and begin surveying the floor in search for pet urine stains that will glow under the light. When spots are found, pour a small amount of baking soda over the spot as a marker until it can be properly treated. Once completed, open the the blinds and move forward with cleaning the spots.
2 Enzyme Cleaning Solution
Active enzyme products are invaluable solutions for eating through harsh organics like pet urine. Return to the marked locations and pour enzyme cleaning solution over the entire area of the flooring. Allow this solution to sit for 24 hours before returning to blot up the excess moisture. Once the remaining solution evaporates, you will be left with freshened flooring.
Deodorizing a home often requires a deep cleaning, and this Redbeacon video on house cleaning offers some fun solutions on getting this job done:
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These devices take awhile to get warmed up, but work well over longer periods of time. Within a few hours of plugging a freshener within your home, you will be able to enjoy a freshened aroma.
This product works wonders within a short period of time. Simply spray down the areas of your house where the majority of the smoke odors area exist. While this will mask the odor for a short period time, it is by no means a long lasting solution.
Candles can help in burning musty air and replacing it with a freshen scent. Placing candles in the smokiest rooms of the house and burning them for 30 minutes can majorly reduce the detection of tobacco odors.
If you have smoked within close proximity of your closet, you may need to remove all of your clothing to and wash them. This can be a lot of work, but if they smell of tobacco you do not want them stinking up your house.
If the furniture is made of fabric, your best option will be to use a steam cleaner to get deep down within the fiber. The shampoo washes out much of the smoke residue and neutralizes the smell. Place the piece of furniture outside in the shade to allow for it to air dry.
The best product for this is Orange TKO. This product is made naturally from orange peels, and the citric acid works in cutting through the smoky residues that cling to leather furniture. Pour some Orange TKO on a cloth and wipe down the entire surface of the leather furniture. For added measure, you can also pour baking soda within the lining to freshen the cushion.
Similar to Orange TKO, the citric acid within lemon oil eats through the smoke residues on the wood’s surface. Apply lemon oil to a cloth and wipe down the entire surface of the furniture’s wood.
On short notice you can also spray high quantities of cologne or perfume around your apartment. In many cases, this has the effect of covering the smell, but may seem suspicious that you are trying to cover something up.
Another quick solution is to smoke a cigarette. Cigarette smoke is a bit stronger than weed, and does a great job at mask the odor. Be sure to greet you visitor while smoking the cigarette, so you leave no confusion as to where the odor is coming from. Additionally, be sure to keep a pack nearby, in case you need to use it on short notice.
This product works wonders at cutting through odors. It also comes in a variety of smells and many prefer it to Febreze due to it’s extra strong smell and small size.
Don’t smoke joints in the house. They carry the strongest odors and cause the house, as well as your clothes, hair and hands to smell of weed.
Bongs produce much less marijuana smell than joints. The smoke gets partially purified from traveling through bong water, which causes the smoke to be more purified.
Using a vaporizer allows you to make a significant cut within weed odors within your house. This tool leaves almost no odors behind, and is a great solution for being respectful of non-smoking roommates.
Due to joints smelly nature, be sure to never smoke a them while being indoors. If you need to smoke indoors, you may want to consider purchasing an vaporizer to cut down on odors.