I hate the smell of my home - help!

[homesweethome03]

You know how every home has a “smell”? Like my mum’s house, whenever I walk in I love the smell and instantly feel at home and cosy. But my house just doesn’t have that and I don’t know how to get it!

We recently came back from a week away and honestly the smell of my house just made me feel a bit queasy which sounds awful but I know it’s clean (doesn’t help I was tired after a day of travelling and feeling sick already from being pregnant). I don’t know how to explain the smell, sort of just cold and empty and soulless. My DH thinks I’m mad but his sense of smell is shocking so I’m not taking his word for it.

I open all my windows every morning to circulate fresh air and clean regularly but the smell of the cleaning products don’t seem to stay?!

So what are your top cleaning products and top tips for a lovely cosy smelling home?

First off, being away for a week definitely amplifies things but I feel your pain. I think in my house it’s mainly down to husband’s shoes/outdoor gear but even so I just struggle to get the place smelling nice, even neutral.

For me tackling laundry has helped- mainly in terms of using a nice fabric softener (solely for the smell) and hanging clothes up indoors on air dryers to dry (really spreads the nice scent around the house) but then finishing them off in the dryer to make sure there is no lingering dampness (damp clothes I think contribute to smell).

I also now use zoflora linen fresh diluted in water to dust furniture and pay particular attention to the porch as that’s the first “hit” people get coming in.

Husband’s shoes are left out in the garage to air and exercise/gardening clothes are washed ASAP. Also, bins are changed with aggressive regularity and our “chicken food” bowl now has a lid.

I also open the windows every day to blast fresh air through the house and I have some subtle scented candles that I light in porch and hallway whenever I have guests coming.

I’m still not 100% sure it smells nice now as haven’t done a holiday test in a while it I’m hoping for the best!

Opening windows and circulating air always helps.

Reed diffusers are great too if you’re not keen on lighting candles

Did you feel like this before you were pregnant? When I was pregnant with my second I hated the smell of my house, but no one else could smell it. The kitchen made me throw up.

A lot of people comment on how lovely my house smells. Zoflora. The best and the cheapest. I have a spray mop for the floors and put a capful in the washer bottle. Zoflora cleaner for kitchen and bathroom. Zoflora in the toilets. Every night my clothes are left to steep in hot water and zoflora. My favourite is midnight blooms but check out the range. Also find a fabric softener you like and use it every wash. Remember though that you are pregnant and your sense of smell alters

What does your mum do/use?

Sounds like hormones OP, damn those pesky hormones!
But what that means is that the solution will be very personal to you.
I mean you could try lots of bread baking?

Is there something in your house giving off an odour? You nedd to get rid of the bsd smell before adding nice smells.

There are all sorts of things which can get bit smelly. Our house had wool carpets and underlay when we moved in and it had been soiled by pets and stank. Also had some damp wood under some lino that really smelt bad too. Sometimes in hot weather drains can smell, I put soda crystals and hot water down my sinks followed by tea tree oil to keep them fresh. Maybe give all your curtains and sofas a freshen up too. Another thing that can stink is the washing machine so givethat a clean if it's old. Shoe cupboards / coat cupboards can be a bit musty too. Wash coats, chuck out old shoes and add an air freshener. I quite like the febreeze bathroom ones. M&S do some lovely scented candles, nice scents a bit like The White Company but not as expensive.

I use North Muse reed diffusers from TK Maxx, I’ll never buy any other brand again! They smell gorgeous and last months.

OP It might be a good time to redecorate ? Perhaps in your hallway which is where the smell would have hit you. I know what you mean - in the past when I went away for a week or more the smell in my house was always something I never looked forward to because I was always always disappointed !

I avoid cleaning products that have a smell. The very last thing I want in our home , is the war of chemical pongs.

Our house smells lovely; it smells of us, our dog, flowers, fresh air, and cooking. Not always in that order.

Ask your Mum which cleaning products/laundry products she uses and buy the same.

Jo Malone Lime Basil and Mandarin diffuser is incredible. Clean soothing scent and lasts for ages. I take the sticks out now and then and place them in a empty glass and screw the pot up to eke it out. Not cheap though at 68 quid but I'd definitely buy again.

I had this when I was pregnant- a rubbish mix of hormones and a stinky house. We had just moved and it's definitely the carpets/walls. We hired a rug doctor but Tbh that made it worse, as then it was smell of old dog+dampness. Massive rugs helped mask the smell, and we're gradually redecorating and replacing carpets. I second using a nice fabric conditioner. I did get a few plug in air fresheners but the smell was too much in pregnancy, even on low.

Sorry not much advice, but massive empathy!!

Sorry should read cloths not clothes. I don't steep our whole laundry basket in zoflora

Every house I've lived in has only started smelling nice and fresh and like 'us' after we've painted, something about the chemicals must reset it 🤣 other than that I have a steam mop that I put a capful of zoflora rhubarb and bergamot or bouquet on the pad and mop every other day, bleach in both toilets before leaving the house and drying clothes washed with persil non-bio and the white comfort fabric conditioner seems to do the trick. People always say it smells lovely and clean when they come in.

Assume you don't have a dog - that would be the main cause of stink, as it gets into the carpets and walls. Did the previous owners have pets? It may have lingering stink from previous owners if you didn't have new flooring put in. I'd have all the carpets professionally cleaned, mop down walls and ceilings, lots of fresh air, wipe surfaces with nice smelling disinfectant every day or as often as you can.

Artificial scents are bad for us.

Is it cooking? If you cook like yr mum your house will smell like hers!

I cook a lot, don't fry much, have ground coffee on the go.

I don't use much scented stuff at all, since I've read about air quality. Same with candles. I used to use cheap ones but they are dodgy apparently.

House smells nice though.

There's a cold damp smell that's weather dependent- but a fresh pot of coffee sorts that!

Do people really live in tv commercials where other people comment on how their houses smell as they walk in the door? When people come to my house they say things like,is your road always this quiet, is that the original flooring, I like your garden, what a lot of books you have, isn’t your cat friendly, is that the new ValMcDermid can I read that after you, do you collect pictures, did you make that cake.

I am now worried that they are saying nice things to compensate for the fact that my house smells like a medieval midden and they are just too polite to say so.

I'm a big zoflora fan too. I dab a bit on lightbulbs and radiators as well as everyone Pp said, as when the warm up it makes them smell nice.

Get thee to a home bargains and buy yourself a huge bottle. I like Rubharb and the Rose and something one but my very favourite is the lesser spotted Country Garden... rarely seen so if you spot some please send it my way!

Just be careful of using Zoflora if you have pets - it's pretty toxic stuff! Also not great for the environment once it gets into water courses etc. I second diffusers - had a lovely rituals one that filled the whole second floor recently.

All these chemical smell suggestions are awful. It's really bad to be constantly inhaling air freshners, candles etc. A few drops of PURE essential oil, (not fragrance oil or any other label) such as grapefruit, jasmine, lemon might be a good solution.