Tips for neutralizing odors while your home is listed for sale (or any other time).
Keeping your home neat, tidy and fresh is job one when listing it for sale. You want to make the best first impression possible for potential home buyers, after all.
That said, life doesn’t stop just because your home is on the market. Which means you might occasionally find yourself with some stubborn cooking odors, pet odors, or the funk of an active teenager or two. Fortunately, there are solutions for eliminating these troublesome scents:
Sunlight & Ventilation
Fresh air and sunlight can go a long way toward combatting odors. If you have a range hood that vents to the outside of your home, use it when you’re cooking. Otherwise, open windows to let fresh air in and odors out. Opening blinds/drapes and letting some sunlight in can also help eliminate damp, musty/moldy odors that might be lingering in your home.
Vinegar
Keep a small bowl of vinegar out while cooking strong smelling foods to help absorb the aromas. Or, if there are stubborn odors in the home even when you’re not cooking, try simmering about a cup of white vinegar in a small saucepan to help clear the air.
Baking Soda & Charcoal
Baking soda can help absorb odors in your refrigerator and freezer, and sprinkling some on carpets or upholstery, then vacuuming up after about 30 minutes, can help eliminate odors. You can also leave some baking soda in bowls around the house to help absorb odors. The same is true of charcoal.
Coffee Grounds
Dry coffee grounds in a clean sock can be hung in closets, a freezer, wherever, to help disperse musty odors.
Clean Appliance Filters & Surfaces
If you’re getting a strong smell from your dishwasher, be sure you’ve cleaned the filter recently, if there is one. If there isn’t, you can pour about a gallon of vinegar in the dishwasher, let is sit for an hour or so, then run a full cycle. If you have a front load clothes washer, be sure and clean the filter in the machine, as well. Many washers also have a “sanitize” cycle that can be run to help eliminate odors. And be sure to change filter in your A/C air handler.
Don’t Neglect the Basics
Simple things like taking out foul-smelling trash as soon as possible, not leaving laundry sitting out for too long and washing bedding, include bedspreads and comforters, can help keep a home smelling fresh.
Have a trick for cleaning and deodorizing that works for you? Let us know about it in the comments…
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