How To Keep Your Home Smelling Fresh
I’m big on scents. Or, rather, I’m big on not-scents. Fragrances (synthetic ones) really drive me mad, but having a home and work space that feels clean, fresh, and magical is of the utmost importance to me. Besides keeping your home speckless (impossible!) and being able to air out your house regularly, however, there are other ways to get the job done. Here are a variety of ways for how to keep your home smelling fresh!
I know a few things to be true. A clean home does not necessarily mean there aren’t odors (more stagnation of air, right?). My love for home cooking can lead to icky house smells… as can pets, poor air circulation, and even personal care items. And since all these things are part of our everyday lives, we need practical steps to maintain that fresh smell in your home.
CONTENTS
How to Keep Your Home Smelling Fresh
It’s important to highlight here at the beginning that synthetic fragrances (think room fresheners, candles, and ‘cleaning’ sprays) are not part of how to keep your home smelling fresh. In fact, I think they cause more health issues than they’re worth. You can read this medical article on the safety and efficacy of air fresheners.
Most of these items claim to ‘remove’ odors, but they really just mask them. Think: putting a bandaid on a problem rather than getting to the root of the problem. And then there’s those health concerns we talked about above. Instead, let’s focus on practical (generally at no cost) ideas, including eliminating odor sources, increasing airflow, and understanding material absorption to keep your home smelling fresh.
How do Scents Affect Your Mood
It’s no secret that scents affect our mood. Scent can be nostalgic, scent can be frustrating, scent can be mood-setting. And it’s scientifically proven (by me!) that nobody ever said that fresh air made them feel sad or bad! Real science has shown, however, that fresh air can reduce stress and improve focus. So let’s hop to it.
What Causes Odors in Your Home
There are so many different causes of odors and stagnant air. Here are the main ones:
- Trapped moisture in bathrooms, basements, and laundry areas (e.g. washing machine and dishwasher doors)
- Soft surfaces like carpets, upholstery, curtains, and bedding absorb smells
- HVAC systems and dirty filters circulating stale/dirty air
- Kitchen grease buildup and garbage disposal residue
- Dirty Filters (e.g. dishwasher, washing machine,
- Pet dander, litter boxes, and bedding
How To Make Your Home Smell Fresh All The Time
Regular ventilation and airflow routines
Weather-permitting, opening doors and windows is the best way to get the air moving in your home and keep it smelling good. Spring is coming upon us and while it doesn’t always feel great to open up to the outdoor air, even a window cracked open helps – even just for 20 minutes.
Bathroom and Kitchen fans are also fabulous at pulling stale air out of your home. Kitchen odors can escape and bathroom fans can help with moisture buildup. Air will be replaced by your HVAC system (and seep in through all kinds of place). On a small scale, exhaust fans like these start the flow of air which will then be replaced.
Your air filter should be changed every 2-3 months. Set a calendar or phone reminder if you need, but this is the main air circulation in your home and if air is going through a dusty, dirty filter, freshness will never happen!
Deep cleaning schedules for odor-prone areas
Having a checklist of stinky places is very helpful, so below is a checklist for you. Your home may have other spots as well, so add them to your list of places to keep an eye on.
- washing machine
- sinks
- shower/bath drains
- bathrooms in general
- stove vents
- pet areas
- high-traffic areas (carpets)
A few quick hacks for some of these areas…
- oven/stove vents can usually pop out and then put into your dishwasher
- for drains (sinks and showers), pour baking soda around and down the drains. Pour in white vinegar and let the fizzle do some cleaning for you! The vinegar scent will dissipate quickly.
- Sunshine helps with odors. For moveable but hard to clean items, put them out in sunshine (temperature doesn’t matter here) for 1-2 hours to disinfect and get rid of lingering scents.
- A portable upholstery cleaner comes in handy for things like chairs, arm rests, and carpets!!
Using natural deodorizers instead of heavy fragrances
As we talked about above, fragrance-heavy products are usually just masking a problem rather than fixing it. Instead, many everyday, natural ingredients can be used to get truly rid of odors.
For upholstery, use ingredients like white vinegar and natural dish soap. See this full write up (and actual scientific experiment) for DIY upholstery cleaners.
To clean your sinks, showers, and toilets, opt for natural ingredients like vinegar, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide. This book was a dream when I first got into creating a low-tox home. No time to DIY your cleaning products? Yeah, me either. These are the clean home products I use.
Want some lovey home scents? Try a stovetop air freshener – a natural air freshener that you can alter to your liking and what’s in season! These are also called simmer pots and they do wonders, making your home smell fresh with subtle and not-so-subtle scents!!
You can use essential oils in your DIY cleaning products (just adding a few drops to your spray bottle) and even in your simmer pots, but be sure to research the purity of your essential oil brands and use them sparingly until you’ve got the exact amount down! Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.
If you love the aura of candles, opt for beeswax candles (unscented) to help clean your air! No joke, beeswax helps purify air. Beeswax candles also don’t really drip, so it’s winning on every level.
