Tips for a Fresh-smelling House!

I'm with VM...she is good.
Febreeze sprayed in rooms
Powder sprinkle on carpet then vacuumed
(these two worked better for us than the plug in's)
These work for us.
The rest of her advice.....great!
The dog's worth it.
But what to do about stinky family? JUST KIDDING! :)

I know two who own a professional cleaning service. The employee runs around and dabs a sponge with Pinesol or clorox on the doorknobs and above the doors when they leave a house.

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With new carpets I would suggest sprinkling the carpets with baking soda just before bed and then vacuuming it up first thing in the morning. Not only will this pull the smell out of the carpets but will also help with any stinky stale air in the house. You can also purchase a few of the fridge/freezer boxes of baking soda that have the side panel on them and place them in high traffic areas. This will actually get rid of any stale smells instead of just masking them and it will definitely allow for any air fresherers/candles/fresh air to do its job better.

Good Luck

Ha even before i read your post just from the title I was thinking to myself, Gotta get rid of the darn dog. We have a golden too and it has been a little stinky around here lately.

Fabreeze?
Powder that you sprinkle on the carpet before you vaccum,you might even be able to make your own wiht baking soda or something
fresh flowers!!!
Wash the dog??
bake cookies I used to do that when trying to sell my house :)

I think you would be accustomed to things pretty quick so i don't think your smells great in here thing would last too long, but i sure want other people to say that when they walk in to my house it sure smells great.

Since you have new carpet I bet the odor is in your furniture and rugs. I would vacuum them and then try Arm and Hammer Carpet and Fabric Pet Fresh Odor Eliminator. Orange bottle. It is a spray and I LIGHTLY spray our furniture, throw pillows, rugs, etc. especially when we are about to have company. It is a little strong at first so make sure you use a sweeping motion from a few feet away and don't use too much. It lasts longer than Febreeze. It CAN'T be used on wool, leather, or silk.

Hi Jen! My suggestions are:
An air purifier
Sprinkle baking soda on your carpets for 1/2 hour before vaccuming
cleaning with vinegar (it's a deodorizer and the sharp vinegar smell disappears quickly)
essential oils in warmers or lamp rings

Good luck! We all love a clean smelling house! :)

Put box fans in your windows to bring the air into the house. You will need to do this often. Sometimes I face the fan outside to draw out the stale air in the house. Since you have a dog and carpet, it will be harder to keep the house smelling fresh. Opening windows are the only to get it to actually smell clean instead of using perfumes and candle scents to hide the odors. Good luck!

I really don't like the chemical sprays, plug ins, etc. I'd rather burn scented candles. (keep them up high if you have little ones, though)

If you dog is clean and your house is clean--you could try boiling some cinnamon & cloves in a small pot of water on you stove.

All these ideas are good.
Sometimes when my house needs to freshen up, I put a dryer sheet in a few air vents in high traffic rooms, and that helps spread the scent through the house. Of course, this doesn't help unless you are using your heat/air conditioning.

Try a dehumidifer when the weather turns humid and use it all summer long. You may need to invest in a "whole-house" dehumidifier, not just a one-room small model. Carpet plus dog plus humidity is not a great combination.

If the dog is a part of the issue, have you had the dog checked by the vet for conditions that could be making the dog have more odor than usual? I think there are some conditions dogs can have that result in smellier skin. Your dog's health could be an issue so think about whether he might need a checkup with an eye toward his odor.

I have to admit, when I read "new carpet throughout our house" I thought, too bad. Carpet, even from new, tends to hang onto all odors and requires chemicals to get odors out, when hardwood doesn't have anything for odors to cling to. But since it's new, and not going anywhere, ask the carpet company if they recommend any particular cleaning products that clean well but also dry very thoroughly.

I use Scentsy to keep my house smelling fresh and I have 2 dogs and 2 cats. I absolutely LOVE Scentsy to the point where I became a consultant for them. :O)

Actually other than their excellent scents the other reason that I really like Scentsy far better than scented candles is because of the fact that the warmer uses a low watt lightbult and so there is never an open flame and therefore no fire hazard. Also the wax is warmed to just above body temp and so there is also no worry of little hands getting burned by hot wax.

Also, candles release smoke, soot and wax into the air when the are burned. The only thing that is released with Scentsy is fragrance...also a plus.

If you would like to know more or would like to purchase some please feel free to contact me or check out my website at http://monicanees.scentsy.us.

Thanks!!

They are kind of expensive, but some of the Glade candles smell wonderful. My favorite is currants and acai. Yummy. They are usually something like $10 for the large ones, but I've bought them on sale for $8 sometimes.

We have used a product called Kids and Pets several times. You can order it off Amazon. It neutralizes and eliminates urine odors. You just pour or spray it on the mattress, carpet or wherever there has been an accident. When we moved into this house, which is a rental, they had just had the carpets professionally cleaned and they STILL smelled like urine because the previous renters had several cats and ferrets. We used the Kids and Pets in our carpet cleaner and it completely took the smell away.

Vinegar also helps. It will smell a bit until it dries but then it eliminates most odors. I use it to clean my kitchen and also in laundry.

Also open the windows, will help a lot.

Air cleaner or air purifier. Honeywell has some good ones.

I went to a Scentsy party last month and I have to say that I am hooked. They sell scents that come in wax bars that are used with their special warmers. The scents are strong, but not overpowering and smell much nicer than products you can buy at the grocery store. There is one scent that I love, don't know the name off hand but can email you if you'd like, that is very clean and not flowery at all. Even with two dogs, the house smells wonderful when it's on.

Scrub the bathrooms and floors. Use lots of vinegar.
Set out some odor ABSORBERS (not sprays or powders that ADD smell)--like the little jar things that are gels.

And make a big batch of fresh lemonade.

Wash the dog and all it's bedding. Sprinkle some baking soda on the rug, let it sit for 15 minutes and vacuum it all up--then empty the vacuum bag outside.

Wash all the blankets/comforters and throws. (During the winter months these are so often in use that they get "stale" and never make it to the laundry). And vacuum out all the furniture (especially under the cushions).

This should go a LONG way to achieving that fresh scent you are after. Cleaning the windows with vinegar and vacuuming the drapes/blinds and ceiling fans helps too. Along with changing out your filters for the A/C.

My Mom used to put a mothball in her vacuum cleaner bag, but now there are products that you can put in the vacuum to make things fresh smelling, scented beads that can also be used as sachets, etc. They can be bought at most candle stores or at vacuum cleaner stores. I don't think I would use the mothball as it might hurt your dog. But the other scented products would probably be ok.