Realtors know it. Prospective homebuyers know it and it causes many houses that are for sale to sit on the market for months, even years, at a time. When your home smells bad, it’s a bad sign. Why? It’s the first sign that the home isn’t clean or in good repair. A home that has an odor is a home in decline. It’s a sign that something is wrong. The problem is that we often don’t know our home smells because we get used to the smell and don’t know it’s there. For that reason, diagnosis is the first step in correcting the problem.
Odor detective
When we live in a home, it’s hard to tell that it smells. Being away from your home is one way to tell if your home has an odor problem. Returning home from vacation or a long weekend will often point out that your home has a problem. If you worry about it and can’t tell if your home is smelly or not, ask a trusted friend, neighbor, or family member who doesn’t live with you to give it a sniff test and ask for their honesty.
And, if they tell you it’s a stinker, don’t get mad. Ask them to identify the type of smell. Ask if the smell is that definitive “cat box” smell, is it a cooking smell, or maybe it’s the musty odor of leaking water. Identifying that your house smells is the first step. The second step is to determine the type of odor that it is. Most of the time, the smells are from common sources.
Odor Sources
Some of the most routine causes of odor and their solutions are listed below.
Cooking. Cooking odors are not necessarily a bad thing unless they are pervasive and don’t leave. Cooking odors typically dissipate within a few hours or a day. If cooking odors are a problem, check your vents. The filters may need cleaning or may need to be replaced. Use the vent whenever you are cooking in the home and be sure to clean the kitchen thoroughly.
Pets. The most obvious problem with indoor pets are accidents and litter boxes. Keeping pets indoors requires keeping the litter boxes scrupulously clean in order to keep cat urine from seeping into the walls and flooring.
Pets who are accident prone should be only allowed in areas of the home where accidents can be cleaned more easily (such as on tile or vinyl floors). Once stains saturate below the carpeting into the padding and into a wood subfloor, you may be stuck with the odor for a long time to come. Try to confine pets to cleanable areas if at all possible.
Water. Leaks and flooding can often cause a musty, stale smell in the house. Check for leaks in the roof, foundation, around sinks and around all windows to check the seals. Correct any problems. Water is the most common source of smell because the water often dries and turns to mold.
Smoking. Cigarette, cigar, and pipe smoking can seep into wallboard and upholstery and make a house smell over time. The best way to eliminate that smell is to avoid smoking inside the house. Completely cleaning, including washing, and sometimes, painting can help, as well as replacing carpeting and upholstered items that reek of cigarette smoke.
Body odors. When someone in the home is ill and lives at home or is aged and incontinent, smells can occur. Scrupulous cleanliness is the answer here. Keep all soiled garments and padding in sealed plastic containers with tight-fitting lids. Regular cleaning is also called for, as is washing items in very hot water and perhaps using some bleach to clean both washed items and in and around the area where this person resides. Many ailments can cause odors.
These are just some of the main causes of odors in the home. But there are others as well. Sometimes it calls for some home sleuthing to find out the source, like for instance, inconsistent cleaning. Once you have found the source of the smell in your home, there are some steps you can take to make it smell better and fresher.
Odor Handlers
Febreze Deep Clean Spray. This has a pleasant smell and helps to neutralize odors in upholstered items, carpets, drapes, just about anything.
Odo Ban. This product is great for neutralizing odors from pets and pet stains or odors from vomit or other biological sources.
Stanley Steemer. Steam cleaning your carpets and upholstery will often remove many of the odors. Regularly scheduled cleaning will help keep your home smelling fresh and clean.
Air filters. Replace your air filters on a regular basis and use better, heavy duty filters. Old, unchanged filters can cause odors in the home. You may also want to have the air ducts of the AC/heating system cleaned as well.
Febreze Noticeables. There are few plug-in style air fresheners that work as well as Febreze. Well, actually, there are no plug-ins that I’ve tried that work as well as the Noticeables. There is even one specifically for odor elimination that is exceptional.
Replace insulation. When homes have strong smells from years of odor-causing activities, such as indoor cats, smoking, etc., the insulation in the attic takes on the smell and distributes it through the walls and in the air ducts.
WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE, PUBLICATION OR WEBSITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Everydayclean.com Cleaning Calendar -- the calendar that puts you in control of your housekeeping by making it faster and you more efficient. It's the cleaning system that lets you have a clean house AND a life! Find out more at "Everydayclean.com"
Don't forget to sign up for the newsletter on this site and have ideas just like these delivered directly to your in-box!
Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Everydayclean.com Calender -- the calendar that helps you end the power struggle with your house. Keeping a clean home is about knowing what to clean when. Virtually everything that needs to be cleaned is on this calendar in a year-round cleaning schedule that helps you keep your house clean easier and faster. Click here for more information.
