Ways to Keep Your Home Smelling Fresh this Season
Scents are an important aspect of our lives and rewire the brain. We make so many associations, both good and bad, using scents without even noticing. They can take us back to our favorite place, remind us of our favorite people, and bring back the most impactful of memories.
When it comes to your home, sometimes we want to bring a scent in to capture a specific place, person, or moment. Maybe you’re looking to make a specific impression to your guests. Other times… you might just be trying to cover up something unpleasant. With all this in mind, there are plentiful ways to keep the bad odors out of the home and keep your home smelling fresh, any time of year.
Eliminate Bad Odors
The first step to your home smelling wonderful? Getting rid of those unpleasant scents that might be stuck inside. Regularly clean problem items, like mops, or frequently stinky areas like bathrooms and litterboxes.
- Organize mops, sponges, rags, and other cleaning supplies that need to be cleaned or disposed of
- Take out trash and other waste regularly
- Clean litterboxes, swap out pet potty pads, and wash pet beds frequently
- Give your pets a bath every so often
- Clean any tanks, terrariums, or crates, as well as bedding, blankets, toys, or dishes/fountains
- Check to see if any of your plants have been overwatered
- Clean your air filters and vents
- Place a box of baking soda in your fridge
- Open your windows—expelling old, stale air and lingering scents—or use an air purifier if opening windows is not an option
If you find your kitchen has an unexplainable odor coming from somewhere, try pouring lemon juice (not dumping in lemon peels, as this can erode your disposal!) in your garbage disposal with cold water, feeding the combination in slowly. Another unintrusive way to get rid of smelly odors is to use unscented activated charcoal packs. These can absorb unpleasant odors and set in sunlight to deodorize once they’re “full.”
You’ll also want to double check your rugs, dishes, and towels and put them in the wash if you can. It might be worth it to invest in washing machine-safe upholstery fabrics that are easily removable and washable. For rugs that can’t go in the laundry, shake on a thick layer of baking soda and brush it into the fabric, then vacuum up after a few hours. Take note to wash your walls, particularly in kitchens and bathrooms. Make a solution using a teaspoon of dish soap with water on a flat mop and clean by making painting motions on the walls.
When deep cleaning, try to plan around humid days where the air will be thicker and more oppressive. The last thing you want is to have smelly air to deal with on a stuffy day. This can also incentivize opening doors or windows for fresh air and airflow.
Bring in Good Scents
If you simply want an “unscented” home, getting rid of bad odors through the above cleaning and maintenance should be enough. For enjoying pleasant scents in your home? This will depend on several factors about your lifestyle and preferences.
Scented Products
Sprays, fragrance plug-ins, and candles come in a variety of popular scents, allowing you to find the ones that fit the vibe for the occasion. You can also use a diffuser with essential oils and swap the scents based on the atmosphere you want to create. These methods are great for treating areas on a room-by-room basis or when in need of a quick boost for visitors.
Plant-life
Most plants don’t usually give off a scent unless they are in bloom, which only happens at set times of day or even set times of year. Many have found patio citrus trees, orchids, hoyas, and herb gardens to be a great way to get fresh scents into the home in a natural way. Succulents also do their part in neutralizing stale air and providing cleaner, fresher air for you to breathe while requiring minimal maintenance.
If you have pets, we suggest doing research into the specific plants you’re interested in potentially introducing into your home, or checking out a list of plants to avoid.
Pot Simmer
A pot simmer is simply a mix of different sliced fruits or veggies sliced and added into a pot of water for a few hours. There are a variety of different recipes available to choose from based on season, sweetness, or spiciness, so this is a good place to experiment and find the scents you love the most! Let simmer on low heat for a few hours and let the scent fully permeate the air in your home. Add more water to the mix as it evaporates until you’re ready to leave it off.
Be mindful of the chemical burden of converging too many scents. Using scented cleaning solutions, fragrant perfumes, strong detergents, and following up with an air freshener could create a worse odor concoction for your sense of smell.
Children and pets are the biggest limiter when it comes to your options for which scents you can have and which methods you can use. For example, aerosol sprays can wreak havoc on small animal lungs, like birds or hamsters, and most essential oils are toxic to cats and dogs. Kids might get into different products without realizing they aren’t food or drinks. We suggest using this as a starting point to gauge where you might need to do more research for your specific needs.