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.

The most important thing is that you feel better in your clean fresh house.

The girls sound unpleasant.Let's hope they learn some tact and kindness as they mature.

I'm sorry about your child OP 🌻

I think some houses smell of dog and oftentimes the owners don't get it. My PIL who I love, are fastidiously clean but when I first met them, and for a few years afterwards, their house literally stank of dog. They had a lovely collie which was so loved and looked after but the smell It was in everything and I couldn't even enjoy a bite to eat as I felt the smell overpowered everything. (The worst when was when I was pregnant and it literally made me gag). Anyway, the dog died and it was only then that the smell went away. I think some breeds of dog smell way worse than others. All you can do is wash the dog regularly as well as everything it comes into contact with. I mean you mentioned that you washed the throw back in June which is a very long time if you consider an animal uses it to rest so I'd buy another throw and wash them every few days etc. Great idea too on getting the carpets washed and I'd be fastidious about soft furnishings etc. Maybe try and ventilate the place as much as you can too before the weather gets cold.

I use a clumping cat litter made from maize. I think it is called the World's Best Cat Litter. I wanted one with less dust and I am pleased that it has the bonus that it doesn't smell at all.

Agree with all of above, especially cheap robot vac. Opening windows even in winter for periods maybe when everyone’s out. Spray bottle with boiled water and few drops lavender and mint essential oil, sprayed lightly around while cats are out(essential oils bad for cats). Cheap hand held and floor steam cleaners excellent for freshening and killing germs.

There was nothing deranged about it whatsoever. I wouldn't wash my sofas every week (but I don't have pets.) People calling bleaching the toilet and hoovering daily deranged - you can imagine what their homes look (and smell) like

Automatic air freshener, carpet spray, bin freshener (a scented powder you sprinkle in the bottom of the bin that soaks up any leakages and smells nice), febreeze the sofas/bedding/curtains and even coats in hallway (I make my own with fabric conditioner, zoflora and water) although I’m not sure if you can use zoflora with pets. I don’t have any. Wax melts or candles? Windows open to give the house a good airing. Can you keep the dog off the sofa? Spray the shoes like previously mentioned. The cats peeing on clothes needs to be addressed asap. No judgement, but this is very unhygienic. I’m sure you wash the clothes asap, but do they pee on the carpet as well?
My in laws have dogs that are allowed on the sofa. They don’t open windows and to me, the house doesn’t smell pleasant. OH brought some clothes that he’d kept in storage at their house to our new house and I nearly threw up when I got them out of the bags. I could smell something unpleasant in the house, but couldn’t work out what the hell it was until I opened up the bags. The amount of washing I did was ridiculous.

@FindingNeverland28 I couldn't not open a window whilst I was at your in laws, the smell would have made me gag. I had friends whose house was similar except they had cats and I always opened windows in any room I was in. They always got confused and thought each other did it but then commented that the house smelt fresh!

If there’s anything worse than the smell of cat piss, it’s cat piss + air freshener + carpet spray etc. Those disgusting artificial smelling products make the stink worse.

Yes - I must admit, I don’t know how people tolerate breathing in synthetic chemically artificial scented perfumey sprays all over their homes all day !! The very thought of it makes me feel physically unwell and want to open all my windows.

Please can someone tell me how sofas are "washed down"? Do you mean wiped with a damp cloth? Do you mean sprayed with febreeze? Do you mean steamed? I really hope people don't mean throwing nickers of water on the sofa?!

*buckets not nickers, though that'd be interesting 🤣

Get an air purifier or two, you need one with both a HEPA filter and carbon filter which will help with odours.

Crack open the windows too (weather permitting).

And switch to a plant based clumping litter - try cats best or greenwoods plant based, both available on Zooplus. As long as you scoop regularly (poo asap, wee clumps daily) it will last about a month and has excellent odour control. It looks expensive but as it lasts so long it actually works out pretty cheap. It does track a bit though so you need to brush or hoover more.

Depends what the smell is to be fair. I have a dog and a cat, I have throws covering the whole sofa which get washed once a week. My cat has a litter tray in the bathroom and one in the lounge, I scoop out atleast ywixe a day and change litter when necessary.
Easy way to get the house smelling nice also is to put plugs in kitchen sink and bath, fill with a little bit of water and neat zoflora. The smell is amazing.
I do have a friend who's house really doesn't smell nice though, she isn't a massive fan of housework, her youngest daughter is a menace for hiding food to the point she got rid of her sofa as her daughter kept stuffing food in amd under it. She also has 3 cats, but if I'm honest the smell I mainly smell when going in there is BO. I think it's from coats and clothes items u don't tend to wash after every wear.
I know fifteenth peoples routines are different so myself amd my 2 kids have a bath/shower daily, whereas my friend and her kids shower around once a week (sometimes less frequent for her) but strip wash daily.
I still love my friend to pieces but no I really don't like the smell in her house and have the worry for her as her oldest status secondary next month that when he starts bringing friends round that they will have those same thoughts

Twice a day*

Different people's routines* sorry bad typos 😅

What - hoover and sweep multiple times a day, and bleach loos every day? Surely not normal! Especially if you work?

Well - maybe if you have one loo for loads of people, but bleach is bad for the environment and your health, and although I love the stuff, twice a week or so is plenty. And who hoovers multiple times a day?? I have a little hand held one and might get that out twice to deal with crumbs or something, but not hoovering properly! I do that when it's needed - twice a week maybe? (The handheld is great for reducing the need for the real job.....

But there is no need to turn this into a competitive cleaning thread. OP sounds like she's on top of things, all good.

I haverbt read the whole thread, but wanted to jump in re litter trays. We have 15 cats, had 20 at one point. We have large plastic storage tubs with lids as trays, cutting a hole in the end. We buy horse bedding, pellets and shavings - way, way cheaper than cat litter. Three handfuls of wood pellets and six handfuls of shavings in each tub (no, it's not a huge amount, so the horse sacks and bales of bedding last a long time!). We empty the trays completely once, maybe twice or even three times a day. Takes a minute or two, and means there's limited litter tray pong. We've tried every version of managing trays over the years, and this is by far the least stinky and cheapest.

Also,big fleece throws on the furniture, quick to wash and dry. Robot hoovers are awesome. All our floors are either wood, laminate or tile. No carpets. Our furniture is all raised high enough to allow the robot hoovers to clean underneath, so we have no fur build up anywhere on the floors. Use dryer sheets when drying fleece blankets so the hair comes off and goes into the filter. Schedule bathing your dog, so it's a fixed task. Ours spends all the daylight hours outside guarding chickens, so she often reeks.

Can you get one of those litter tray inside a box with a flap thing
They really do stink sometimes, especially if only using the cheaper litter that doesn't deoderise as much.
Problem is that indoors with it, you get so can't smell it as much, I think the t v adverts call it nose blind?

Oh OP ... I have really felt for you reading your thread and some of the replies!

I have 2 dogs & ... an assortment of cats...

Here's my top tips - scoop every day, at least once or twice - I have a re-purposed nappy locker next to my litter boxes and all the clumps go in there - which is emptied once a week on litter change day. You can get 'proper' litter lockers but this is just as good and you can pick up nappy lockers cheap or free on fb marketplace.

Bath/shower your dog regularly! And I highly recommend using a decent shampoo - one that's main ingredients are oats & Aloe Vera - if you'd like, pm me and when I'm home I'll send you the info for the one I use - pet still smells of it a week later! It's a 'game changer' as they say here.

Next - get a steam mop - you can't use anything scented IN them but I put a few drops of Zoflira on the velcro pad and the whole house smells great - I've got the shark scrub & spin one but any steam cleaner will be good. Some you can use on sofa & rug too.

Robovacs - specifically my Eufy G30 has changed my life! Don't forget to clean him out regularly and clean filters etc.

I'm not a fan of air fresheners or anything floral and chemically so I have an oil with diffuser sticks on the hall windowsill - Amber Noir from Shearer Candles, smells like a man who gets dirty at work but scrubs up well ;)

If you can replace carpets with solid floors - do! For 20 years I've had solid floors and rarely a smell but moved here and got carpet EVERYWHERE (slowly replacing as I can afford) and it makes such a difference.

Cat peeing on clothes - get an extra litter tray or 2 - and try and get extra liquid in them as it can be a sign of a uti - if you only feed dry food, swap 1 meal a day to wet - get a water fountain - use lik-e-licks.
Try changing your fabric softener.

Use a laundry disinfectant - sainsbury's own brand is just as good as the dettol one.

Buy enzyme pet cleaner - I use this to clean up accidents and when washing pet beds or anything that's been peed on. It removes the smell rather than masking.

Finally ... There's a group on FB. It's called Neurodivergent clean up crew and it is a non-judgmental place to ask for advice (unlike here).

P.s George says ... kids are tactless & the ones who don't have pets even more so.
Often devoid of dirt? yes but also often love and fun and attention.

@Elfblossom George is a total beauty. I'll believe anything he says.

How on earth can deep cleaning be necessary twice a week?

What I hoover and sweep daily (multiple times) is a normal amount? I hoover about once a week - two adults, shoes off household, no pets.
Hoovering and sweeping several times a day is OTT unless the household is exceptionally messy.

Yup- you are biased😁

Cat places (even clean ones) do smell of cat... to those that are not used to the scent.

Your nose no longer responds to a certain level of cat odour.

A house that doesn't smell of dog when you come in is not a home. Don't worry, most rich people's houses smell of animals, people at our public boarding school have in the majority have several dogs/cats, sheep, chickens, horses, ponies, a couple have a Parrot in the kitchen. Get some fancy airfresheners, hoover once in a while and enjoy your dogs.