I want my house to smell lovely all the time?

Question

We moved into our house around 18 months ago.

I clean every single day including polishing the wooden furniture and cleaning my wooden floor. I clean the kitchen at least twice a day (the floor just once though).

I just can't seem to get that "homely" smell. I have got plug ins in the living room and one of those squirty air freshners in the kitchen.

When I walk in the house I want it to smell lovely like it does when I walk into my mum's house.

Any tips?

Answer 1

sprinkle baking soda or baking soda based carpet cleaners before you vacuum.
Heat white vinegar, and leave it in open pans.
Both of these will achieve similar purposes they will absorb foul odors, and emit a "homey" aroma, possibly the very one you're looking for.

Answer 2

A friend of mine bought a house that looked clean. But after a day or two he noticed that the house smelled funny. It was driving him crazy. He could not identify what the smell was. It was not cigarette smoke or food or animal accidents. When I went over to house (a small house, luckily) I asked him who were the people who sold him the house. He said it was a fairly old couple, one of whom was ill and had been for some years. I was not surprised because it smelled to me vaguely like a hospital. Not a good thing.
We got one of those sponge mops and he washed the ceilings, and I washed the walls with a solution of water and Clorox. Then he washed the floors (1.wooden, 2. tile in the bathroom & kitchen) with 1. "Murphy's Squirt & Mop" oil floor soap for wood floors, and 2. with "Method" Lavender All Purpose Cleaner.
Then after opening all the windows he boiled a pot of water with cloves, cinnamon and apples and let it simmer for a few hours.
That worked. But I will warn you it was a tedious job. Get helpers.
Most so-called air cleaners will only work for a very short time. You have to get rid of whatever it is that is causing the smell. If it is invisible mold I hope it is on surfaces you can reach. Sometimes mold is in air vents, baseboards, the tops of doors where you normally can't see anything, room moldings, under the refrigerator, air conditioning vents, a lot of places.
I would try the described method in one room before tackling the whole house. If it works, then great. Good luck.
You obviously are a very clean house person and I'm sure this is very irritating to you. Also, you sound like you're from Britian or Australia or NZ, so you might have to use different products. But I'm sure you will find comparable products.

Answer 3

I am in UK. What my wife and I do is to ALWAYS have windows open in every room, whatever the season. We polish weekly with a good beeswax polish, and we have flowers in almost every room (often picked from nearby fields, not always bought from florists). Our daughter uses a room spray from Body Shop. Bedclothes are washed weekly, the toilet is cleaned twice a day (I'm a health worker), bath is cleaned twice a week, etc. The only really homely smell I remember from when I lived at home with my parents was the smell of fresh bread, cooked by my mother. With my grandmother it was ALWAYS the smell of lavender. Very typical old lady smell, I know. But we also have scented candles in the evenings, and somehow I think that peace and quiet also exude a sort of fragrance.
It goes without saying that we never, ever let anyone smoke in our house.
Also, we have trees overhanging our back garden, and their fragrance drifts into our house.
Main reason why we are like this at home is that we both work in hot, horrible atmospheres and at home we just want to be simple and clean.

Answer 4

I put a dryer sheet on the air conditioner fiter because I love the clean linen smell. They have a variety of sents in Home Depot and Lowes which work much better than Plug-Ins or sprays. They keep the whole house smelling fresh and clean, for about a month.

Answer 5

These are just guesses. (You might make a trip home and really observe what your mom does.)

Try dabbing a little vanilla on your light bulbs. ( if you don't have time to bake a cake) place a cup of water with cinnamon and nutmeg in the microwave for a few minutes. Think about the spices and herbs your mom uses these are the things that make a home smell "homey".

The scents from home are not likely to come in a "plug in" or an air freshener.

However, you might just ask your mom what kinds of wax and cleaners she uses. Also you may be missing the aroma of her shampoos and cosmetic products.

Answer 6

Everyones house has their own particular smell , you ever notice that?I notice it when we've been out of town for about a week. That's the only time I notice it. Must be in the walls and furnuture and what ever is in the house,because I can't pinpoint where its coming from. Its not bad, just peculiar. Maybe 'ABSORBING' odours is what you need to concentrate on, other than making new ones. Start fresh. Dry things out. Use cat litter and baking soda. We have one of those air cleaners in our living room. An 'ionizer' works wonders. That will take out cigarette smoke odours in a couple days. Sometimes pharmacys carry them-check it out.

Answer 7

first of all what is a "homely" smell to you? it sounds like you like the smell of cleaners and chemical scents. the best way to make a home smell like a home is to bake some yeast bread and some sweet desserts. also turn off some of those air fresheners. drying your linens outside will give a nice smell to the bedroom and bath. maybe you should get out of the house more and when you come home you will be more appreciative of the smells associated with your home. of course if you live by a pig farm or something equally odorous i don't know if anything will help. best of luck

Answer 8

Ask your mom what she uses..she probably sees you pull up and sprays some sort of air freshener lol.

a few things you can do is burn highly fragranced candles (yankee) or use wax tarts in a tart warmer..use carpet freshener on your carpets everyday..(dont go overboard cuz then it just gets over powering) when you clean your wood use the white can of pledge..i dunno what it is but it smells realllly good and the smell stays for a long time! pick up some of those round car air fresheners..the ones in the little container..and hind them behind your window treatments...they have high fragrance and the sun helps release the smell a great deal! use the renuzit spray for air and furniture..( http://www.renuzit.com/index.cfm?page_id=270 ) that thing..the smell lasts for a really long time..longer then febreeze..i actually spray some in my a/cs filter..

if you like the smell of pine..use plain ol pine-sol when you clean..that smell never seems to leave after you use it

Answer 9

You sound a little obsessive.It is not necessary to clean every day,and if you are using spray polish,these actually grab hold of smells.Do you smoke?If you do,your house will smell.Try buying Stargazer Lillies at the florist and you will not need the expensive plug in air freshners.

Answer 10

two suggestions : pot pourri (spelling? sorry!), which you can make yourself - you can get all kinds of oils. Or one of those Glade poofy things. They're quite elegant, you put a bottle of their refill into it and every 30 seconds or so it puffs out a little smoke ring of perfume. They're very nice, they last for 8 weeks on the second setting too, so not that pricey. I've got two - one for the landing, one for the bathroom. I also use airwick plug ins, but I can't leave them plugged in because they're a fire hazard.

You can get the Glade things in Asda, they really are nice. I'm like you - I want my house to smell really great when you walk in. Sprays don't last, plug ins are dangerous and the ones you leave hanging around aren't that strong.

Answer 11

make confident your place is sparkling. No hidden dirt. Wash all fabrics which could be washed, like small rugs and drapes, or spray them with a cloth spray like Febreeze. Then, get some dryer fabrics softener sheets and cover all of them over your place in drawers, under furnishings, interior the air vents. Cooking and pets are the worst offenders for making properties smell. verify your puppy is sparkling and steer away from cooking pungent ingredients in case you comprehend employer is coming.