How to eliminate bad smells at home : step-by-step

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You may clean like the pros on TV, but it’s no use... every time you come home, there’s a lingering unpleasant smell 😩

No matter what you do, you can't find the source, and even worse, when you think you’ve found a solution, the smell comes back... it’s just depressing!

Fortunately for you, at Yoojo, we have amazing housekeepers with incredible tips. 

We asked them to help you in your battle against bad odours and to share their best professional cleaning tricks with you!

In this guide, we will explain several things :

Come on, let’s say goodbye to those foul smells!!!

Untraceable bad smell in the house? Here’s how to find its source

The first step in your war against bad smells is to find the source of the problem. Indeed, the cause of your bad odours at home may be due to multiple sources: drains, bins, pets, mould… the culprits can be numerous.

If the bad smell in your house is untraceable, here’s what to do:

1. Start by ventilating all the rooms to see if it’s just a temporary issue. If the smell persists, close all the doors and step outside for a while to sharpen your sense of smell. 
2. When you return home, stand in one room and check if the bad smell is there. 
3. Start with the kitchen and the bathroom, but check all the rooms, even if you think you've found the source of the bad odour.
4. If the smell is only in one room, you just need to sniff around to get closer to the odour and find its origin. If the smell is everywhere, it could be either the vents or the drains that need to be unblocked.

In that case, call a professional to quickly get rid of all that for a few pounds:

Find your dream housekeeper here

It’s important to check all the rooms to be sure there are no multiple sources of bad odour. Once you’ve identified the culprit, let’s move on to elimination.

Step 1: Eliminate recurring odours

We could have told you to mask the smells and be done with it, but they will just come back… inevitably!

This is the case, for example, with damp smells, related to mould or mildew in the house (walls, floors, wallpaper, carpets…).

However, it may happen that you can’t locate the source of the smell. 

In that case, there are a few solutions to change the smell of your home:

Start by ventilating your home by opening all the doors and windows. 

Then, take the time to clean the entire house from top to bottom. 

This means disinfecting everything that could be the source of unpleasant smells, such as the bin, cleaning the carpets, curtains, or even your dirty sofa.

Then, purify the ambient air ! 

How? 

Here are 2 tips shared by our cleaning pros:

That didn't work? Here’s another tip:

Normally, the bad odours should have disappeared, but if they persist, discover below how to get rid of each type of smell.

Step 2: Grandmother's tips for each type of smell

Some smells are stubborn and refuse to disappear despite all your efforts. Others come back to haunt you constantly without you understanding why. 

We’ve compiled below all the sources of bad smells and how to get rid of them for good. Plus, you’ll discover several techniques in case the first one doesn’t work!

Kitchen odours: easy to get rid of

We’re not telling you anything new here: the kitchen is a source of many bad smells, and they often permeate your entire flat!

Fortunately for you, these are smells we can easily eliminate. Here are several great tips to remove kitchen odours from a flat: 

Don’t have bicarbonate? Here’s another solution:

Feel free to move your saucepan to another room if the kitchen smell has lingered there!

Grandmother's remedies for musty odours

The problem with musty smells is that they are often persistent and difficult to eliminate! 

One thing’s for sure: you will need to tackle the mould several times !

Have you found where the mould is coming from in your home? Here’s how to get rid of it:

Need a second tip? Bicarbonate of soda is here for you:

How to remove stale odours:

This is a classic winter problem: you come home after battling rain and snow, only to discover a musty smell that makes you feel like you’re living in a cabin from the 1850s!

If your home smells stale, the first step is to air out your rooms every day… even in winter.

If the smell persists, here’s a tip that might help:

Sometimes, this stale smell comes from a piece of furniture that you don’t open often. In this case, here’s the solution:

How to remove cat smells from a flat

They’re adorable, and we love them, but because they do their business indoors, you might sometimes find yourself with a cat pee smell in one of your rooms... and if you have a cat, you know how stubborn that smell can be. 

The first step to getting rid of it is to thoroughly clean the litter box after every visit to the toilet (every day). Every week, deep clean the litter tray with products. 

If your cat has relieved themselves outside of their litter box, that’s a whole different problem. We know that cat pee has a very distinctive smell that can be hard to eliminate. 

How to remove the smell of stale tobacco from a home

Our smoking friends know all too well the problem of a home that smells like stale tobacco. The first thing to do to avoid this problem is to always keep your ashtray outside. 

Next, wash all your linen, curtains, and all the textiles in your home with bicarbonate of soda to absorb the tobacco smell. 

You can also boil a bowl of white vinegar and water to help reduce the stale tobacco odour. 

Finally, try to avoid smoking indoors whenever possible... it remains the best technique. 

How to avoid bin odours

It’s hard to avoid—your bin is bound to smell at some point. The first real tip is to buy a bin that seals well and waterproof bin bags to prevent leaks. 

If the smell persists, you can try this tip:

Not working for you? Here’s a second tip to tackle those unpleasant bin odours:

✅ Bonus tip: easily create your own natural odour absorber

At this point, you should have eliminated all the unpleasant smells from your home, but to prevent them from returning, nothing beats creating your own natural odour absorbers. 

Plus, it only costs a few pennies... that’s a real grandmother's tip!

Here are some ultra-simple tips to make: 

1. In a saucer, pour 3 tablespoons of green clay powder and add a few drops of your chosen essential oil. Refresh the oil every week.

2. Another tip for perfuming your home is to place dried flowers and peels in small fabric bags, onto which you will add a few drops of your chosen essential oils. The great thing about this technique is that you can use all your old fabrics and place the bags around (like in the photo above).

3. You can also create your own natural air freshener  using essential oils, perfect for your homemade diffuser.

Need a helping hand with your cleaning? 

Eliminating bad smells can be a real struggle on a daily basis, especially when you have a family, and everyone adds their own little layer of chaos.

Do you prefer spending time with your family rather than chasing away bad smells? 

Discover the profiles of the best cleaners near you:

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