What do you use to make your house smell fresh ?l

[kermitspants]

Plug ins?

Air freshners that sit on the sideboard?

Air freshners whih go Off as you walk past?

The chemicals in cleaning products and air fresheners are endocrine disrupters - particularly bad if you have children. Best not to use them. Just have a clean house and open your windows.

Open windows and a clean house. Nothing that smells: no laundry liquid (use an eco egg thing) or fabric softener or wax melts or plug-ins or pot pourri or reed diffusers. Light a match after DP goes to the loo.

Windows open ...on cold wet days maybe an hour or so
Kitchen window always a little open
I have a plug in diffuser NEOM ..which I use with lovely oils in sitting room and bedrooms...not on full time but each about an hour a day

It's funny how air fresheners never smell like, well, fresh air. They are vile, chemical, cloying, the scent sticks to your clothes and in order to be effective, have to be stronger than the smell(s) they are attempting to mask. Just open a window or two. We stayed at a holiday carriage three years ago where the owners apartment was upstairs and connected via a shared kitchen. She was a heavy smoker and the smell absolutely reeked. So counter this she used plug in air fresheners - I'd rather have had the cigarette fumes and that's saying something!

Hoover 3-4 times a day windows open all day *
*
This must be a typo??? I really REALLY hope no one is hoovering 3-4 times per day!

"People who leave the windows open all day/night long - do you do this when it’s minus 2 degrees outside?"

Thick duvets, thick socks, hot water bottle. I cannot sleep without a window (preferably wide) open. I have central building heating (I'm in an apartment - I don't pay on usage but a flat fee for heating all winter) but often turn it down to minimum and open the windows as much as possible. I have a pile of fleeces in the sitting room and lots of hot water bottles. Last winter I shut the window one night because it was just too cold to have it wide open and I can't set my windows to "a little open" it's all or nothing, I think it was -6°c

If I have guests over and it's very cold I'll begrudgingly close the windows to be a good host, but once people have left - I open everything again, on both sides and block doors open so the breeze comes through. Very good friends know and get a hot water bottle and a fleece and clean fluffy socks! I cannot stand "shut in" or musty smells or even the smell of a bedroom after a night with the windows closed. I'm single know but it was one of the only issues I had with my ex who liked bedrooms sauna like hot.

I don't like artificial air freshener smells but have an essential oil spray in the loo and sometimes light candles ( but they have to be nice, either dyptique or rituals).

If I cook something smelly I'll clean up straight away and if thats not enough I'll put a big pan of water with some white vinegar, some cloves, some bay leaf, some citrus peel and a couple of drops of essential oil or vanilla in it and leave it on a rolling boil for a bit.

I love Purdy & Figg ❤️

Open the windows every day in the morning for as long as possible, no matter the weather. Clean the house regularly. Change and wash bedding weekly (wash mattress and pillow protectors every 3 weeks). Wash bathroom towels weekly. Dry laundry thoroughly, dampish laundry can smell bad. If outdoor clothes get wet, allow to dry before putting away.
Fresh air and cleanliness are the best smells in a home!

People who leave the windows open all day/night long - do you do this when it’s minus 2 degrees outside?

Yes, the only time every window and door is closed in my house is if we are going away or if we come home to a freezing house after leaving windows open, which we do most days, I will close all the windows to heat the house, but my bedroom ones will get opened again when I go to bed. And as soon as we are up in the morning all windows are opened. We also open the back door for the dog to roam free.

i need to sleep with my windows open, even if it’s freezing. The only time I close them is if I’m having a bad AI flare, but they only stay closed long enough for me to warm up, I have a nice big duvet, warm socks, warm jumpers and if needs must an electric blanket, but DH is also like an oven to touch so I’m usually fairly warm.

I’m a window opener too. First thing every morning. I never see anyone else in my street do this and maybe they think I’m crazy but I can’t stand fusty houses.
I know that people on here claim to the fabric conditioner but there is something really comforting about Lenor so I spray soft furnishings with a Lenor/water solution every so often which leaves a very faint, fresh smell on them.

It makes me laugh when people say ‘just open windows’. Some people can’t always do that, they may live near farmland (muck spreading) or downwind of an abbatoir, or, in my case a mile away from a landfill site that stinks in certain weather conditions/ when the wind blows towards us.

Sometimes you need a bit of fragrance.

Open window in bedroom at night
trickle vents always open everywhere
good airing -opening more windows in the morning
wash bedding and towels frequently
clean bins (zoflora) and loos
hob extractor when cooking
clean hob extractor grills frequently
reed diffusers in hall and downstairs loo
So basically fresh air and cleaning, and def teens bedrooms used to be rank despite all of the above

I am also a fan of opening windows all the time too. Artificial fragrance make me feel heady and nauseous. I like to pop some cut up lemons in a saucepan of water and let it simmer for a while, makes the kitchen smell so zesty and fresh. Dd is always on about plugs in etc, she says her friends house smells amazing and they have them everywhere but I refuse to have crap like that in the house so I agreed she could have a wax burner with natural soy wax and an essential oils burner, they do smell nice but still make my throat burn.

I can't think of anything worse that trying to mask an unpleasant odour with an artificial scent, to me it just makes it worse. I much prefer to open a window, even when the weather's cold I'll leave a small window open in each room for a short while each day to give the house a good airing. A few months ago I moved to a house that was part of a row, my new neighbour warned me that damp and mould was a bit of an issue in these properties, however, I haven't experienced it at all and I believe it's due to letting air circulate.

Like PP the basic thing is to keep the house clean.

We also use a (Bergamot scented) reed diffuser in our middle hall (long narrow hall from back to front of house, no windows, just doors either end), not to mask odour, but because we like the scent.

We also have a reed diffuser (Lime, Basil, Mandarin) in the downstairs loo, largely because it's the one that guests use, and it's for their poop comfort.

We have a couple of oil diffusers and an oil burner for essential oils. And a reed diffuser in living room that smells amazing! Every time I go in in the morning I take a big long whiff

Oh and we use Purdy and Figg cleaning stuff which smells really nice. Their lemon and marjoram oil is particularly lovely.

One thing I do that has made a big difference is put some of those laundry fragrance balls in the bottom of the bins – between the bag and the bin. It seems to absorb the bin smells somehow and then when you wash them out with hot water (which I do every time I empty them) the whole house smells like clean washing, it’s lovely.

Good idea. You clean your bin everytime you empty the bin bag?

Regular cleaning and airing and I have reed diffusers around the house

I once read that air fresheners could cause cancer. I have no idea if it's true but it seemed a bit silly to have something put chemicals in the air that we do not need. That just doesn't sound healthy.

I open the windows every day.

Open windows as frequently as you can
Empty bins regularly
Keep washing machine clean by doing a ‘maintenance’ wash, a wash over 60 degrees
Hang washing outside whenever possible.
Keep on top of things that can get a bit stale. Towels, bathrooms, bedding, washing up, pet beds and accessories.
If I had to pick one of these I would say open your windows.

Artificial air fresheners smell horrible and sickly, not "fresh". I don't understand why anyone uses them.

Hell no! Open the windows daily for fresh air!

Essential oil reed diffusers. This one is nice, not too expensive and 100% natural:

https://www.boots.com/aromaworks-lemongrass-and-bergamot-reed-diffuser-100ml-10294169?cm_mmc=bmm-buk-google-ppc--PLAs_HeroCompare--Christmas-_-UK_Smart_Shopping_Christmas&gbraid=0AAAAADrIajUS56XkSv7hkXNu_4MU6j0fO&gbraid=0AAAAADrIajUS56XkSv7hkXNu_4MU6j0fO&gclid=Cj0KCQjwu-KiBhCsARIsAPztUF3_0L_YjxvBoyl_E5HPCg8suDOJTpQRXB8tspic7AfkJ2bbQ4yAbsQaAjVrEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I also open windows as much as I can and wash sofa cushions and covers every couple of months. We have a dog and I wash her bed with laundry antibacterial every 2 to 3 weeks, plus always make sure I wipe down her paw prints if she’s been walking in the rain.