Lovely smelling homes

For those of us with dogs. I spray and brush our German Shepherd every day with dog deodorant spray. So he smells nice (most of the time!!) and has a shiny coat. And it picks up fur that molts

Windows opened everyday. Even in winter, I open a few for at least 1/2 hour to get stale air out and fresh air in (usually morning time)
The bathroom window is open most of the day, if we are in. The window at the top of the house is also almost always cranked open. I don’t think I’ve closed it for about 5 weeks.

Wash bedding and towels once a week. I always dry towels properly after each use. Sometimes put them outside to air dry. Damp towels can smell pretty bad if not dried properly.

Laundry air dried outside as much as possible.

Always cook with windows open. Especially if using strong spices.

If you have carpets/rugs, give them a regular clean/ steam. Odours really get locked in the fibres, same with sofas. (Especially if you have pets and young kids!) Our sofa can smell pretty horrible at times - our toddler has spilled milk a few times & it reeks once dried & if not cleaned properly!

I clean the tiled floor in our hallway twice a week with a disinfectant from Astonish - it’s the green one, fresh pine. You only need a small amount in the water. It smells amazing, I don’t think it smells synthetic either. I’ve had several comments from visitors saying ‘ooooo, something smells nice’ or ‘it smells nice in here’

I don’t use candles or diffusers, but use a spray mixture of essential oils ( lavender and lemon) diluted with water - I spray curtains and rugs with it once a month.

Agree with everyone else - open windows.

We have dogs but we have hard wood floors downstairs and they're not allowed on the sofa or bed unless there is a throw down (which then get washed weekly).

Also, Skandinavisk diffusers from John Lewis.

https://www.maisonbergerparis.com/collections/lamps-berger?srsltid=AfmBOopiJRrXBb8GyswF8v3TGYPOXnWfDNU9ZqpNHFIvuFgfNT4Abic-&shpxid=881291e6-0072-422e-b869-f0fe4a85f81a

Do a lot of cleaning and have a Berger lamp.

No pets no kids
Carpets that haven’t had shoes on them
Furnishings washed regularly
No smoking
Bins totally sealed
Automatic sprays, reed diffusers etc

I fight a losing battle as I can only tick a few of them!

Love a nice candle but open windows are the biggest help. The Puressential spray mentioned upthread is fabulous, not cheap but really work and full of essential oils.

I have a dog, I really think people who say you wouldn’t know I have a cat/dog are lying to themselves. I’ve never ever walked into a house with a cat or dog and not been able to smell it. Even my own and he’s bathed regularly with clean sheets and the whole house is cleaned a lot.

Op I don’t think youre the only one who doesn’t think to do fabrics, dh and lots of my friends are the same, I’m always surprised, but it just doesn’t occur to them.
In case it’s useful some things I’ve noticed some other people don’t clean, but would help the smell.

• coats by the front door. Wash them, spray them, air them out, they get musty.
• under stairs cupboards, often stink, unless that room is air tight that smell is seeping out. Give it a clean, throw some things away, put a vent on the door for air flow, get a moisture catcher and put something that smells nice in there.
• front door mats. No one should be in anyone’s house with shoes on, it’s disgusting. But if they walk in the house then take their shoes off, that mat is holding germs, and moisture. give it a wash or at least a spray.
• skirting boards, dust them!
• blinds - dust (or wash) them
• curtains and pillows - wash them
• use throws to cover your sofa and swap them out regularly with clean nice smelling ones. Though probably more important if you have kids and pets
• carpets need regular cleaning
• clean your bins
• clean your fridge
• clean inside things in your kitchen! If you open most people’s kitchen cupboards theres dust and crumbs and all sorts
• wash and change your table cloths and mats

these don’t have to be weekly jobs, some like curtains can just be an annual or biannual thing, but they’re just things to keep on top of

@Catpuss66I've been using Tallow and Ash and find the longevity really good. My favourite is Icing on the Cake which is a vanilla smell. However I'm not used to using fabric conditioner so that might be pretty standard. I do think it smells less synthetic than others (apart from self care which I think just smells a bit like lenor).

Aesops poo drops make the bathroom smell lovely.

I’m absolutely convinced it’s often the floors and hard surfaces that can make the difference between a fresh and stale smelling house. We stayed in a friend’s rental which we’d visited before and which always had a very slightly musty smell. I cleaned as usual, but it was only when I wiped out/ down all the cupboards, skirting boards and thoroughly washed the floors that it made a difference. When we checked out, our friends commented how amazing the house smelt! I didn't like to tell them how I’d done it.

I do use home bargins rose loo spray, not too bad from a synthetic smell actually isn’t a sweet rose more of a green rose smell, the others smell rank. I use linen spray from TK maxx think from Olivia Blake. Anyone used Tallow & Ashe washing products wondering on longevity smell wise?

Every window opened for 15 minutes every day, winter summer. A complete blow out first thing every morning.

After cooking before I burn a lavender incense pyramid. Any cooking smell is gone with this and windows open.

Lots of plants. Cleaning regularly.

Keep windows open and grow basil and coriander in your kitchen

Under no circumstances am I judging you. It's an irrelevance to me what you personally do with your skirting boards. It was literally just a statement of fact that a twice a year dust of skirting boards does not constitute keeping on top of dust.

I clean in these kind of homes. It's nothing special cleaning product wise, just the same as any other house but invariably, it's very expensive candles/reed diffusers/sprays. It's definitely not fabreeze or airwick!!

@Catpuss66 green bleach

Why would they have fleas? Mine doesn’t
he smells like my perfume currently as I’ve been hugging him, you wouldn’t know there was a cat in my home
clean the food bowls daily, wash everything regularly, hoover and his litter tray is immaculate as I clean it immediately and take any waste outside

probably £££ Aesop poo drops!

remember helping out with this sort of thing when I was young, and I guess I just carried it on.

This is key I think. Some of my earliest memories are of helping mum with the chores and the memory of having all the doors and windows open on a sunny weekend is a happy one.

Edited to add one the ways I've found it easier to manage stripping and laundering of soft furnishings is to have 2 sets of throws and cushions covers. So, like bedding, I can have one lot in use while I take my time with washing and airing as energy and time allows.

@Shoezembagsforever I can’t speak for other PP, but I got the “clean everything” thing from my family (who didn’t have any pets and are non smokers). Sofa covers, cushion covers, curtains and throws were washed regularly; windows always opened to air house out; rugs would be washed/cleaned/hung out and beaten as appropriate. I remember helping out with this sort of thing when I was young, and I guess I just carried it on. In my house, it’s definitely needed as I have DC and DCats!

OP, I draft the kids in to help out with getting sofa/cushion covers on/off and curtains off/on etc. it’s a ball ache, but does make a difference. Rest of the things are just routine housework things.

Hoovering the stairs, however, can do one quite frankly so I'm considering taking the carpet up as sweeping would be so much easier!

We took the carpeting up in all of the rooms,including the stairs, years ago , and you're right @Leafy3 , it IS easier to sweep than to vacuum!
Carpeting hides dust and pet fur I found, but it also captures a lot of odours too.
We felt that the house smelled a lot fresher after we took it out!

@ToysRus56 I sympathise on fitting it all in! I mentioned in an earlier post I have a physical disability, and since developing it I've had to let my standards drop since I simply can't keep up with everything I used to do as frequently as I used to do it.

But opening windows is easy and effortless, once you get into a routine of opening them when you're home and closing before you leave , you won't even think about it.

Laundry I do on rotation and its fairly constant so it's just as well I take pleasure from it. I genuinely feel excited as soon as weather is good enough to dry it outside lol

As far as baking smells go, when you have time to make some biscuit dough then precut it and freeze it in portions. You can then defrost and bake small amounts when wanted easily without extra effort.

Some cakes can be frozen too.

Once you get into the habit of making a simple sponge it doesn't take much time. I used to work with a woman who'd knock one up in the morning and bring it in to work when she arrived at 8.30. She put us all to shame lol

First time you buy the ingredients for baking it'll be a little pricier but once you have them then baking regularly is much cheaper than buying sweet stuff in. The more you practice, the quicker you'll get and electric mixers shave a lot of time off prep too.

Things like shortbread and are super easy to make and take very little time. Incidentally, both shortbread dough and crumble topping can be frozen.

Just have fun and build up new habits in stages :)

NO pets they all stink and they have fleas.
Neom diffuser. White company Seychelles spray, Scented candles. Plug in fresheners discreetly dotted about
Open windows to air
Extractlr on,window open when cook
Hard flooring.Easy to maintain and clean

@ToysRus56I’m wondering if the PPs telling you to clean ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING have dogs, because it sounds completely OTT to me.

The best smelling home I know bar none is my sisters in London. She doesn’t have children or pets and has hardwood floors. As far as I know she hoovers, dusts, changes bedding and cleans bathroom suite weekly, but that’s it.

She does have an awful lot of very expensive scented candles around that have been gifts from friends over the years, but she’s never lit them. Her and her DH also use a selection of very expensive perfumes too. So I think it’s just that combination really.