collaborative post
You invest a lot of time and effort in making your home perfect. You sweep, mop and polish your floors until they sparkle. You apply a liberal dose of elbow grease to your windows to the point where guests question whether or not they even contain any glass. You vacuum your carpets and rugs to keep them fully, lustrous and free of dust and crumbs of yuckiness. Yet, no matter how much you scrub, wipe, mop and sweep there’s something that’s keeping your home from looking and feeling completely clean.
Yup, it’s that funk that subtly permeates your living space, and undoes all the hard work you’ve put in elsewhere. While we human beings are inherently visual creatures, we tend to judge our surroundings by their scent, as well. It’s how we’ve evolved to know which foods will do us harm and which environments aren’t safe to live in. As such, our sense of smell can affect our moods. So when your home is permeated by pongs, it can make it really difficult to enjoy your down time. Here are 4 things that are keeping your home from smelling, and feeling, as fresh as it could:
Your drains
Be honest. You’re washing the dishes and an errant pea, piece of sweetcorn or nugget of mince gets stuck in the drain. What do you do? Push it down with the butt of a fork? Thought so. But when food waste is pushed down the drain, it isn’t banished to another dimension. It can get stuck in the u-bend, decomposing and bringing the funk to your kitchen. In some cases a little baking soda and lemon juice down the drain is enough to rid your home of funky odours, but when matter accumulates in your drains over time, you may need to get a specialist drain repair service over to make sure your pipes are spotless. And you can cook safe in the knowledge that the only aroma is the delicious food you’re making.
Pets
As much as we love our furry friends they can be a source of unwanted odours, especially in wet weather or if they're partial to a dip in some water on their walks! Regularly washing pet bedding and blankets will go a long way to stopping any unwanted pet odours as well as replacing them when they become old and worn (because let's be fair they do get to a point where no matter what you wash them with, nothing will get rid of that lingering smell).
Your carpets
You may vacuum regularly. But over time pet dander, crumbs of food waste and other nasties can get trodden deep into the fibres of your carpet and prevent it from smelling as good as it could. As well as getting your carpets and upholstery cleaned annually, you can mix some baking soda and essential oils to make your very own Shake n Vac. Sprinkle it on your carpets, leave it for a few minutes and vacuum it back up for instant freshness.
Your bin
Finally, after a while, your bin may start to smell, even if it’s empty. Sometimes waste can escape your bin bag and linger in the bin itself. Rather than rinsing it out with soap and water, first try sprinkling in a combination of baking soda and your favourite essential oils. Leave it for about an hour then rinse out. Your bin will look and smell good as new!
Always remember to stay safe when cleaning your home!
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