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I want my house to smell delicious

30 replies

DarlingJo · 22/10/2025 14:44

When you walk in the door, I want people to say "it smells lovely in here".

What's your favourite home scent?

*disclaimer - I have plenty of other things I should be spending money on before smelly stuff, so links to £50 diffusers will probably be wasted on me.

OP posts:
RobustPastry · 23/10/2025 08:56

Here’s my trial and error:
Yes air rooms for a little time each day

Sceptical of houseplants making any scent difference hut they do look nice

be careful about putting loads of chemicals into the air with sprays, long term you could irritate your lungs - indoor air pollution is a thing. Especially relevant to homes with babies, children and elderly adults in

change bedclothes regularly

Don’t keep old bedding materials going on for years like pillows and duvets, try to recycle those somehow- local dog rescue shelters might want used but clean duvets for their animals.

Don’t have damp bathmats in bathrooms smelling pre mouldy- hang them up each time to dry- as with wet towels

If you have drain smells then you have to call a plumber to fix the source. For lots of reasons, poor drains with standing stale water will affect your health eventually. Dont pour Zolflora down the drains to kill the environment, its not going to solve your drain problem and will cost you a lot to use. If you want to put something down your drain then try boiling water.

Clean your kitchen surfaces like walls and underneath hanging cupboards very regularly. You are trying to wipe off the residual amount of oil and food dispersal that naturally gets into the air and sits on the walls when you cook- and then those deposits in turn hold on to the smells that are released from cooking over time. Hot water on cloths important. Again be careful with your lungs with cleaning sprays.

As well as being careful buying and using strong cleaning chemicals, be very careful about what household cleaners you mix together. Don’t ever mix for example, household bleach + white vinegar in a cleaning situation. This produces chlorine gas and is very dangerous (!). More mixing examples here to avoid:
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/MediaLibraries/URMCMedia/environmental-health-sciences-center/COEC/documents/bad-chemical-combos.pdf

Dogs will always smell, but people expect this so they’ll deal with it or avoid it. Have a dog bed or at least don’t let your dog lie directly on your soft furnishings because you can’t ever wash dog smell from the sofa. Use a thick blanket for them to lie on and wash that. If you have indoor cats keep on top of emptying litter tray several times a day.

keep your trainers and sweaty shoes near the door so they get air and not tucked away in a cupboard. If your trainers get wet and stay wet they will smell awful so be vigilant about that with drying them.

Wash sports kits promptly- put them in the machine ready to be washed as soon as they’re in the house, ideally.

https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/MediaLibraries/URMCMedia/environmental-health-sciences-center/COEC/documents/bad-chemical-combos.pdf

DancingLions · 23/10/2025 09:38

A cheap tip I read that works well is to wet a small cloth in diluted fabric softener then stick it on a radiator. Then as it heats up it releases a nice smell.

I do use air fresheners etc but I have 2 indoor cats so it's a bit of a battle!

echt · 23/10/2025 10:37

Helphjjjjb · 23/10/2025 08:16

Completely agree. Jasmine is gorgeous.

Have a pot on the stove with some cinnamon, orange and cloves. Scents the whole house without chemicals.

The bread maker is a beautiful smell to wake up to on weekends.

All of these are chemicals.

CoconutGrove · 23/10/2025 10:45

St Eval diffusers are nice. Eg. Sweet pea.

Lobelia123 · 23/10/2025 10:49

I wipe down the kitchen counters with a solution of vanilla essence diluted with water. For the rest of the house, a lovely room candle - you usually need several dotted around on tables and surfaces to build the scent. BUT this only works to add a fragrance, it doesnt work covering up stale smells like dirt, mould, cigarette smoke etc. So make sure tiles and wood floors are cleaned and polished, curtains and cushions regularly cleaned and dried properly etc....otherwise its like spraying on deodorant when you havent been able to shower :)

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