The Overlooked Reason Your House Actually Smells Terrible To Your Guests

Nobody wants a smelly home. The dream is to own a place that always looks and smells like a floral print sundress handwashed and dried in the sun — you get the idea. This is probably why household cleaning products had sales of around $1.25 billion in 2020, per Statista. But here's the thing, sometimes those smells seem determined to stick to your home despite exhaustive cleaning. Even worse, your home may actually smell great to you, but not to your guests. While dirty carpets are usually the most likely cause of a smelly house, you could still get complaints when you don't even own one, or right after getting your carpet cleaned.

But before you start going around with spray bottles, spritzing everything in sight, have you ever wondered whether your cleaning products themselves are actually to blame? It's entirely possible that your guests hate the smell of your cleaning products and solutions. In this case, cleaning more won't help you, as you're still using them. It may come as a shock, but people react to fragrances differently. A scent that may be perfect for you could smell terrible, or even adversely affect your guests to the point of causing painful migraines. As a result, it could simply be that your cleaning products contain fragrant ingredients that do more harm than good, but fortunately there are plenty of easy ways to solve this problem.

The goal here is to devise a plan that gets your house as clean as possible without using those stinky cleaning products. Your first step should be to let go of your current cleaning products. Next, go for some that are labeled as fragrance-free instead. Ideally, cleaning products use a combination of ingredients to create specific fragrances that are meant to be pleasing. Some of these may be pungent or even cause allergic reactions to certain people, however, since the contents of these fragrances are usually kept hidden. This isn't for any malicious reasons, but simply a business move to prevent competitors from recreating their proprietary scents. As a result, it's impossible to pinpoint the exact ingredient causing the odor, so it's best to avoid fragrances entirely just to be safe.  

You should also avoid mixing cleaning products. They're all formulated using different chemicals that can react with one another to produce certain harmful or irritating gases. For instance, bleach and vinegar creates chlorine gas that can cause coughing and breathing issues. Other dodgy combos include bleach and rubbing alcohol, which could form a toxic gas called chloroform, and any two drain cleaners as they are very powerful and may even explode. Simply put, just stick to using cleaning products as their manufacturers intended, because your experimentation may create smells that could repel your guests. Wash off one chemical properly before using another to prevent mixing too. 

Another good alternative is to avoid store-bought cleaning products entirely in favor of creating your own natural solutions. There are a few recipes you can make up with some natural cleaning ingredients that you probably already have at home. These clean just as well as the store-bought variety, but without the bad smell. Creating an all-purpose cleaner requires just a quarter cup of vinegar, 12-20 drops of any essential oil of your choice, one teaspoon of Castile soap, and two cups of distilled water. First, pour the water into a spray bottle, then add the other ingredients, shake well, and you're good. 

For a clean toilet, put some white vinegar, baking soda, and a few drops of essential oils into the bowl. Leave this mixture to work for a few minutes before scrubbing with a toilet brush and finally rinsing. Adequate ventilation is another overlooked area you should note when cleaning. Always ensure there's constant air movement between the outside and inside of your home, either by opening windows or using fans during or after cleaning. This allows any unwanted odors or fumes to exit to the outside, so your affected guests will thank you. 

Finally, consider simply placing some odor absorbers in your home to remove these bad smells from circulation. Baking soda and activated charcoal are very good odor absorbers. Simply set out a bowl of baking soda or some activated charcoal pouches in discreet areas of your home to capture the airborne odors.