Did you know that humans have over 1,000 olfactory receptors (ORs)? These proteins enable people to smell an estimated 1 trillion scents.
It’s thanks to ORs that you can enjoy food flavors, too. Scientists say the sense of smell is behind 80% to 90% of what you taste.
However, it’s also because of ORs that a smelly room in your home can make you gag. The odors can even be foul enough to cause coughing, wheezing, and even a bad mood.
Thus, removing stinky room odors is vital to achieving a healthier, more pleasant home. We’ll tell you how below, so read on.
Get Rid of Smelly Room
1. Clean and Ventilate
A clean, welcoming home appeals to the senses of smell, sight, taste, sound, and touch of anyone who enters it. At the same time, you can often already tell that’s it dirty (and thus, unwelcoming) by its smell alone.
Suppose you enter a home and immediately get a whiff of decay, mustiness, or ammonia-like odors. The smells alone can make you imagine dirty dishes in the sink, indoor molds, or pet urine.
Therefore, the first step in fixing stinky rooms is to clean them to remove sources of foul odors. Then, ventilate them to force the foul-smelling air outdoors. Ventilation also helps give rooms a fresh scent by introducing cleaner air.
2. Neutralize Odors With Baking Soda
Baking soda is a cheap yet effective and non-toxic deodorizer. It can neutralize odors in carpets, shoes, and refrigerators. It can also help clean and remove stains from food spills and pet accidents.
You can sprinkle baking soda all over the offending area, let it sit for at least 15 minutes, and then vacuum it away. Alternatively, you can put some on a saucer near the smelly area (or in your fridge).
3. Make a Homemade Vanilla Air Freshener
Scientists found that vanillin, vanilla’s main component, is the world’s favorite scent.
If you agree, you can fill your home with its enjoyable aroma by making a DIY vanilla extract air freshener. Just mix a cup of water with three tablespoons of vanilla extract. Pour the mixture into a mist bottle, and then spray away.
If you don’t have vanilla, one alternative that you may like is citrus. Simmer orange and lemon rinds in a potful of water for about an hour. The steam will help spread their fresh scent throughout your home.
4. Consider Diffusing Essential Oils
Another way to fill your home with pleasant scents is to diffuse essential oils. These include vanilla, lavender, chamomile, citrus, and peppermint, to name a few.
You can use an essential oil diffuser, a device that breaks the oils down into smaller molecules. It then disperses the odor-containing molecules into the air. To learn more about how it works, view this scent diffusers page.
Fix a Smelly Room With These Methods
Remember: A smelly room isn’t just unpleasant; it can also affect your mood and make you sick. It can even lead to olfactory fatigue or nose blindness. That can be dangerous, as it reduces your ability to pick up smells like burning or gas.
So, as early as today, use the above methods to address and eliminate stinky rooms in your home.
For more informative health, home, and lifestyle guides like this, check out the rest of our blog!
