How to get house smelling nice to sell/show?

[Pontie]

We are selling our house and about to start viewings. I just want a house that smells fresh. It looks impeccably clean and fresh but we do have young children and dogs. All clutter has either been chucked or put into storage.

My plan is to rent a carpet cleaner, wash throw blankets, sofa covers, cushions etc. Change bedding. Curtains have already been washed.

Keep bathrooms spotless. Keep windows open.

Maybe chuck zoflora in mop water. Wash wooden floors with method floor cleaner.

Maybe bake a vanilla cake when we have viewings but that is obligations dependent.

I personally like some plug ins but know it is off putting to some.

Any products I should buy?

Any additional actions?

Im pretty tidy and friends assure me that my house does not smell but you never know!

I am asthmatic but also can’t bear the smell of plugs ins, Zoflora or dryer sheets and would leave the property. I would think you might be hiding damp or something else or that I would be stuck with residual smells when I moved in. Please don’t subject your viewers to all this artificial stuff.

I think you should stop panicking about it. If your house is clean and tidy just put the windows on vent and relax

It might smell lovely to you but not to other people.

I find air fresheners and laundry sheets very unpleasant. They also trigger my asthma. I would be out of the door like a shot.

Keep it fresh and neutral.

Don't use any of this crap. If I was viewing your house it would put me right off - worst case it would give me a migraine!

Just open the windows, make sure everything is clean, and don't overthink it.

I would go for opening windows regularly, wash your pets bedding etc more regularly. Be mindful of cooking greasy food/ fish etc and give your oven a good clean. Zoflora mopped around the place and down drains etc smells great. I think it sounds like you're already doing plenty.

You could make a simmer pot ahead of someone visiting which might be easier than baking a cake? Nice fresh smelling Reed smelling diffusers?

I'd wash down your couches with some diluted fabric softener and hoover in under the cushions.

In real life all if my friends and family use plug ins, fabric conditioner, wax melts, air fresheners, perfumes or a combination of all of these things.
On mn most posters seem convinced they come over with a fit of the vapours if they so much as come within forty feet of an artificial smell.
Going off the majority of people I know in real life I keep my house nicely fragrances and would do so for viewings!

Log burner or fresh air.

Well that’s unnecessarily rude. I hope you feel better after that uncalled for outburst.

OP - as a non dog owner I can tell you that dogs do have a strong smell and I can always tell when I am in a dog owner’s home. And it’s not a smell I like. I’m not sure it would put me off buying a house I liked, but it might influence how much I liked it. Opening windows is not sufficient.

I do like very lightly scented homes. There are plenty of lovely reed diffusers out there with natural smells, I have one downstairs and one upstairs and people often comment how lovely my home smells when they come round. It’s a light plum like scent. Strong and very artificial smelling scents are unpleasant, so it’s a matter of finding the right one.

I would get rid of the dogs for the weeks you are selling. The smell of dog, even if it is clean, lingers and it would really put me off.

I'd rather smell dog than any of the fake plug ins or other scented shit.

We have vanilla reed diffusers in our house and while selling we had multiple people say how lovely our house smelt

Few drops of vanilla essence on a baking tray warmed gently in the oven.

A few drops of vanilla essence on a baking tray on a low heat in the oven. Apparently it will make the house smell like a baking cake.

One thing I use after cooking is to boil a pan of water with some fresh lemon (skin on) and some cinammon sticks. You let the pan boil and leave to simmer and it sucks up the worst of any cooking smell and smells fresher. We do also have windows open before, during and after cooking but prefer to use this more natural home remedy. You just simmer the water until you can’t notice it anymore. Obviously you won’t really know if the smell is gone until you leave /reenter the house but it does work.

all the smellies ideas like candles/ open windows and a spotlessly clean home is all you need, EXCEPT for the dogs. that 100% will put some people off. I was given great advice to remove all trace of pets ie, get either you or husband to take the kids and dogs out for a few hours for viewings. Remove all dog bowls, toys ect from view.Out of site = less likely to detect any dog smell or presence.

What brand please?

Fabric softener -something light and fresh smelling - small amount to cover bottom of a pot, bring to boil on the stove with doors open. Gets rid of cooking smells nicely.

Why bother? If you’ve washed and cleaned everything that’s as good as it’s going to get with dogs. No matter what you do, if you have dogs, the place will smell of dog.

When we sold ours, I made sure everywhere was spotless, bedding clean etc, and aired the house well. Then windows shut for viewings, log burner lit and coffee brewing. I had a candle in a few rooms but more for ambience than smell as they weren’t particularly noticeable

Cleanliness and fresh air.
Neom is good.

Zara Home white lotus candle or room spray is the absolute bomb. We used to spend summer's at a friend's farmhouse in France and she had the reed diffuser. It just became the smell of France to me. It's a wonderful scent and I can't imagine anyone would be put off by it. BUKETTAPEL tealights from IKEA are another winner. They smell lovely. Almost 'cologne water' like. I've always loved how the French and particularly (much more so) the Spanish boutique shops smell so clean and fresh, like water, lemons, and blossoms.

Chemical smells can make some people quite ill.

They trigger migraines for me. So I can’t use any scented carpet cleaners, Febreeze, Zoflora, plug-ins or even scented fabric conditioner.

Lemon Flash and polish are lovely though and don’t make me hurt!

You’re wildly overthinking it and you could swing from putting people off because you have dogs to putting people off because they think you’re 40 a day smokers with a mould problem if you go too hard on the smells.

House viewers like things neutral for the most part. They want nothing overwhelming so they can imagine themselves living in there and that extends to smells too.

You can’t please all people all of the time but neutral will offend the least amount of folks.

None. People are all different. I would try and calm down.

Baking smells are lovely, but you won't have much time. I would keep some part baked rolls or Betty crocker on hand. The people who bought our house recently liked the smell and it was just some vegetable soup I had slow cooking and part baked rolls.