What's the best way to improve a stale smelling house

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I'm out a lot. I'll often leave for work at 6am and arrive home at 11pm. I'm really aware that my house smells stale when I get home. I know all the common sense and correct advice about ventilation etc but I'm not home enough to do it.
I'm also slightly hindered by having an internal kitchen with no windows so smells do linger. Anyone got some really good air freshener or scented items recommendations?

Chefs candle is good for food smells, often on offer in Waitrose

Febreeze bathroom are good little air fresheners I have them dotted about and when they've 'ran out' I use them as drawer/wardrobe fresheners and they still smell nice weeks later.

When you ARE home, windows open at nearly all times. A very clean house also smells markedly less stale too, so I'd consider a big declutter so that it's very easy to mop and dust round everything regularly. I have a lot of plants and I think that makes a small difference to air quality too. Pure oil electric diffusers are very good. Absolutely no to artificial sprays and smells/plug ins etc as it just smells stale and rank half an hour later and accumulates crap in your air. I mop with a few drops of eucalyptus or rosemary in my mopping water. I line my drawers with liners and have cedar balls with my clothes. I hang bedding outside at the weekend (duvet) for a good air too unless it's wet outside. I put a kettle of hot water and a tablespoon of bicarb in my sinks monthly. I use vinegar (buy massive containers online) to clean with. It all adds. Good luck.

When you ARE home, windows open at nearly all times. A very clean house also smells markedly less stale too, so I'd consider a big declutter so that it's very easy to mop and dust round everything regularly. I have a lot of plants and I think that makes a small difference to air quality too. Pure oil electric diffusers are very good. Absolutely no to artificial sprays and smells/plug ins etc as it just smells stale and rank half an hour later and accumulates crap in your air. I mop with a few drops of eucalyptus or rosemary in my mopping water. I line my drawers with liners and have cedar balls with my clothes. I hang bedding outside at the weekend (duvet) for a good air too unless it's wet outside. I put a kettle of hot water and a tablespoon of bicarb in my sinks monthly. I use vinegar (buy massive containers online) to clean with. It all adds. Good luck.

I would get a dehumidifier for the kitchen , leave as many windows open on the latch as you can and invest in some really decent reed defusers , I’d recommend the Jo Malone.

Zoflora or bleach down your plug holes..

Splash of zoflora in an inch of water in your sink. Or bleach.

Take food waste straight to the outside bin.

My hallway can be a bit whiffy due to boots and trainers that have been on the allotment/farm so I use one of those plug ins in there and flick it on as soon as I come home.

One of those air freshers that run off a battery that you can set a timer on.

Make sure you air it well when you are home. Keep everything clean in the kitchen, elbow grease spray is good for stripping the greasy layer off things, tops of cupboards/fridge are usually grotty and dusty and greasy.

Scented things will just make it worse.

For us the worst culprit is old food in the fridge. Before you go away, make sure you've cleared the fridge, it makes a huge difference.

Then windows open in every room when you're back.

Edit- I misread as you being away for work ie overnight. Still a minimalist fridge will help a lot

House is clean, as I have a cleaner and I'm rarely home to mess it up.
Great idea about the rosemary oils etc and zoflora etc I can definitely do that

Scented things will mask it for an hour or two. Clean carpets and rugs professionally regularly incl other upholstery I.e sofas and curtains.

air out when home.

have you got a good extractor in the kitchen which is doing the job?

Open windows when you are home, even for half an hour.
Price's Candles 'Open Window' candle or reed diffusers. The whitebone has a light scent.
Dehumidify regularly.

Surely this isn't sustainable long term? Literally only being home 7 hours means less than 7 hours sleep every night. That's not okay. And time to eat? Shower?

Do you live a long way from work? Is this long term?

How about an air purifier?

Do any of your windows have a lock facility, where you can open them slightly and lock them in that position. I use this on my windows when I’m out or at night for safety.

Maybe upstairs . I'll investigate this

I don't have carpet, it's all laminate and rug is new as is sofa .
It's just an annoyance as I am always aware of a stale smell.
I am perimenopausal so also probably over sensitive to smell too

You need to have your windows on the latch at all times, and open the vents.

Zoflora or bleach down your plug holes

😱

Definitely leaving upstairs windows open all the time on a locked setting, it makes such a difference. To be honest, we tend to do that with downstairs ones as well, but live in a pretty safe area. I would be surprised if you didn't have that as it's standard, but if you own you can look at getting window restrictors which let you leave them open a bit more. But, they do need drilling into the window and frame.

Hate scented items, all they do is add another chemical smell. I think just airing it, as you say that it is clean.

Ahh ha. Perimenopause sent my sense of smell into overdrive, OP. It's natural for some women.
My windows all have trickle vents and I keep them all open. If you didn't know they were there you might not see them. I regularly wash my sofa throws and cushions, and have a couple of small dishes of bicarb dotted around to absorb smells. Agree with PP, plug ins and other artificial scented stuff just seems to add to a general stale smell. Fresh air definitely preferable.

Like another poster I also use essential oils. I have lavender, peppermint and tea tree, and put a drop on a wet cloth and do the floor with it, also do the table, shelves with it. I think you should air in the morning while you get ready for work and then again in the eve for at least half an hour. make sure rubbish is taken out often. wash duvet in machine (large one at laundromat if needed) twice a year, sprinkle baking powder and tiny drop of essential oil on mattresses and hoover them, wash pillows in machine, wash or have dry cleaned coats that hang about a lot, sanitise shoes, do out clothes cupboards every few months... good luck!

All upstairs windows open all night when you sleep.

I would have thought it was against building regs to have an internal kitchen with no external ventilation? Does it have some extra strong extractor fan?

Price's reed diffusers are great, I'd get a Chefs kitchen for the kitchen and an Open Window for everywhere else. Tesco tend to sell them for £4 at half price a lot.

When was the filter on the cooker hood changed last? How new/efficient is the extractor fan in the bathroom? Can you put safety catches on some of the upstairs windows so you can leave them cracked open? How often do you change tea towels/washclothes/bathroom mat/hand towels? When was the last time you put Mr Muscle down the kitchen sink?

I know you said you know all the things about ventilation, but it's really the most important thing by far.

When you wake up in the morning make it part of your routine to go around and open all the windows upstairs before you have your shower/get ready for work. Just before you leave, go around and close them all again. Even 5 or 10 minutes a day will make a big difference.

Do the same thing downstairs in the evening while you're cooking dinner (obviously skipping those windows that might cause security concerns if that's an issue).

Just doing that daily will help a great deal.

Make sure, if you do leave windows on the latch while out, that it doesn't invalidate your insurance!

When you're at home (weekend, day off, whatever) leave all the windows in the house open for a good, long while - I make myself a cup of tea and sit in the living room that faces the front for at least 30-45 minutes, that way I'm sure the whole house has got a good airing, and I don't have to worry that someone's going to crawl in through the windows!

After cooking just quickly spray some degreaser or cleaning spray on the splashback/counter tops/cupboard doors and wipe down so that you clear some of the potentially stinky grease. Obviously don't leave food or sorry dishes out. Empty the bins more often.

Wash curtains every so often as they can really hold on to smells.

Essential oils are lovely - I have a basket of pine cones in the front room that I use as a vehicle for oils to fragrance the air.

I'm the same - perimenopausal and my sense of smell has gone into overdrive. I used to think people were being a bit silly when they complained about smelling things too keenly but oh my god it's horrible when you can detect so many levels of odour!

Sounds odd, but clean all your light fitting, on top of wardrobe&, behind radiators etc. Cleaners done typically do this, but if you do it every six months or so to clear any built up dust it will make a big difference.