How To Eliminate Odours Effectively
There’s nothing worse than your home smelling horrible, especially if you are getting ready to receive guests. We’ve all been there and know the feeling. You sniff and sniff and panic and panic, and nothing seems to be the cause. Don’t stress! Let’s look into the most common odour sources and see what you can do to have your home smell fresh again.
Common Kitchen Whiffs
If the stench is coming from your kitchen, check the following places first:
- Fridge – there may be something spoiled inside the fridge. Check for hidden casseroles, a pack of old cheese, or veggies that started to rot. Remove the spoiled food and clean the fridge if some of it got spilt. The smell may go off immediately, but if it doesn’t, place an open box of baking soda inside and allow it to absorb the stink.
- Microwave – you are cooking and heating all sorts of things in it. So, when was the last time you cleaned it? If your microwave is stinking your house, pour some water into a microwave-safe dish and add some lemon slices to it. Let it boil for a few minutes. Be sure to wipe the interior well, insisting on the areas where food is stuck. Let the door open so that your newly cleaned oven can air out.
- Garbage Bin – when there’s a whiff, there must be the garbage bin – all of our London professional cleaners agree on this. Luckily, you just need to give it a good scrub with warm water and a few drops of dishwashing liquid, and it will immediately smell fresh again. To prevent odours from building up again, you can place baking soda in a coffee filter, tie it with a rubber band, and place it on the bottom of the bin.
- Dishwasher – if you don’t use your dishwasher daily and forget to clean it between uses, it will, in time, develop an unpleasant odour. Put a cleaning tablet in it and run a cycle to remove the bad smell. Do this once a month to avoid bad smells building up.
- Walls & cabinets – sometimes, the source of the smell is your whole kitchen. Grease travels through vapours and sticks to your tiles, walls, and cabinets. Unfortunately, it doesn’t only sit there looking ugly but encourages bacteria to grow, ergo the whiffs. Usually, a mixture of warm water and dishwashing liquid removes it, but for more tips on how to clean grease from kitchen cabinets, check out our article on this subject.
Remove Bad Odours in the Bathroom
This is the least place you would want to give out an unpleasant smell. But it happens! As a professional cleaning company, we’ve come across many issues that make bathrooms stink. However, unless you’ve had a disaster happening inside, you are probably dealing with one of the following problems:
- Mould – condense creates the ideal environment for mould to grow, so check for grey, black, or pink deposits on the walls and tiles. Sometimes mould hides better, so make sure to look under the sink as well. If you’ve spotted it, mix a solution of 1 part bleach with 4 parts water and spray it on the mould. Let it sit for 15 minutes, then put on some gloves and a mask and scrub the spores away. Mould attracts bacteria and, in time, starts releasing a musty, stale smell.
- Dirty toilet – clean the toilet before it develops yellow stains or an unpleasant odour. Our domestic cleaners recommend using a green toilet cleaner that will disinfect the surface while keeping the fish in the seas and oceans safe.
- Drain – you don’t want to know what’s inside your drain. But sometimes, willingly or not, you will smell it. If the whiff is coming from your sink, it’s time to sanitise the drain. Boil two litres of water and pour it into the drain if the odour is minor. If this doesn’t solve the problem, combine baking soda with vinegar and boiled water to dissolve some of the deposits on the pipes.
Smelly Carpets?
Sometimes carpets can stink up a house, even if they have just been cleaned. If not dried optimally, they can grow bacteria and become a source of horrible odours. In this case, you can only clean them again, and we suggest using a professional carpet cleaning service. If this is not the case, check if your pet didn’t have an accident on the carpet. Or if you haven't stepped into something and smeared it all over the place. In both cases, the solution is to deep clean the carpet.
Bedroom Stinks
If the bedroom is the source of the smell, check these two common sources:
- Closet – closets tend to develop a stale odour, especially if they are old. Open the doors and allow the interior to air out. It may also be useful to buy a closet odour eliminator or store a box with baking soda inside to absorb moisture.
- Mattress – do you have the habit of eating in bed? Or did you spill water on your mattress? A pee accident? They can all make your bed smell. The first step is to clean the mess, and our domestic cleaning team recommends a solution of warm water and baking soda. Then, get the mattress in the open air to allow it to dry.
Check out our article about mattresses to learn more tips on how to care for them.
Maybe It’s Time for Professional Cleaning
If nothing works, your house may be in urgent need of a good cleaning. Book our professional cleaning services in London, and we will dispatch a team of professional cleaners to help your house regain its freshness.
