Keeping home smelling fresh

amother

Thu, May 23 2019, 11:24 pm

Any ideas for keeping my apartment smelling fresh? I'm extra sensitive to smells and it drives me crazy when my own home doesn't smell great. It's a pretty small apartment so I think odors just don't stay very localized. As it is I'm so careful about frying anything, or even sauteing onions, since the lingering smell makes me nauseous. There's no specific bad smell, it's just not fresh and I really would like it to be (it's too hot where I am for open windows). Like if I'm not on top of cleaning every last dish and wiping out the sink immediately, within an hour I can smell it all the way in my bedroom.

What works short term: candles, diffuser, boiling cinnamon or citrus or anise on the stove, using nice smelling cleaning products. None of those are options for constant use though.

What I can't stand: any kind of artificial air freshener.

Help?!? Anything I'm not thinking of?

FranticFrummie

Fri, May 24 2019, 3:28 am

Baking soda will help a lot. I have a hard time with bleach, and I can only use it diluted, and with the windows open. The smell makes me really sick.

Second Generation makes organic, non toxic cleaners that have essential oils in them. I think that most of their products are lavender. Sadly, I am allergic to lavender, as well as a lot of perfumes.

Find an essential oil that you like, that feels comforting, and that is made without synthetics. iHerb sells some high quality oils. The only problem is that you can't smell them before you buy them. If you have a health food store nearby, they may have a small selection of oils for you to try.

You can put the oils in a spray bottle, add water, and mist the air. You can also use it on furniture and drapery (unless the fabric is white.)

I use unscented laundry soap, and if I can't find a unscented product, I opt for something light like "spring rain" scent. I am also shameless about opening bottles in the store and sniffing them to see if I'm going to have a reaction. Once I find a product I don't react to, I'm a faithful customer for life.

zaq

Fri, May 24 2019, 11:07 am

Seriously, the only way to have genuinely fresh smelling air is to have genuine fresh air, iow open your windows and run some fans to exhaust the stale air and bring in fresh. If you can't afford to do this every day, go for half an hour once a week. Most of the other gimmicks are just covering up stale odors with better odors.

Baking soda neutralizes some, and charcoal absorbs smelly substances, but once these have reacted with or adsorbed to capacity, they need to be changed out. Silica gel absorbs moisture that encourages mold and its related odors, so that can be used in enclosed spaces like closets and drawers. Silica gel doesn't react chemically but just absorbs water vapor, so it can be renewed by drying out in an oven or better yet, in the hot sun.

Lighting an UNSCENTED candle or boiling some white vinegar will discourage cooking odors, but using a kitchen exhaust fan actually removes the offending airborne molecules. Of course, your place must be scrupulously clean and dry. It's not much use "freshening" your air if you put laundry away when it's not Sahara dry, allowing mildew to set up shop.

Use unscented products as much as possible. Scented products make your place smell perfumed, not fresh, and create "olfactory clutter".

Keep in mind that in an apt., you may be getting fugitive odors from your neighbors. Short of either moving or asphyxiating yourself with "freshening" sprays, there's not a whole lot you can do about those.