One of the most important human senses is smelling, so naturally, if our home smells great, we feel good and vice versa.
The good news is that you can make your house smell amazing with things you already have at your property and for little money, too!
Let’s find out how below!
Use the Stovetop Simmer Method
The stovetop simmer method is a great way to make your whole house smell incredible. All you need to do is boil up some nice-scented ingredients in a pot with water. You can also do that in a slow cooker.
Whichever you choose, fill your vessel halfway with H2O and add any combination of scented ingredients you like.
Here are some ideas:
- orange or lemon slices (or peels);
- cinnamon;
- cloves;
- vanilla extract;
- lavender.
Bring the mixture to a boil, or just heat the slow cooker on low, letting it sit and simmer all day.
If you’re doing it in a pan, once it has boiled, bring it down to a simmer and let it stay like that for a couple of hours. Make sure the pot on the stove is attended, while the slow cooker can be left unattended.
How to Make Your Fridge Smell Good
If you love the smell of vanilla, there are two great ways to use it to help make your fridge smell better.
You can wipe the plastic interior with a bit of vanilla extract on a sponge or a paper towel to help neutralise bad odours.
The second method is using soaked cotton balls in some vanilla extract and leaving them in an open-air bowl inside the fridge. That will work to get rid of foul aromas.
Another little trick that lots of people use to eliminate foul smells is baking soda. Simply open a small packet with it, place it inside your fridge, and you’re done! The soda will then absorb all bad smells and ensure your fridge smells great.
You can also utilise this neat little trick for other problem areas in your home as well.
Make Use of Essential Oils
In fact, they are one of the best ways to make your house smell good. You can use them to deodorise and spruce up any space in your home. If you have a nebuliser, you can add essential oils to it, but you can also make your own reed diffuser.
You’ll need a dark glass bottle (they help keep essential oils intact for longer by limiting light exposure), essential oils, a carrier oil, a carrying agent (e.g. cheap vodka or a minimum of 90% rubbing alcohol) and rattan reeds.
The smaller your glass’ opening is, the slower the solution will evaporate and the longer it’ll last. The right oil to use for this is sweet almond, safflower or mineral oil because they have the right consistency to carry the essential oil up the rattan reeds.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Pick a combination of essential oil scents that you like, fill your bottle halfway with carrier oil, put a total of 30 drops of essential oils in it and add a teaspoon of the carrying agent. Give your solution a thorough spin and pop your reeds into the bottle.
- The more reeds you use, the more scent there will be. However, the solution will also be used faster. Leave the reeds to soak into the solution overnight and flip them in the morning.
- Keep in mind that the mixture has the tendency to separate, so remember to give it a swirl once a week. Flip the reeds over weekly, but if you want a heavier scent, do it more often.
An easier and simpler way to use essential oils to make your house smell better is to soak a cotton ball in about 15 drops of essential oil, put it in a tiny bowl and place it anywhere in your home. It’ll help freshen up the space and gently disperse any bad smell.
You can actually put essential oils almost anywhere you can think of. For example, put a few drops on your light bulbs so you get a nice scent any time you flick the lights on or put it on the inside of your toilet paper roll if you struggle with bad smells in the bathroom.
Put Some Aromatic Cleaner in the Scrub Holder
Another thing you can do in the bathroom is pour some cleaner with a nice smell into the scrub holder. It’s something that can get pretty gross and smelly, so this will help keep the brush clean but also give it a pleasant smell.
How to get rid of bad smells
To naturally purify the air in your home, think about flowers with nice scents in pots which you can place around the rooms. Even succulents and low-maintenance plants can help with that if you’re not someone with a green thumb.
Use Coffee Grounds
If you’ve ever been to the perfume department in a fancy store, you’ve probably seen little cups with coffee grinds or beans sitting out. You’re meant to give them a quick smell between sampling perfumes, which helps cleanse your palette.
Coffee grinds can help deodorise any space in your house. Put them into a bowl or an open-air container, put them anywhere you need deodorising (e.g. closets, drawers) and leave them there.
You’ll notice the coffee grinds starting to absorb all the bad odour. Change it out regularly. It won’t smell like coffee, but the bad smell will be gone.
Neutralise Cigarette (And Other Foul) Smells with Vinegar
If your house smells like cigarettes after a party or you just have smokers in the house, put around bowls filled with white vinegar.
Your house won’t smell like vinegar, but the liquid will absorb the foul odours from the tobacco. This works not only on tobacco but also on other bad smells.
You can also use it after cooking, or you can put it near your cat litter. It works like a charm with any strong odour that you don’t like.
Eliminate Unpleasant Aromas with Baking Soda
Baking soda is great for cleaning, but it’s also great for deodorising. Pour some into a container, put it anywhere around the house, and it’ll absorb any bad odours. The other thing you can do is fill a sachet with baking soda and put it in a sock drawer or a closet.
Clean Regularly and Maintain Good Hygiene
There are many great ways to deodorise your home, but the real way to remove any bad smells is to clean it at the source. Clean your house on a regular basis, specifically if you notice that your home is smelly.
If you have a particularly large house or the weekly maintenance chores begin to feel too daunting, consider using local domestic cleaning services. That will take the extra load off your schedule and allow you to relax and spend a moment with your family and loved ones.
Things that can also help are:
- Having a “no shoes in the house” policy. Shoes track in dirt, which brings in bad smells.
- Vacuuming your soft surfaces, carpets and upholstery on a regular basis. Sprinkling baking soda over them and letting them sit for 10 to 20 minutes before vacuuming will help lift any dirt to the surface and take any bad odours with it.
- Emptying your garbage cans regularly.
- Opening your windows to let fresh air come in.
- Cleaning your sink. A great way to make your kitchen smell better is by focusing on the sink. Use a mixture of baking soda and essential oils, pour it in and let it sit. Use a sponge or a scrubber to scrub any gunk, then pour boiling water to wash it away.
Conclusion
These are some of the most effective ways to aid you in the endeavour to make your home always smell fresh and pleasant.
Utilising at least some of these excellent strategies is guaranteed to achieve excellent results and ensure a welcoming feeling each time you step through the door of your property. Your family and guests are likely to thank you for it and appreciate the results of all your hard work.
