Tips to make your home smell lovely

[HareOverThere]

Any tips to make your house have a lovely smell when you walk in?
My house doesn’t stink but it doesn’t have the lovely clean fresh smell some houses have.
Two teen boys and pets don’t help that.
Nice diffuser recommendations? Bin scent liners? Just any tips beyond usual cleaning would be so welcome. I’m not keen on plug in air fresheners.

Opening the windows for a bit like others have said along with cleaning your hoover filter regularly. I always have plug ins on around the house and a wax burner in the kitchen I pop on after cooking, and candles lit (I'm a massive candle fan! Home Bargains Gingerbread one is lit now in the hallway and you can smell it all around the house). I take off the cushion covers on the couch and stick them in the wash regularly too (it's crushed velvet, apparently you aren't meant to do this but I've been doing it for years and haven't had any problems luckily). Hoover regularly and mop any hard surfaces - I love the smell of flash french floor cleaner. I do have diffusers around the house but to be honest can only smell them in small spaces

I use the Addis spray mop with floor cleaner in the bottle - I have a shark steam mop but to be honest I don't think it's worth the hype

A baby means I do a lot of washing and tend to dry on an airer (with dehumidifier on). The house permanently smells lovely and fresh!

Wax melts!!!

AvaMay aromas wax melts make house smell divine.
I also agree with fresh air from open windows.

I hate plug ins or those things that squirt a puff of stuff into the air every hour

No short cuts

A clean home
Windows open every day
And in the evenings I do love a candle (good for getting rid of any lingering cooking smells)

But truly it all boils down to a clean home

Without a clean home
You’re just making the smell

Open windows every day. Clean the filters on your fan above the oven once a week or so (in the dishwasher if you have one). Vacuum sofa/mattresses and wash blankets and pillows on sofa. Vacuum quickly every day. You can put whole coffee beans, cinnamon or similar in a small jar and light a tea candle..the heat will make the spices smell lovely.

I use the Dove (or Nivea) spray, and can’t even remember how many people who has asked me even in shops what it is I’m wearing. 😂 I sometimes use a bit on curtains etc. It’s the cleanest smell ever. Sadly I have no smell after covid 6 months ago though, that’s the one smell I really miss.

perfume-parlour.co.uk/dov-soap-0446

Open the windows every day for a decent air exchange. This gets rid of stale smells.
I prefer incense sticks to plug ins etc, but it really is personal choice when it comes to adding a scent to your home.

Love threads like this for ideas!

My tried and tested ones are:

Bicarbonate of soda to neutralise odours on rugs and sofas. I leave on for as long as possible, sometimes overnight before vacuuming and do this every few months.

House plants that help purify the air in every room.

And opening windows at least once a day.

But definitely agree that it all starts with your home being clean first and tackling areas like the oven, mouldy spots, floors etc. This is the bit I need to get on top of!

Best thing is oils in the hoover filter a few drops of essential oils

I have windows open 24/7 can’t cope without fresh air

Another one for opening windows, as well as general cleanliness.
When we were expecting Christmas guests, and I was a bit worried about whether our two dogs might be smelly ( and maybe we wouldn't notice it but others would), I bought an electric diffuser from Neal's Yard Remedies, and some lovely Rose essential oil to put in it: it's a nice, natural fragrance.

washing your radiators with hot soapy water
clean hard surfaces with boiling hot water in the mop bucket and a nice smelling floor cleaner
hang out throws and cushion covers on the line, just letting them blow through on a blustery day will remove stale smells

use hoover attachments and vacuum the sofas and any soft furnishings, along with bed mattresses

polish hard surfaces with a decent polish

This obviously doesn’t work for everyone 😂, but we put our rugs (and some pillows) out in the snow for a couple of hours every now and again. The colder the better. Best fresh smell ever.

Don't use chemical air fresheners. Very bad for your health and indoor air quality. I also strongly suspect that use of indoor air fresheners (before I knew how bad they were for you) triggered my current allergies and I now can't tolorate ANY fragrance at all and am currently on an elimination diet as foods may also be a trigger (who knew that substances in fragrances also mimic other substances in foods causing a cross reaction). Anyway it's a complete and utter pain in the arse and is causing me all sorts of problems so I would avoid - they aren't necessary and could cause all sorts of health issues.

As PPs have said, opening windows and keeping things clean will keep your home smelling fresh. I'm not super clean and my house needs a lot of updating, but my home always smells fresh (unless the bin needs taking out!) and I've not been able to use any fragrances at all for months and months.

I would suggest those diffusers with the sticks. You can choose how strong you want the fragrance by how many sticks you put in. (My mum isn't big on smells)

Every single morning when I wake up, I open the windows first thing, for roughly 30 mins. And I live in a country where in winters we have -30 degrees outside. I open the windows again before bed.

Other than that, soy candles (I never use other candles even though I love them, but apparently they're toxic )

Agree with everyone above that opening windows makes a massive difference.

I also like to clean with 50/50 water and vinegar solution with a few drops of essential oils. I like peppermint, lemon and lavender.

The vinegar seems to get rid of smells and the vinegar smell dissipates quickly to leave a really subtle essential oil smell. It smells clean and fresh without smelling synthetic or like you're masking bad odours.

I wash down my radiators with zoflora, so that they release the scent when they come on. I intermittently fill a sink with hot water and zoflora - smells the whole house!

Also, some dryer sheets in your cushion cover.

I use an electric oil diffuser

Also windows open in bedrooms for at least three or four hours a day as soon as we get up .
Other widows opened for an hour or so
Kitchen window always open when cooking

If I can jump I'm with a question about cooker hoods - how does everyone remove the stickiness? I soak mine regularly and have used dishwasher tablets, zoflora, alsorts, and although grease comes off them I always feel like they're still slightly tacky

Regularly dust the inside of shoes (if they are on a rack in the hall/public areas) with bicarb mixed with a few drops of tea tree oil, then hoover after an hour. My hall smelt fusty and it was the shoes.
Spraying stuff/candles does not mask smells. I viewed a house once with 3 dogs and the owner had one of those automatic spray things in each room. The smell of dog was horrendous, and the sprays did nothing to mask it, just added a chemical layer to it [vomit].
My (rental) house has old carpets and no matter what you do it never really smells fresh. New houses always smell better because furnishings are new, I love the smell of recently laid carpets.

Thanks for all this. My windows are all open as that seems to be the key. I’ve cleaned the cooker and am onto wiping round the window frames.
I like the putting dryer sheets in the cushions idea and will have a go at bicarb in shoes.
Any particular nice smelling house plants or natural scent ideas?

Windows open for a good few hours during the day to let the fresh air in will make a world of difference.

We don't use air fresheners but instead I mix a lemon and lime essential oil with a little water and spray on the rugs/carpets and cushions once a week. I hoover the rug in the living room every day. The lemon and lime smells so fresh without being overpowering. I also wash cushion covers every month or so as I find they can harbour smells.

Half a lemon wedge in the fridge to keep it fresh {read that once somewhere , and it works, no nasty food smells!}