How to create a scent-sational home

How to create a scent-sational home
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Sure, fresh flowers can help a room smell lovely, but what about the rest of the house? That’s where these brilliant shortcuts come in.Goo

Get oven-fresh smells without baking

Get oven-fresh smells without baking
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Fresh-baked cookies and pies smell amazing, but you don’t need to make an entire recipe to fill your home with a warm scent. Brainstorming how to make your house smell good? Pour a teaspoon or two of ground cinnamon and cloves on a baking sheet. Leave it inside a 95°C oven for half an hour, keeping the door ajar. You’ll fill your home with a lovely spicy scent.

Use dryer sheets

Use dryer sheets
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Tape a new dryer sheet to the back of your dresser to make your underwear drawer smell fresher. You can also tuck some sheets behind curtains or under chairs.

Make fridge fragrance

Make fridge fragrance
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You already know baking soda can neutralise fridge odours, but here’s a new trick: Dampen a cotton ball with vanilla extract and leave it on a refrigerator shelf to add a pleasantly sweet fragrance. You could also try dabbing lemon juice on the cotton ball instead.

Put food scraps to use

Put food scraps to use
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An unfortunate side effect of garbage disposals is that they can start to smell like, well, garbage. If you’re wondering how to make your house smell good, just toss leftover orange or lemon peels down the drain. Do it once a month to keep things smelling fresh.

Find out more about banishing bad smells from your home. 

Or try salt

Or try salt
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No citrus peels? No problem. Dump half a cup of salt into the disposal, then turn on the disposal while running cold water. The salt will dislodge any waste stuck inside while neutralising their odours.

Try a stovetop fragrance

Try a stovetop fragrance
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You can make your own home fragrance without shelling out for expensive candles or diffusers. Add several lemon and orange peels to a cup or two of water, then let it simmer for a few hours, adding water as needed. You’ll freshen the air and the pot in one step. You could also try this trick with a handful of cloves, keeping it simmering for half an hour.

Take an extra-luxurious shower

Take an extra-luxurious shower
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Tie a few eucalyptus branches together, then hang them on your showerhead, behind the stream of water. Your steamy shower will release the aromatic oils, giving you an invigorating wash time, according to blogger One Good Thing By Jillee. Eucalyptus oils can help respiratory issues like asthma, colds and sinusitis, so try this next time you’re sick. The scent will stay fresh for about a week.

Here are 10 soothing scents that will boost your immune system. 

Flip a switch for scent

Flip a switch for scent
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Steal this old realtors’ trick: Turn off your lights until the bulbs are cool. Now place a couple drops of vanilla extract on your light bulbs. When you flip the lights on, the heat will gently spread the scent and make your home smell like fresh-baked cookies. This works better with incandescent bulbs, which get hotter than CFL bulbs.

Catch fridge drips

Catch fridge drips
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Drips from bottles and containers can leave foul-smelling residue on the shelves of your fridge. To keep it contained, leave a plastic lid under each container to act like a coaster and catch the drips. Once they start getting dirty, you can easily toss them in the dishwasher to clean the mess without scrubbing.

What’s that revolting smell? Find out about the weird foods that people love.

Get the stench out of Tupperware

Get the stench out of Tupperware
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Tomato juice is a surprising solution when soap and water won’t get the smell of last week’s dinner off plastic containers. You can also use it to wipe down a nasty-smelling fridge.

Make it lemony fresh

Make it lemony fresh
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Cut a couple of lemons in half, then place them cut-side-up in a dish. Leave the dish near a litter box or in a bathroom to give the room a lemon-fresh scent.

Freshen a freezer failure

Freshen a freezer failure
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When a power outage makes your freezer stop working, you could be left with the smell of spoiled food. Get rid of the scent by pouring fresh coffee grounds – even used ones will do the trick – in the freezer overnight.

De-stink your garbage

De-stink your garbage
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To keep nasty garbage odours at bay, sprinkle a bit of baking soda or borax in the bottom of your garbage bin. The crystals will help neutralise the smell of those kitchen scraps. Replace the powder every time you take out the garbage.

Here are 17 of the most brilliant ways to fix things using baking soda. 

Don’t light every candle

Don’t light every candle
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No need to light the wick to get the yummy-smelling benefits of a candle. Leaving a few in unexpected spots will give you a pleasant greeting. “Try the linen closet, or anywhere fabrics might live and be able to absorb the scent,” interior designer Dee Murphy told Good Housekeeping. “Not only do you get a nice surprise every time you open the door, but your linens will carry the aroma with them wherever you use them.”

Let your vacuum do double-duty cleaning

Let your vacuum do double-duty cleaning
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How to make your house smell good and do the floors at the same time? Soak a cotton ball with your favourite perfume, then drop it into the vacuum cleaner bag. As you do your regular chores, the vacuum will gently release the scent into the room.

Make fires smell nice again

Make fires smell nice again
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A fireplace is warm and cosy, but every now and then it can also cause a stink. Throw a few lemon or orange peels into the flames to kill the scent, and prevent the smell in the future by burning the peels instead of newspaper. As a bonus, the flammable oils in the peels will burn way longer than paper.

Fix a stinky humidifier

Fix a stinky humidifier
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When your humidifier starts smelling bad, pour 3 or 4 tablespoons of lemon juice into the water. Not only will it remove the odour, but it will give off a lemony scent. Add more every couple of weeks to stop the pong from coming back.

Learn more about air purifiers and humidifiers. 

Mask microwave stench

Mask microwave stench
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Can’t get the smell of the fish you preheated out of your microwave? Pour a bit of vanilla extract in a bowl, then nuke it on High for one minute.

Learn which 10 foods you should never reheat in the microwave. 

Reduce the smell of fresh paint

Reduce the smell of fresh paint
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Painting a room is a fun way to spruce up your space, but it also leaves a sickly scent before the colour dries. To make your home smell better, mix a tablespoon of vanilla extract into the paint when you open it.

Get rid of cigarette smells

Get rid of cigarette smells
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If you still can’t figure out how to make your house smell good after a smoke, try pouring white or cider vinegar into a shallow bowl, filling it up three-quarters of the way. The vinegar will neutralise the odours, so the smell should be gone in less than a day. If the smoke is fresh, wave around a cloth moistened with vinegar to get rid of the smell.

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Source: RD.com

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