DS's friends say our house smells

[fruitstick]

I know it does but I'm mortified. DS's friends are also quite a bit wealthier than us with bigger houses etc but I don't want DS to feel he can't bring people round.

We keep the house clean but have a dog and two cats. The cats have litter trays upstairs which don't help.

I blame our hallway as no fucker puts their shoes away (DS & DH) and there are loads of coats (mainly DH's).

I have the next week off work so was planning on a big clean up anyway.

What do I need to be doing.

I know the dog on the sofa means we need to wash the cushions more regularly than we do. I'm not as religious about cleaning as I could be.

But tell me what I need to be doing.

House smells have nothing to do with size /expensiveness of house, everyone needs to get into good habits from early on and pets need to be trained to follow what you want, rather than get their own way and jump on everything, especially soft furnishings, they could be weeing on it.

At this stage, to clear the smell its probably either change the carpet or get a professional carpet deep cleaner as pet on carpet smells can really make a massive difference. and for maintenance use the usual supermarket carpet cleaning things you can hoover away.

Litter tray somewhere else than upstairs, e.g in the back room and change it religiously.

If you have cats and dogs your house will always smell to those who don’t have cats and dogs. I never used to notice the doggy smell unless I went away for a couple days then came back, then I would get the strong smell of dog. When we had dogs we had leather sofas and laminate flooring but still the smell of dog was there.

I think your worrying way too much over what a child has said, kids tend to say it as it is and they tend to pick up on houses smelling different to theirs (the same as they pick up on other parents cooking 🤣). If you have pets your house will always smell and having indoor cats is always going to give off a smell but a house without pets would be a sad home.

Unless you aren't on top of the litter trays then it won't be your cats that smell, it's the dog, every house I've ever visited with a dog absolutely stinks, dogs just stink, every house I've been too with a cat (including my own) doesn't smell. You wouldn't notice someone had a cat unless they didn't change the litter regularly.

You'll never get rid of the smell unless you get rid of the dog but I'd assume you don't want to do that so you'll have to get used to your house constantly stinking.

Do you wash the dog's toys (if they have any, I know some dogs don't bother). If they have cuddly toys/rope toys they'll also need washing regularly, dog slobber stinks.

Sounds like you've done a lot already to help.

Another thing I would do I clean behind all of your radiators to make sure there's no build up of animal hair in there. Then wipe all the radiators down with something that smells nice (method/zoflora/laundry stuff).

Make sure your changing all your bedding regularly too and also washing mattress and pillow protectors.

The previous owners of our house had pets and although it was clean it still had a lingering musty/animal smell, it took a long time to get rid of entirely. There was huge clumps of animal hair behind the heaters and we also had to redecorate and change carpets despite them being less that a year old when we moved in. I hate animal smells and am really sensitive to it.

Don't feel too bad OP, seems like you've got a lot of great advice. If it makes you feel any better I had a childhood friend with a large posh house that was incredibly neat and tidy, but her mum used to buy pre-chopped onion bags... That was the most acrid smell every time you opened the fridge.. so all of us have something!

Cleaning takes me hours, I absolutely hate it, I even get anxiety thinking about it.
I used to think I was lazy, but now put it down to depression, ADHD and anxiety.
It does initially give me a buzz though when you've done a really thorough job and everything smells and looks fresh and clean, but after a few days it's a mess and you have to start all over again.

That’s the problem then. Not the dog, the shoes or anything else.

I have a friend who has many cats and always had without the house smelling. She recently rescued a cat that refuses point blank to use the tray properly (cover her mess after use) the house stinks so badly you can hardly breath inside.

She is used to it so she doesn’t notice but it is revolting. By the way, nothing to do with wealth, my friend is more wealthy than me and more precise when it comes to cleaning than I am, she just has the wrong cat.

That's not true. I've been to loads of people's houses and not known they had a cat until I saw it. That includes people with litter boxes. I also have a very sensitive nose.

In my experience it is unlikely to be shoes or coats. It will be dogs and cat litter trays and your bin if it isn’t emptied regularly. I think many dog owners homes stink and some really take your breath away. And cat litter really can be strong smelling.

We have cats so if I know we have guests coming I try to change their litter and empty the bin. I also have a wax burner than I will put on.

I went through about 20 different cat litters before I found the ONE. I could always smell the trays no matter what I used, but I’ve started using Sanicat Active White Lotus Flower clumping litter and it’s been a godsend. Tray smell disappeared literally overnight!

Teach the cats to use the toilet 😆as if your poo was left uncovered that would stink too. I love all animals but keeping them in the home will always leave an odour. No matter how clean you are, it comes with the territory with owning animals Bless them.

Add bicarbonate/baking soda to the litter mix it in to stop smell and regularly sprinkle it on carpets, shoes, clothes and anywhere there is smell.

When we had a dog I had two huge cotton sofa throws for the dog to sit on (£27, Amazon) I washed the one in use every week and put a new one on. All dogs bedding washed weekly too. Liberal use of furniture polish helps too. I used to brush the dog outside and spray her with EauDogCologne between baths.

Litter trays. Cats need to go outside to really get rid of the lingering smell, even if you keep them super clean they always stink

Also try placing some nice quality diffusers around once the root cause is sorted

First off, wash the dogs. And their bedding and blankets we do this every Sunday.. start cleaning from the top downwards, so upstairs, and work your way down and just put everything in a wash from sofa covers. Cushion covers rugs. bedding, even fling all the jackets in a quick wash and get the shoes in a shoe rack or a cupboard and put some lavender in there. Even stuff as simple and little cheap candles once u clean up and light them where the dods or cats are mostly. We have 4 dogs, and one has allergies, so we have to keep on top of things with her. We have room plug-in for all the rooms, and windows are always opened as I can't stand the smell of smelly dogs, and mine tends to smell when her allergies come out.

Lol

Such nonsense.

I don't have any pets and I would definitely say cats stink way more than dogs. Your house will smell too.

Plus, why is your tone so shitty to the OP? Doesn't it sound like she has enough to deal without snippy little tits like you getting a dig in?

Cats are really particular so if they're urinating inappropriately it's because they need a litter tray to themselves (away from the other one). It's all about scent to them so they need their own resources, ie food, water and litter tray.

https://www.cats.org.uk/help-and-advice/home-and-environment/toileting

2 cats and one dog... house smelt fine... got a second dog.. same short haired, non drooley breed.. fully toilet trained.. house stinks if I don't wash his beds and blankets at least weekly.. dog is clean... he is just a stinky boy !

donyou have the litter trays where they walk in through the little door to get into them? I find they keep the smell in a bit more than the normal tray type ones. Or maybe they could just go outside instead?

empty your bins daily,limit shoes by the door to one or two pairs per person, and febreze the coat area regularly. Open windows daily and clean floors more often than you do now.

Does the dog have to go on the sofa? Mine aren’t allowed upstairs or on the sofa, I don’t think it’s bed for dogs to have boundaries.

I knew a woman who had a dog and her house reeked of dog. It was awful.
After the dog died, she re-carpeted & re-painted - that was the only way she could get rid of the stench.
I hope you don’t have to go to those lengths, @fruitstick.

Febreeze for fabrics and open windows, check if shoes need washing and get some wax burners

I have 2 boys 3 cats and 2 rats work full time change litter tray fully 3 times a day and as soon as cats poop I clean this bit up I clean the rats cage every 2 - 3 days I occasionally use febreeze and often light a scented candle after a cleaning frenzy I've not had anyone tell me before that it smells of pets my cats are indoor cats too I'm fairly house proud and put so much effort into cleaning I wash the carpets once every 2 weeks and sofa cover every week I don't know where I get the energy from and wish I could know to let you know but if your determined enough you could clean it up so when people walk in they say it smells nice