Lingering odors in a home can not only detour interested buyers but can be unbearable for your guests. It’s typical that people get used to their home’s fragrance or even give up on trying to get those pesky smells out of their home.
Depending on the root of the odor and where it’s sticking in your home, there are some easy ways you can try to get your home feeling fresh again.
Odors in your carpet
- Baking soda: Lightly sprinkle baking soda on your couches, cloth chairs, and your carpet. Leave it overnight, to allow the baking soda to absorb odors that may be trapped, and then vacuum up the baking soda in the morning.
- Rent a Rug Doctor: Sprinkling baking soda should help with the smell, but certain types of carpets can lock in odors and stains. If you’re taking a DIY approach, you should be able to rent a carpet cleaner and purchase the product for less than $50.
- Hire a professional carpet cleaner: So, the carpet cleaner and baking soda just didn’t make your carpet ‘pop’ like it used to? You can find professional carpet cleaning services that may bundle rooms for typically under $200.
- Replace the carpet: If you have the money to spend, you can skip the DIY projects, and buy brand new, fresh carpet. The Home Depot and Lowes run carpet specials many times throughout the year.
Smells stuck on your walls
- Soot chemical sponge: Depending on the issue, try starting with Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to spot clean the noticeable discoloration on those walls.
- Scrub walls: To cover a larger area, you can get a mild soap or non-abrasive all-purpose cleaning solution to clean your walls. Use warm water and make long strokes gently to avoid over-soaking into the drywall or paint removal.
- Buy some apple cider vinegar: This product does not come out of the bottle with a pleasant smell, but if you place a few glasses of this vinegar water around your home, the unpleasant odors in those rooms may start to subside.
- Wash windows and doors: Smoke films on glass may be emitting smells throughout your home. Not only can you remove the grime, but you can also let the sunshine through!
Pet odors and smoke smell in the air
- Replace air filters: This should be done every month. Neglecting those filters may allow dust and particles to filter throughout your home.
- Change your old light bulbs: This tip may seem a bit strange, but it could really provide an impact. Diffusers fill the air with good scents, while basic light bulbs that have a smoke layer can emit smells into your home every time you turn the light on. Bonus tip: When you switch out bulbs, take an Eco-friendly home approach by using LED or fluorescent bulbs.
- Steam clean: If you’ve tried several things above and still smell a stench, look at steam cleaning your furniture. Most carpet cleaning companies have an upholstery service where they can do it quickly and affordably.
- Fireplace clean up: After many years of use, homes that have a fireplace can begin to smell aged or musty. Like the Magic Eraser for your walls, you can order fireplace soot erasers online or at a local home improvement store.
- Invest in an air purifier: As a preventative method to masking pet or smoke smells, an air purifier can help all around. It removes dust particles, pollen, and odors from the interior of your home while using a filtration system to put clean air back into your home.
Bonus Tip: Removing the smoke smell from your car
- Cut up some apples: That’s right, get a few red apples from the store, cut them in half and place skin-side down in your vehicle. Keep the windows up for a few hours. At first smell, you may not be too impressed, but give the apples some time to soak up those odors.