Introduction
Just walking into a clean smelling house gives one the immediate feeling of coziness, but the presence of unpleasant smells makes your living area uncomfortable and embarrassing. It may be the smell of yesterday’s frying fish in your apartment, pet smells in your carpets, musty closets or a smelly garbage disposal in the kitchen. In order to get rid of these smells, many people immediately think of commercial aerosols, scented candles or air fresheners. Nevertheless, all of these just cover up the foul smell with artificial perfume smell and make your surroundings even more confusing because the smell still stays there. In order to get rid of unpleasant smells in your house, you should attack the source of it and eliminate it once and for all. Luckily for you, you don’t have to use harmful chemical spray to make your house smell nice again; one of the best odor absorbers such as white vinegar, baking soda or activated charcoal is safe, cheap and available right now in your cabinets. This article is going to give you very useful information about how to get rid of those stubborn smells in your house and make every single room in your house fresh and clean smelling.
Find the Source
The first thing that one needs to do if one wishes to rid one’s dwelling of a smell is ascertain its source. The use of air fresheners may make it less apparent, but it will not eliminate it altogether. One should spend time and effort in the process of ascertaining what makes one’s house smell bad to be able to properly get rid of the cause of the stench.
In the kitchen, one’s foul odor might be coming from the trash, the fridge, or other food-related objects. One needs to check the most probable sources and see if there is any spoiled food or a dirty surface that might be the cause of the foul smell. In the bathroom, the source of the odor could be the drain, the towel, or even the bath mat. There might be a more serious reason for a stench in the room if there is a smell of mildew or something similar. One should also check one’s belongings for the source of the odor. Anything made of fabric can absorb unwanted smells from food, pets, and wet objects.
Hence, it is necessary to check laundry baskets, carpets, curtains, sofas, beds, and other pieces of furniture. Another place where foul-smelling air might be coming from is the closet or other objects in one’s home with a closed space behind them or under them. If the smell persists in the room after eliminating these probable sources, one should look into the possibility of a bigger problem. It may be necessary to call in professionals if there is a suspicion that the unwanted odor is coming from a pipe or some other object that is difficult to reach.
Overall, it is essential to find the source of the odor before attempting to eliminate it. If the cause of the smell is not obvious, one should start with the most probable suspects, namely, spoiled food or wet objects. One might also need to call in professionals to analyze the situation if no foul odor’s source has been found.
Kitchen Odors
One of the key sources of bad smells in the house is the kitchen, as cooking processes and garbage always provide suitable conditions for the appearance of various odors. Odors of fried fish, garlic, or onions may easily migrate to other rooms and settle down in the fabric. In order to maintain good air in the kitchen, it is important to address the major sources of smells systematically – namely, the trash can, the refrigerator, and the sink. First of all, it is necessary to wash the trash can using hot water, soap, and a bit of vinegar to kill any bacteria causing smell and sprinkle baking soda inside to soak up possible spills. In case your refrigerator smells, it is recommended to put an open package of baking soda or activated charcoal on one of its shelves in order to neutralize odors of the food items kept there. Moreover, it is important to clean your sink and garbage disposal regularly; it can be done by putting some pieces of fresh lemon or orange peels inside and running the sink with cold water. Another way to clean the kitchen air is to boil a little water with a cup of white vinegar in a pan on your stove after a hearty meal.
In addition to other smells, odors from the kitchen can spread rather fast throughout the house, especially after preparing meals that contain strong spices or after frying, as well as after using such ingredients as garlic or onions. Although some smells dissipate quickly, some others can stay in the air, in fabric, in the kitchen cabinets and nearby surfaces for an extended period of time. Keeping the kitchen clean and ventilated can become one of the best methods of preventing unpleasant smells.
First of all, it is important to get rid of food waste as soon as possible. The garbage bin has to be cleaned and emptied, and it is necessary to clean the refrigerator from the expired food and spills, as spills can develop a rather unpleasant odor. Containers of food also have to be cleaned properly and thoroughly after being used for storing sauces, dairy foods and other food with strong smell.
Proper ventilation can help a lot to solve the problem of smells from the kitchen. It is necessary to use kitchen exhaust fan or range hood during cooking and after it, in order to eliminate smoke, steam and cooking smells. It is also possible to open the windows in case of favorable weather conditions. It is important to clean the filters in the equipment in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions.
Kitchen surfaces have to be cleaned regularly, including countertops, stove top, cabinet handles and the area of cooking devices. The grease and food residues can accumulate there and cause unpleasant smell. Kitchen sinks and drains should be cleaned regularly, because the food particles can accumulate inside and cause smell.
Also it is necessary to pay attention to the reusable items like dishcloths, sponges and towels. These items can become rather unpleasantly smelling if they will remain wet for an extended period of time.
Bathroom Odors
There are various reasons why bathroom smells bad. First of all, it is the lack of ventilation in the room and moisture accumulation in it. Secondly, the presence of damp towels, dirt and grime on bathroom surfaces leads to odors creation. Finally, the formation of odor can be caused by some substance formation inside the bathroom drainage system.
One way to get rid of bathroom smell is to do bathroom cleaning on a regular basis. It is essential to clean the toilet bowl, its lid, seat and area around the toilet. It is also important not to forget about bathroom sinks and drains since there can be odor formation due to the accumulation of hair and soap scum in the drains.
Ventilation is one of the ways how one can cope with bathroom odor. That is why it is necessary to use an exhaust fan while taking a shower. If it is possible, it is useful to open windows in order to have better ventilation. It will help to make drying faster and remove the musty smell.
It is important to hang towels and dry them properly between usages and also to wash them according to the information on care labels. Also bath mats and shower curtains can be washed or even changed when it is necessary. One should avoid piling wet items in the bathroom.
It is essential to keep bathroom dry and clean. One needs to examine such places as bathroom corners, areas around the toilet, and under cabinets in order to find any hidden moisture. One needs to understand the reason of musty smell, mold growth, water damage, and plumbing smell instead of covering them with air freshener.
Thus, with regular cleaning, proper ventilation, dry fabrics, and maintenance of bathroom one can cope with odor in bathroom easily.
Carpet Odors
There’s no better way to describe carpets and area rugs than as huge odor sponges, as they tend to absorb and hold on to any unpleasant smell they come across due to their thick, porous nature. Dust from outside, spills of food substances, pet hair, pet sweat, anything that gives off an odor will soon be absorbed by your carpet, leaving you with a musty smell hanging around in the air in your living room or bedroom. In order to remove carpet odors without using any chemical, moisture trapping shampoo, you need to use a great amount of baking soda. Scatter as much baking soda as you can throughout your dry carpet and then rub it gently through your carpet fibers using a brush or a broom. Leave the powder there undisturbed for several hours or, even better, for one whole night so that it will be able to chemically interact with the odor molecules and neutralize them. Then you need to carefully vacuum the whole area using slow and overlapping strokes to get rid of all the powder along with the odor. If you have any problem spots in the carpet, for example, places where your pet might have had an accident, you may want to moisten them using 50/50 solution of white vinegar and water prior to using the baking soda to produce deep cleaning bubbles.
Garbage Smells
One of the most common sources of bad odors in the house is garbage. Spoiled food products, food waste, packaging materials and any other type of garbage starts producing a foul smell pretty quickly, especially if it remains in the warm and closed area for some time. The only effective method of dealing with such odors is removal of the garbage on a regular basis and maintenance of the clean trash bin.
Empty kitchen and bathroom garbage bins often. Never let the food waste stay in the bin for several days, especially in the warm weather. Use reliable garbage bags of the proper size and make sure they are tightly tied before sending outside. In case the bag is leaking, then you need to clean the inner surface of the bin, as the leftover food waste will still produce an odor despite the removal of the garbage itself.
The garbage bin must be cleaned regularly as well. It should be emptied, washed from inside and outside with the right household detergent and dried before the new garbage bag is put in. Keeping the bottom of the bin dry will help in preventing odors from appearing.
In case it is necessary in your locality, separate the food waste and the recyclable materials. Also, it is recommended to rinse the food containers before the recycling to minimize the odor. Try to avoid placing liquids into garbage bags, as this will increase the risk of leaks.
The area around the garbage bin should not be overlooked as well. You have to wipe the floor and adjacent surfaces often, especially if there was a spill of food or some liquid. It is better to place the garbage bin into the cool and dark place to prevent the development of odors.
If you use kitchen garbage disposal, you have to keep it clean and maintain it according to the instructions, as the food waste may cause odor. In case the regular cleaning does not help, you may have a leak or spoiled food somewhere.
Thus, in order to minimize odors, you have to remove garbage often, keep bins and their surroundings clean and prevent leaks.
Ventilation
Good ventilation is nature’s way of ensuring that there is no air stagnation in your living spaces and that pollutants do not accumulate indoors. When a house remains closed for a long time because of either heating or cooling purposes, the air will be stagnant, causing cooking fumes, pet hair, bathroom moisture, and carbon dioxide to remain indoors and intensify any unpleasant odor present inside the house. Enhancing the movement of air in your house is a very simple zero-cost method that helps to replace the bad smell in your house with fresh outside air in just moments. The best method of achieving natural ventilation is the cross-ventilation method. You need to simply leave windows open on opposite sides of the room or the house for a period of just ten to fifteen minutes each day in the morning; this will create a natural draft which will push out all the smelly air in the house and allow fresh air to enter the house. In order to speed up the process, you could use a portable fan in one of the open windows to allow the smelly air to be pushed out as another window remains open on the other side to bring in fresh air. It is always a good idea to use the range hood and the exhaust fan in your bathroom when cooking and bathing respectively in order to exhaust any heavy odors and moisture.
In general, proper ventilation is an efficient and quite easy way to get rid of unpleasant odors in the house. Odors from cooking, bathrooms, garbage, pets, wet places in the house become stronger and stay in the air for a longer time because they are trapped indoors. Ventilation enables people to get rid of stale air and moisture and introduce fresh air from outside, when it is appropriate.
Openings of windows and doors during some time allow getting good airflow in all rooms. Cross-ventilation which includes introducing of air in one place and ventilation in another helps to get rid of stale air effectively. However, in case if the air quality in the street is not appropriate and there are other causes not to introduce outdoor air, it is better not to open windows and doors.
Ventilation fans are especially effective for kitchens and bathrooms. The kitchen fan should be used during cooking and for a while after that to eliminate smoke, steam and odors of food. For the bathroom, the same ventilation fan should work while taking a shower and for some time after that to eliminate mustiness. It is necessary to maintain ventilation fans according to the recommendations of the producer.
Do not block the airflow through vents with furniture or curtains. If your house has a heating or cooling system, pay attention to the filters and clean or replace them regularly according to the recommendations of the producer.
Ventilation should always go together with cleaning. If you open the window, but the source of the odor is spoiled food, dirty fabric, garbage, or any problems with plumbing, odors would not disappear completely.
Improving airflow, proper use of ventilation fans and regular maintenance of ventilation system help people to eliminate stale air and moisture and make the house comfortable for living.
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Home: How to Remove Bad Smells from Your Home – 7 Proven Tips
Conclusion
Getting rid of stinks in your living spaces is much easier when you pay attention to the origin of a smell rather than attempt to mask it. Odor may originate from different sources – the kitchen, bathroom, garbage, wet textiles, drainpipes, poor ventilation zones and others. Dealing with the origin of the smell is likely to give better results than covering the smell.
In the kitchen, frequent cleaning will eliminate the source of the smell that may be food leftovers, grease and refuse. Cleaning of garbage cans, clearing the fridge of decayed products, cleaning of sinks and countertops will do wonders for your living spaces. In the bathroom, the source of odors may include cleaning of the toilet, drains, floor, towels and bathmats. Proper ventilation is very important in moist places.
Garbage needs to be taken out frequently and, especially, when it consists of food refuse. Cleaning inside of garbage containers and immediate action in case of leaks will prevent smell. Washing of damp textiles such as cleaning cloths, towels, etc., is needed as well.
Ventilation includes all aspects mentioned previously as it provides for exiting of humid and smelly air. Proper ventilation may consist of opening windows if it is possible outside and using exhaust fans in kitchens and bathrooms. Ventilation alone won’t get rid of the smell, however, if the cause of it hasn’t been treated.
The perfect approach is to use all measures at once – cleaning, ventilation, proper waste management and immediate reaction to the unusual smell. If there is still smell after cleaning everything, check whether there is any hidden moist, plumbing or other problem that may be the source of smell.
