Although your home may be clean it may not have a sanitary odor. There are many reasons for having bad odor in your home that do not indulge poor house cleaning. Using an air freshener and perfume only covers the scent and does not eliminate the odor. It creates a mixture of smells, which can be irritating to the nose. In order to eliminate the odor you must identify the type of odor it is. Common odors in a home are; cooking odor, stale odor, pet odor and smoke odor. I will list helpful tasks to eliminate these odors.

Cooking Odor

After food preparation it is normal for the kitchen to smell like the meal, however if you find that the odor is lingering longer than usual then there may be a problem with your exhaust vent. Kitchen vents have filters that should be cleaned or replaced from time to time this is often the main reason for lingering food odors.

Stale Odor

If your home has a stale smell this is often caused by a water leak which if it remains undetected can begin to create mold. Begin by checking to see if the roof and foundation is intact, check around sinks and faucets, and ensure that the windows are properly sealed. These are the main areas where leakage can be found.

Pet Odor

Pet odors can dominate the scent of your home. Ways to prevent this from happening is by always ensuring that your cat’s litter box is kept clean and if you have a dog or cat that is accident prone keep them in an area that is easy to clean. If an accident does happen in an area such as the carpet remember to immediately clean this area for if it leaks through into the padding the smell will be much harder to eliminate. Remember when cleaning up your pets accidents on carpet or fabric never to rub or scrub, for this will penetrate the odor deeper into the material, use a blotting technique.

Smoking Odor

Smoking inside the home can seep into wallboards and upholstery making the task of eliminating that tobacco odor quite a challenging. Depending on how deep the smoke has penetrated the wallboard one maybe be able to eliminate the smell by cleaning it with a cloth damped with vinegar however if this fails painting will have to be an option. If the tobacco odor has leaked into the upholstery then the only effective way of completely removing the smell would be steam cleaning.

If you find that your home has an odor that does not relate to these incidents then the odor maybe be coming from air ducts ensure that the air filters are clean. Also make sure that the odor is not coming from the insulation in your attic, after years of odor causing activities attics can take on the odor and distribute it through the walls and the air ducts. By eliminating bad odor in your home you can truly achieve the feel and the image of a clean enviroment.