How do you make your house smell nice?

[GymSloth]

Just that really. I know that airing it lots helps, but it's winter and we have a muddy, hairy dog! Ok, so we do wash the dog and air the house every day, but I'm still conscious the house smells of dog!

So what do you do? I dislike artificial scents and I'm conscious that some scented candles are bad for humans and animals. But if I buy the natural ones, are they good? Or is there another solution?

I love Potters Bar candle tins. They cost about a tenner, burn for 60+ hours and smell amazing. I also rate the Hotel Collection Reed diffusers in Aldi. I loath plug in air fresheners though and think if anything they smell worse than dog.

You wash your dog daily? I dont think thats good for their skin, but I'm far from an expert.

MIL has 3 small dogs and she can no longer smell them. Its so pungant and overwhelming when you walk in the main room the dogs lives in.

Can you keep the dog in rooms with limited soft furnishing? Vinyl/wooden flooring rather than carpetted? Not allow it to sit on the sofa or pillows? Do you have soft furnishings that can be easily laundered at home?

Pan simmering with a bit of orange peel and cinnamon and cloves - but don't let it boil dry, because that really doesn't smell good!

@Elouera well, when I say wash, I don't mean a proper bath. But I have to hose the mud off her paws and tummy every day. She's a mud magnet! We then dry her with a towel, but of course we can't get her fully dry, hence the house smelling of wet dog!

We use an electric wax melter scenterpiece i think it is called, by Yankee candle. (We also have a continually wet dog.)

Forgot to say wash dog bedding regularly and any throws or blankets as those do tend to retain smells.

Swap the dog for a cat? Ours rarely leaves the spare bed, let alone goes out in the rain and mud...

I work in lots of other people's houses and the ones which noticeably smell nice (rather than no or bad smell) are a result of reed diffusers or laundry powder.

I was just going to suggest washing the dog bedding and all blankets and throws too.

Have blankets covering the sofa and wash on hot wash weekly with the detail fabric conditioner/anti bac liquid.

Open windows everyday

Burn a nice candle every evening.

Have smelly stick bottle thing in the hallway.

Have carpets cleaned annually

We got a Jo Malone reed diffuser thing as a present and it's amazing. Makes the whole downstairs smell lovely. Had it for 5 months and still going strong. Very expensive but it works!

Windows open regularly.
Dog washed off outside after a run.
Fresh flowers.
Good cleaners using decent products.
Aga to reduce lingering cooking smells.
Clean bedding twice a week.
Squirt polish around before opening the door.

Cook bacon.

We buen essential oils and I air the house often though its hard at the moment as its so cold

I dont have a dog, BUT I do have a diffuser. You fill it with oil and a few drops of essential oils. Lime at the moment is my favourite. The whole downstairs smells amazing, and its quite pretty sat on the side :)

Water and a few drops of essential oil... not oil and essential oil 🙈

give the dog away!

ForeverWondering

Would you mind linking to your diffuser please? x

Botanical candle company candles and Reed diffusers
Open windows
Wax melts sometimes
Clean with flash french soap spray

And wash bedding weekly and towels both at 60 degrees.

You need a ruff and tumble towel coat for the dog.

@Signaturesoftheworkers
I don't have a link to my actual diffuser, as I had got it from a market when I had gone shopping. (Inside a shopping centre on one of the little stalls)

It is VERY similar to this though.

www.pebbleandleaf.co.uk/products/copy-of-free-offer-aroma-essential-oil-diffuser-air-purifier-night-light

@donquixotedelamancha

Cook bacon.

Love this - so true! 😍

My 19 year old cat stinks a lot of the time, I give her a bath, shampoo and dry her with a hairdryer twice a week which she sees as an outrageous imposition. She can't groom any more and tends to circle in the litter tray treading in all the poo. She looks lovely for about 5 seconds until she goes outside and wades through the mud but that's old cats for you.
I burn naturally scented wax melts and spray all the furniture with febreze.

In winter, if I wash my dogs, I dry them with a hairdryer. It took them a while to get used to it. Now they like it. Result - No smelly wet dogs.

Also, I wash all their bedding once a week. The room they're in doesn't smell of them at all.

I’m a dog groomer and hosing down a dirty dog will not clean them. You are just wetting dirty hair. Then not fully drying it will cause the pooch to smell even more. Why not book your dog in at a groomer once a month to be properly cleaned and freshened up