To be totally fed up that my house smells

[NinjaNora]

Just that really, I never seem to be able to shift the smell of yesterdays dinner to the point that to me the house smells really stale. When I'm home I'll open the windows and that helps a bit but when I walk in after a day at work my home always seems to smell a bit yuck.

Plates, saucepans go in the dishwasher straight after a meal and oven wiped plus I've tried various plug in smelly things, sprays that are supposed to remove the smell rather than camouflage it but nothing really seems to shift it.

I want a lovely fragrant house that reminds me of a field of flowers in Tuscany rather than an Italian Pizzeria. Anyone else hate the smell of their house and have found a solution?

Opening the windows as much as possible should help. I find the bedrooms can get a bit musty over the winter when I tend to keep the windows shut to keep the heat in. Close all windows except the kitchen ones and shut the kitchen door when cooking to help stop cooking smells spreading. I find that having the upstairs and living room windows open while cooking pulls the hot stinky at from the kitchen upstairs as the hot air rises.

Ikea candles are brilliant and smell lovely, they're in a jar and are £1 each, I have several in each room and they give a gorgeous scent even of they haven't been lit. When the scent starts wearing off I light them for an hour or so and it revives it for a few weeks.

burn orange or lavender

I just remembered boiling a pan of washing powder will clear really bad smells. (My mums tip in a stinky rental flat)

Smells that you cant air out, or clean out could use an Odor bomb..??
They're about £5+ on eBay . frighteningly effective ..friend used to use them in his car business, but they work on rooms too. I'm not sure what's in them though.

Have you thought about an air purifier?

Bowl of lemon aNd bicarbonate of soda might help.

How about you just move house?

Princes Chefs candle
Basically zaps all odours
£5

Some great suggestions, Liz's is my favourite

I aim to please (to take away the smell)

Buy some caustic soda in the pound shop. It'll be called drain cleaner or something.

Mix as directed and leave it down the sink traps. If there's any mucky grease down there going rancid it'll cut right through it.

Try washing the walls with sugar soap mixed with water, bottom to top. You'll be surprised how much gunk collects on walls.

Have you got carpets or rugs nearby? The smell could be in there. Oh, and give your oven a good clean - mine stinks the house out if i leave the fat to accumulate for too long.