15 Fresh-Smelling Home Tips

For many of us, a fresh-smelling home smells like a clean home.  

Our sense of smell is powerful and provides a lot of information about our environment.

Whether it’s freshly baked bread, coffee, or flowers, we’ve all got our favorite smells.  And, according to scientists, the average person can detect at least one trillion different smells!

So, whether you’re interested in freshening your home with a pleasant scent or diffusing some less than pleasant smells, there’s something here for you.   Now, this is not just about masking bad smells.  That needs to be taken care of at the source. It is also about adding truly fresh smells to your home.

Certainly, the information that follows is not new.  Let’s face it, a friendly reminder now and again doesn’t hurt!

How Do You Keep Bad Smells From Starting In The First Place?

To begin with, is there a way to keep bad smells from starting in the first place? 

 As previously stated, do your best to deal with this at the source. Doing things like cleaning or mopping up spills, changing the vacuum cleaner filter, and cleaning your dishwasher all make a difference. 

Not to mention opening up your windows for the regular circulation of fresh air to flow throughout your home. 

Take a look at some other ways to diffuse bad odors if you’d like to have a fresh-smelling home.

1. Empty The Trash Can

This may seem like an obvious tip, but your trash can could be the root cause of any unpleasant odors that you are noticing in the house. If a bad smell persists even after you have taken the trash out, the odor may be clinging to the can itself. In that case, scrub the inside of the can thoroughly to combat the old smells.   While you’re at it, remember to clean the inside of your compost bin as well. 

2. Sprinkle Some Baking Soda

Baking soda is a great way to neutralize bad smells. You can sprinkle a pinch of baking soda onto couches, carpets, curtains, and other fabrics inside the house to eliminate odors quickly and efficiently.  Also leaving a plate of baking soda out on the kitchen counter overnight will absorb bad odors.  And, most of us know how effective it is to have an open box of baking soda in the fridge, for freshness.  Overall, baking soda is a good option if you are looking for a convenient and affordable solution.

3. Wash And Dry That Dirty Laundry

Clearly, the best way to eliminate odors on clothes is to wash them.  Remember, if you leave wet clothes sitting in the washing machine for too long, the clothing and the machine will start to smell.   So, it’s important to immediately transfer wet clothes to the dryer. 

4. Clean The Garbage Disposal

Garbage disposals can produce strong odors due to old food and drink waste. A quick mix of baking soda and vinegar will help to fix this. Pour some dry baking soda powder into the disposal and then flush it down with a cup of white vinegar. This will go a long way to neutralize the smell and stop it from spreading any further. An extra tip when it comes to the garbage disposal is to avoid using citrus rinds to make it smell better. Though the scent of them is tempting, orange peels, for example, can get stuck in the garbage disposal and cause blockages, so your best bet is to stick with the baking soda and vinegar solution.

5. Clear Out The Drains

Clogged drains are some of the main culprits of bad smells.  It is important to ensure that they are kept clean and clear to avoid any blockages that will propel foul scents into the air. For the kitchen sink, use the same baking soda and vinegar solution that helps neutralize smells in the garbage disposal. If you are experiencing any blockages, using a plunger, or pouring hot water down the drain can be effective.   Similarly, the bathroom sink and shower drains can cause bad smells, so ensure that they are clear of any excess soap, hair, or toothpaste to keep the water flowing smoothly and to diffuse any odors.

6. Heat Up Coffee Beans

Though they may be best known for their great taste, you can also use coffee beans to eliminate bad smells. Keeping a small dish of coffee beans in the fridge will help to freshen it up and if you are noticing a bad smell in the microwave you can heat up ground coffee beans in a glass of water. 

7. Pet Deodorizer

Pet odor can be strong, and using a pet deodorizer is a great way to deal with this issue. You can spray this product on carpets and furniture to combat the odor and leave a natural, fresh scent behind.  If you’re an avid DIY-er, consider making your own pet deodorizer. 

8. Purchase An Air Filter

Air filters clean the air inside your house by removing dust, hair, dirt, pet hair, and other particles and filter through clean air. The air filter works similarly to opening windows to remove these particles, but it is quicker and more effective because it can focus on just one room and remove the particles from the air immediately.

Ways to Freshen Your Home

Now, let’s look at a few ways to freshen your home with some pleasant scents.  

9. Eco-Friendly Air Fresheners

There are plenty of non-toxic, eco-friendly room sprays and plug-ins to choose from that will regularly release a pleasant scent and help combat any bad odors accumulating in the air. 

10. Reed Diffusers

Reed diffusers are another way to keep your home smelling great. They come in a wide range of scents.  And, it doesn’t hurt that they add a bit of style! Simply place the reeds into the diffuser and flip the reeds over every so often, to release as much of the diffuser fragrance as possible.

11. Consider Wax Melts

Wax melts work by releasing the scent of fragrance oil when the wax is melted. You can get a wide variety of scents with wax melts as well, so you can choose whether you want a strong smell or a more subtle one. 

12. Potpourri

Potpourri is a mixture of dried flowers and spices. And, is another way to have a pleasant fragrance flowing through your home.   Add some panache and place dried potpourri in a decorative container. On top of that, the scent lasts for quite some time.   You can either purchase ready-made potpourri or if you’re crafty, here’s another DIY project.

13. Display Fresh Flowers

Fresh flowers are a classic way to make your home look beautiful and help keep it smelling great. You can pick up fresh flowers at any florist or grocery store, so they are a convenient solution that you will love having on display. If you want a strong scent then lilies, hyacinths, or roses are an excellent choice, but if you want a more subtle scent then you could go with jasmine or geraniums.

14. Homemade Sachet Bags

Creating sachet bags is a clever way to target specific areas of your house without needing to spread an overwhelming scent of herbs everywhere. It is also quite a fun, creative activity. All you need are some small pieces of cloth, some string,  a few pinches of some scented fresh herbs, and a few drops of your favorite essential oil. Popular choices for these bags are lavender, mint, rosemary, and thyme because they are all known for how lovely they smell. Then, you tie the piece of cloth containing the herbs so that none spill out and place them wherever you want. Usually, these little cloth bags are kept in drawers or closets to freshen clothes, but they can also be put behind pillows on couches or under your bed pillows to keep furniture and bedsheets alike smelling great.

15. Light Scented Candles

This is a classic way to keep your home smelling wonderful. Candles probably have the widest range of scents, even more than reed diffusers and wax melts, so you could have a different smell in each room if you like. You can get candles that smell like fresh linen, lavender, fruit, soaps, and flowers, so you can combine all of the previously mentioned good scents by simply lighting a candle of each scent inside your home.  Remember not to leave the candles unattended!

Recap

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to achieve a fresh-smelling home.

Tackling odors at the source, and taking advantage of the natural and commercial air fresheners – eco-friendly and non-toxic of course – will have your home smelling wonderful.