What Do You Do to Keep Your House Smelling Fresh and Clean?

Citrus Magic disks work well. Put them up somewhere and forget them for a while.

I also open the house, even just crack a window, any time I can.

Vinegar helps with workout clothes stink. Just put some in the wash.

I clean with vinegar and it usually smells fresh in my house, unless I'm cooking. Usually my house smells like food, since I am usually cooking something. To be that's the smell of home.

Baking soda vs. Vinegar. Wipe down the walls with some Baking Soda mixed with water and sprinkle some in the carpets before running the vacuum. In addition, running the over stove fan helps.

I had friends coming over yesterday and wanted my house to smell nice so I cut the top off an apple and took the core half out. I poured a little orange juice in the core and sprinkled cinnamon on top. I then baked the apple for about an hour at 350 in my toaster oven.

We have a new puppy in the house and I'm trying to keep the house from getting a dog smell. I've been using the new Febreeze Natural spray. It's doesn't have any kind of strong, fake smell - just a really light, naturally fresh smell. About once a day I spray in my mudroom, the couch cushions, the dog's bed, etc. It helps! Other than that, I usually have a candle from Bath & Body Works burning. The fall & winter scents are my favorite - those are fake smells I don't mind. :)

Clean, clean, clean. Then if the cooking/sports smells take over, we use Febreeze.

Paint it every few years.
Even if you wipe the walls/ceiling down regularly, plaster/sheet-rock is still a pretty porous substance and it absorbs what ever is in the air.
Painting it helps to seal it.
If you have wood paneling, take the trouble to wipe it down with a good wood polish once per year.
Carpeting - if you have wall to wall sometimes the padding beneath it gets funky or if it's an older type foam it breaks down after awhile.
Anyone who's ever received wooden furniture from anyone who was a heavy smoker will tell you that the wood absorbs the smell and it is difficult to deodorize.
Air out sports equipment outside if you can - much of it can absorb sweat.
Sparring gear gets down right disgusting - rinse it off after use (outside if you can) and let it dry out completely.
Some of that stuff can be stored out in the garage.
Any outdoor clothes that come in smelly go right into the wash machine - don't allow them to sit in a hamper so they can ferment.

We use an air purifier and diffuse lemon essential oil.

Do you have filters on your cooling and heating units? We started using odor eliminating filters and it made a big difference in keeping our house fresh!

On nice weather days, I always open doors and windows to get fresh air even just a crack. I don't use all those air fresheners...they only add more chemicals. I do freqently clean the sinks, stove, and oven which gets at the source of the problem. Turn on overhead fans and run your furnace/AC fan even if it's not on. Use a filter in the furnace/AC as well and change frequently.

Vinegar neutralizes odors. I clean with white vinegar (it is really inexpensive) and while the smell of it is strong, it goes away once it dries and it takes away any other stinkies with it. It even helps to take out urine smell if someone has an accident. You can also use it in your steam vacuum to clean carpets.

I don't use candles. I use odor neutralizing/absorbing beads. Rather than mask odors, I use stuff that soaks them up.

Yankee Candle actually has some of these now, too. I just got this one from a fundraiser my daughter's Beta Club had.

http://www.yankeecandle.com/detail/just-plain-fresh/1255464

I get migraine's from strong odors so when I find one that doesn't I tend to use that one. I use cleaners with the Gain scent. I even cleaned the carpet with a little of it in the water mix.

There are also some navy blue renuzit air fresheners, the ones that are odor neutralizers. I like this particular one. It's a cone shape and the gel is navy blue. It's a super odor killer. I put one in each room every month. It really helps.

Sprinkling a powder before vacuuming also helps keep a smell in the air too.

Nothing beats opening the windows and letting the breeze in, right? We don't have that luxury either in the midwest.

We use febreeze and just spray it around. It actually does freshen up the place. We're lucky, because the weather around hear is finally cooling down, so we'll be able to open windows more and just air the place out. But febreeze definitely helps.

My house just has an odor about it, you know that odor all houses have that just says 'people live here'. I spray fabrics down with Fabreeze at least every few weeks. For day to day I use scented warmers, but the ones with candles. I love candles and during the winter we use them to 'light' the house at night. We turn on lights, don't get me wrong, I just like the ambiance lol

Simmer a pot on your stove with a few cups of water, a cinnamon stick and some cloves. No weird chemicals (like candles), just a nice fragrance (& a lot cheaper! You could also substitute any spices you'd prefer (rosemary, lemon & vanilla is a nice combo, too).

I use soy candles , vinegar and cleaning products from Young Living.

Absolutely no Febreeze or toxic products like it...

If you have a high quality health store near you check with the staff there.

Orange peels are great! I like the cinnamon idea, too!

A.,

Fill a saucepan with enough water, add cinnamon sticks, and bring to boil for a few minutes, then turn the heat down to simmer. Keep always the water level high and keep it simmering as long as you wish. I always use an old saucepan since the cinnamon tends to darken it. I use orange and lemon peels during warm weather, and for this time of the year, I use cinnamon and sometimes I add clover (just a bit). Family and friends love it!, I do too!

A. :)

I wipe EVERYTHING down with white vinegar - especially in the bathrooms. The floors, the entire toilet, the walls and cabinets around the toilet, etc. I also make sure to regularly wash all rugs.

I pour white vinegar into all sinks and tubs and let it sit overnight without rinsing. ( I do this about once or twice a month)

Check your curtains and other fabrics - they can absorb odors that smell good originally (like garlic in sauce) but then turn into a nightmare!

I, too, have set out bowls of vinegar, especially when we are painting the interior of our home. I find what also works really well are plants - especially spider plants and english ivy - see the link below.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/best-houseplants...

We also have air purifiers in a couple of rooms.

I also use scentsy, which I love, as I never feel as if it is just masking odors - it just blends in with my clean home and compliments it!

I also make sure to open the windows and allow in fresh air on a very regular basis, even in cold weather.

Lastly, I put eucalyptus leaves in a vase in the living room - they are quite pretty and smell fantastic without being overpowering. Hobby Lobby carries them at 50% off quite often!

With all of the above, I think our house smells pretty darn good!

Other than turning off the AC while cooking and opening up the windows to keep fresh air circulating you would have to learn how to cook some of the foods out doors to keep the odors out.

I once went on an open house for realtors and one house the people cooked with spices from a different culture and the whole house smelled. It was almost offensive to the nose. In order for this house to sell, it would need to be scrubbed and painted with the carpet removed. It looked very clean but the odors were in everything.

If you have curtains and blinds, you are going to have to wash them more frequently to keep the odors under control. If you can contain the unseen oil that moves in the air while cooking you might be able to keep that from covering the kitchen and furniture.

As for the sports and outdoor equipment it must be washed as soon as you get home to keep that odor under control. Have a place outside where all the equipment can dry and air out. Find some Febreze or incents or wax that you use in melting pots to keep the smells down.

Bathing will help. But you may have to change your spices as that, too, does come out through your pores as you sweat. When I worked at a university, I knew a student from India that ate spicy foods and he had an unusual body odor from the spices that was a bit off.

Good luck to you.

the other S.

For the food oils, I find that you just have to get rid of the source. So I scrub the sink, stove or microwave, and pans with baking soda after I wash them in dish liquid. The baking soda seems to get just a little more of the remaining oil. I run a hot rinse in the dish washer if I'm not doing a full load. I open the windows for five minutes, then leave out vinegar in a lovely vase.

I also use baking soda or vinegar in the wash!

Nice to hear someone's home cooking. Lucky family!

The main source of odor in my house is litter boxes - four of them for sixteen cats. I scoop them several times a day, and I don't have odors.
I use white vinegar to clean the floors. I don't have carpet.
My mom, who keeps a house that could make Martha Stewart look like Pigpen, even commented once, "I don't know how you do it."
"Do what?"
"You have all these animals, and your house never smells bad."

I agree with cleaning (however I am not very good at it) and opening windows when I can. However I also use Scentsy warmers and room sprays. I won't use traditional candles because I have animals and don't want the fire hazard of an open flame. Scentsy is a Great safer alternative and personally I love it. You can check it out here: www.flamelesswarmer.com

Well, I'm going to try something I just read about...a few drops of vanilla on the furnace filter.

Candles are nice, but I've found that burning oils really make an impact! I have a tea light burner but would love to get an electric one some day. I bought some oils at Walmart a long time ago. Bath and Body Works have some beautifully fragrant oils too. I live in FL so I know about not wanting to waste the AC but when I am cooking with fragrant spices, I open my kitchen window and crank the ceiling fan up a bit to get the air moving.

I shampoo the carpets regularly. Its amazing how much odors the carpets hold. I also open the windows as much as possible and keep the filters on the AC clean.

We are a No SHOE house. My carpets are clean. Also we only eat in the kitchen.

I'm telling you--try those Country Boy candles. I'm not in Texas until winter break. For now I burn incense, but when I come home for the holidays, I will buy those country boy candles. They smell even after you blow them out. And no, I'm not related to the entrepreneur.