How to Deodorize a House: Attack the Root Cause Before Your Home Hits the Market

Then, follow these tips and tricks to make sure that you’re home is spick and span to nip any unpleasant smells in the bud.

Don’t leave dirty laundry lying around

Piles of clothes cramped up in laundry baskets throughout the house can create bad odors, especially if you’ve got sweaty athletic wear inside your gym bag or damp towels collecting mildew. Don’t let laundry linger for extended periods of time. It might be the cause of the smell you can’t quite pinpoint. Get your clothes and linens into the washing rotation asap.

Wash those sheets and comforters

While we dream at night, our beds collect bacteria, fungus, and dead skin cells in a truly filthy fashion. That can’t smell good. Wash your sheets once a week to keep odors at bay, and get rid of funky smells in your comforters and duvets by adding a few cups of white vinegar to the washing machine.

Ruthlessly toss expired food

Meat, kale, potatoes, milk—when spoiled, these groceries exude the worst kind of stench. Go through your fridge and ditch any expired goods and make sure nothing stinks when you first open the doors.

Enforce a “no shoes in the house” policy

…At least while your home’s on the market. Shoes track in dirt and grime, and make it harder to keep your floors smelling fresh.

Do the dishes

Don’t let the pans “soak” or decide to put off your dinner dishes until the morning, especially if you’ve just cooked a particularly aromatic meal. Clean up spills in the kitchen (and elsewhere) right away.

Set up odor traps across the house

Leave out bowls of baking soda or distilled vinegar to absorb odors like magic. Alternatively, create your own deodorizing sachets by filling coffee filters with baking soda, tying them shut with string or ribbon, and putting them on shelves or in drawers. Keep closets and dressers smelling fresh with dryer sheets tucked away or stuffed into clothes pockets.

Get rid of the cigarette smoke stench

Smoke is one of the most persistent and pervasive scents, prone to cling to your walls, ceiling, carpet, upholstery, and clothing. Known as third-hand smoke, the lingering odor isn’t just unpleasant—it can cause health issues as well.

The first task, as Bowling noted, is to remove the cause. No more smoking in the house, even in just a single room. Smoke seeps into everything, using your air ducts to travel throughout your home.

Once you or the smoker in your household has officially taken their habit far away from the home, it’s time to do some damage control.

Joshua Miller, the President of Rainbow Restoration, a home restoration company established in 1981, gives homeowners these tips to mitigate existing cigarette smoke odors:

Gather up any items made of fabric that you can lift

Remember how your clothes and hair smell after a night out at a smoky bar? That stench now emanates from all your home’s drapes, rugs, furniture, linens, and all the contents of your closet—and each item will need to either be tossed, placed in storage, or put through the wash.

Put your soft items through the wash

Any items that you’re keeping in the house should be washed in cold water with at least two cups of vinegar added to the machine. It may take multiple washes to fully eradicate the smell.

Bring items that can’t go through the machine such as window treatments to the dry cleaners and let them know that you need to remove the smoke smell.

Once the items are cleaned, don’t bring them back into a house that still reeks of smoke. Protect them with garbage bags and put them in storage until you’ve completed the rest of the steps.

Spread baking soda over carpets and big furniture

With a large colander, sprinkle a deodorizing powder like baking soda on carpets and big furniture. Let it sit for at least 30-60 minutes. Then vacuum it up, using your vacuum attachments on couches and chairs.

Scrub down surfaces using vinegar

Vigorously wash walls and ceilings with a water/vinegar solution—ceilings can be the biggest culprit in a persisting smoke smell in a home, as cigarette smoke tends to travel upwards.

Repaint walls and ceilings

If the smell is still sticking around then you’ll need to apply a new coat of paint to the walls and ceilings, starting with a solvent-based, stain-blocking primer. If that project seems daunting, then you can hire professional painters to come and help you. Remember that none of your hard work will matter if you don’t remove the source of the smoke first.

Don’t let “wet dog smell” ruin your sale

Oh, how we love our furry friends. They’re cute, they’re cuddly, and we forgive all their little messes!

Unfortunately, potential buyers of your home won’t have the same affinity for Lola and Fido, or the shedding and odors they leave behind. They’ll only wonder if purchasing your house also means smelling traces of your dog or cat for the rest of their life.

Fortunately you can attack most pet odors head on with some basic cleanup and the right products:

Run a vacuum over carpets and furniture

Get pet hair and dander out of your carpet fibers and couch creases with an initial run of the vacuum. Be sure to spend extra time on carpeted stairs where pet hair tends to collect in the corners. Then, apply a layer of baking soda to trouble spots. Come back in a few hours later and vacuum it up.

Get those pet beds and kennel blankets in the washing machine

Throw all of the fabrics where your pets lay and sleep into the washing machine and turn the water up to the hottest temperature recommended.

If you can still smell pet odors, rewash the item with an enzymatic cleaner like Rocco and Roxie or MisterMax.

Deal with trouble spots on the carpet

If the cleaning methods above don’t seem to be tackling pet odor issues, you may have overlooked an older pet accident. Black lights are a great way to identify dried soiled areas.

Once you’ve identified any trouble areas, rent a carpet cleaner machine from your local grocery or hardware store or hire a carpet cleaning service for proper cleanup.

Cleaning up pet urine that’s already settled on hardwood floors is another story. If the floors are salvageable, try using a hardwood-safe enzymatic cleaner to deodorize the spot.

The most powerful tool for keeping your home free of pet odors? Prevention. Regularly cleaning your pet’s bedding, litter box or cage, frequent vacuuming, and managing accidents promptly will keep your home from hanging on to foul smells.

Turn musty and damp into springtime fresh

Bathrooms are high-traffic spaces, and as hubs for humidity, damp towels, and stagnant airflow, they often absorb unpleasant smells.

Doyle James, president of Mr. Rooter Plumbing, an established plumbing company since 1970, has some insightful tips to breathe air, light, and freshness into these spaces:

Ventilate to increase fresh airflow

Air out bathrooms by turning on fans and opening windows to get the fresh air circulating. This also keeps humidity in check to prevent mildew growth. Leave the door open when the bathroom’s not in use to keep air circulating.

Hang towels separately

This will prevent them from getting musty and help them dry out faster. When drying towels on a rack, be sure to leave plenty of space between each towel.

Add a few capfuls of bleach to your towel and rug washes

Towels and bath mats should be washed on a regular basis, ideally at least once a week. To eliminate odors that stick to fabrics even after a full wash cycle, add a half and half bleach-water mix (the water helps prevent discoloration) to the washing machine and you’ll notice that everything smells fresh and clean.

Get rid of mold and mildew from the shower

Make sure to air out the shower after each use. You may need to clean your shower curtain to prevent mold from growing (cloth shower curtains clean up easily in the washing machine with bleach water). To clean your tiles and grout, apply a vinegar and water mixture and scrub down the surface with a grout brush. Be sure to spay down your shower after each use with a Daily Shower Cleaner.

Check for leaks around your bathroom fixtures

The tub, sink, or toilet could be leaking and causing odors. Replace the seal under the toilet at the floor if you find water on your floor on a regular basis. If water pools under the sink, you’ll need to check for a leak in a pipe and contact a plumber to determine the cause.

Clean out your drains

If bad odors are coming from a drain, try pouring a cup of baking soda down the drain followed by a cup of vinegar. Leave it for 30 minutes and pour hot water down the drain.

Don’t ignore musty smells in dark, damp areas

There’s another reason why you don’t want musty and damp smells in your home—they could indicate a much bigger issue. Odors could be telling you that mold or mildew is hiding.

“We had a home with a storage area in a basement with a musty, moldy smell,” says Bowling. “When we were under contract, we had to have a professional remediation company come to do a cleanout. There wasn’t enough ventilation, and when we pulled some insulation away, we found discoloration that needed to be treated professionally, which cost the sellers $1,200.”

Check your bathrooms and basement for odors, moisture, and proper ventilation. Not only will your home sell faster when it smells good, but you’ll also prevent surprises from cropping up during the home inspection.

Once you’ve deodorized, keep smells simple

Certain smells scientifically put people in the mood to buy stuff, whether it’s a waft of pure leather at the shoe store, a hint of pine at Christmas time, or the alluring aroma of perfume at the mall.

However, it’s easy to go overboard with artificial smells that are overwhelmingly strong or make buyers wonder if you’re trying to hide something. Avoid plug-in air fresheners or sprays, and instead stick to smells on the neutral end of the spectrum.

You’re best off going with a natural, subtle citrus scent. Add a few drops of lemon or orange essential oils to a spray bottle as a mister, put some small pieces of citrus rinds down the garbage disposal, or simmer sliced citrus fruit over the stove in water.

The bottom line is that foul odors can be a major deterrent to buyers. Investing in preventing and removing unpleasant smells is a sure way to increase your home’s value, marketability, and appeal.

So open up your windows, grab some baking soda and vinegar, and don’t be afraid to call in the pros or spend a little on carpet and paint if you can’t get those smells out on your own. It’ll be worth it!

Header Image Source: (Ingrid Balabanova / Shutterstock)