Tackle odors at the source, enjoy cleaner air and maybe bring in pleasant aromas.

It’s winter and the air in our homes can get stale. Sometimes it may even be—ahem—stinky. Here are tips for keeping your home smelling fresh throughout the colder months.

Get to the source of objectionable odors

A pleasant-smelling home starts with getting rid of the source of objectionable odors.

Let’s start with the easy ones. The smell of burnt toast can be easily cleared by opening a window and letting fresh air in. Smelly trash? Remove it and allow some outside air in. Many people make it a practice to open a door or window for five minutes once or twice week to bring in fresh air, especially if someone has been sick.

Stash an open box of baking soda in places like your fridge, freezer or closet to absorb odors that are part of daily life. You’ll know it’s time for a fresh box when you start to notice odors again.

Tackling other offensive smells requires a bit more work. Wash pet bedding, clean carpets and upholstery, remove mildew and give diaper pails and litter boxes a thorough clean to get rid of odors at their source. Fabric items may benefit from a deodorizing spray. If cleaning and deodorizing doesn’t remove the smells, it may be time to replace the item.

Air purifiers trap odor-causing particles

Once obvious sources of odors have been removed, an air purifier can help keep your indoor air fresh. These small appliances use a fan and filtration system to remove odors and small dust particles from the air. Plus, air purifiers can provide relief for people with indoor allergies.

When using an air purifier, follow the manufacturer’s directions on cleaning or replacing filters to ensure a steady supply of clean air.

Introducing pleasant aromas

Getting rid of the source of odors, allowing fresh air in and using an air purifier may be all you want to do to keep your home smelling fresh. However, if you want to introduce pleasant aromas there are a lot of options to choose from.

If you love the smell of scented candles but don’t want the risk that comes with burning them, a candle warmer is safe way to enjoy them. Plus, using a warmer eliminates smoke and soot from getting into your indoor environment.

Diffusers are another way to fill your rooms with fragrance. Passive diffuser systems use reeds in a jar of fragrance and rely on evaporation to distribute the scent. They work continually for as long as the fragrance lasts, sometimes weeks or even months. When you want an extra burst of scent, flip the reeds over. Electronic diffusers rely on cold-air diffusion to scent the air and can be turned on or off at any time.

If you really want to take your home fragrance game up a notch, change the scent according to the season. For example, in the winter experience the coziness of pine or spice aromas, then in spring switch to floral scents. Even if the weather doesn’t agree with the calendar, you’ll have a home that smells delightful.

And if baking is in your cooking repertoire, no one will ever object to smell of cookies hot from the oven!

 

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