How do you get your house/apartment to NOT smell like animals??

[Hunter88]

When I moved into my apartment I noticed that it didn’t have a “fresh” smell. It wasn’t bad, just not fresh. And on top of that, I added a puppy as the third room mate to me and the cat and I knew I needed to be proactive. First, I think it’s important that you find cleaning products that 1. are SAFE for your pets 2. actually work and 3. smell nice. For me, The Ms. Meyer’s brand of natural cleaning products (Target and Whole Foods carry) has been the BEST. A few tricks I learned when I was on my cleaning bender:

1. Wipe down your walls! This seems silly but did incredible things for making my house fresh! If you have wallpaper, it certainly traps odor and paint isn’t much better. Since I just had painted walls, I wiped them down with basic counter top cleaner. Also you will be amazed at how much dirt you find.
2. Vacuum the couch and/or wash the cushions.
3. LITTER. GENIE.
4. Baking soda in the cat box and also on the carpets.
5. Vacuum daily!

[Bicoastal]

[QUOTE=SonnysMom;7039625]
I think I got mine at Sam’s Club or Costco. I know I have seen it at Sam’s. Walmart may have it also.[/QUOTE]

I couldn’t find Odoban at Walmart. I stumbled upon it at Home Depot right at the entrance. On sale for $5 for a spray bottle ready to use and a bottle of concentrate bundled together.

[BetterOffRed]

fabreze, lots of vacuuming floors and furniture, washing the dog beds and linens. And many candles and room sprays. I am almost through saving for my hard wood floors, I can’t wait!!! no more carpet!!!

[yellowbritches]

1. Wipe down your walls! This seems silly but did incredible things for making my house fresh! If you have wallpaper, it certainly traps odor and paint isn’t much better. Since I just had painted walls, I wiped them down with basic counter top cleaner. Also you will be amazed at how much dirt you find.

Good point. Also, can you paint? A fresh coat of paint can go a long way in freshening up a household, both in the looks and the smell.

But, yes, wipe down your walls, keep your baseboards wiped and dusted, dust for cobwebs up and in corners, vacuum under furniture on occasion, if you have hard floors, use a Swiffer to get the little furballs that roll around under the furniture.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=yellowbritches;7039056]
One thing I learned from my mom (who used to have a home cleaning business and is a fastidious house keeper, even with dogs) is to KEEP YOUR VACUUM CLEAN. That means, if you have a vacuum with a bag (Do they even make those anymore?) change your bag often. If you have a canister, dump it often (I try to dump my every time I use it), and rinse out/wash the filters regularly. This makes a HUGE difference. [/QUOTE]

Good point! One time I vacuumed up cat litter that had been kicked out of the litter box (the pine type - same as stall bedding) and forgot to empty the canister. This is our “downstairs” vacuum (an old Dyson) so it doesn’t get used often…like every few weeks. When I next went to use it…OMG…the entire house smelled like cat pee. It took a long time to get that smell out of the vacuum cleaner! I think partly because it’s made out of plastic and absorbed the smell. In desperation, I used a “pet fresh” carpet deodorizer and let it sit in the canister for a few days and it helped a lot.

But I will never make that mistake again!

[ReSomething]

I think someone said to dump the uneaten cat food and litter - big yes! Also keep track of your trash, get a covered container and get it out of the house ASAP, don’t let dishes pile up or gunk stay in the strainer. It’s amazing just WHAT will create a pungent nasty odor. One rotten potato in the bottom of the bag, a rotten orange ditto. Don’t blame the dog for everything!

[MistyBlue]

Ah the stinky vacuum reminds me of a little trick I learned…somewhere…can’t remember where now. Vacuums all have an exhaust filter. That needs cleaning and/or changing from time to time. Always clean or replace it after vacuuming up something especially rank. But for every day…find and slide it out. Wipe it clean with a dry cloth (it’s usually cloth too) and then put a few drop of vanilla extract on it. (or anything else with a smell you like, perfume, febreeze, etc) Replace the filter and give it time to dry before vacuuming again. Then afterwards whenever you vacuum, the exhaust coming out of the back of your vacuum with scent the air instead of just spewing out the smells of old dust and dirty carpet. :winkgrin: Usually lasts me about 3-6 weeks before I have to re-scent the filter again and I vacuum daily. Also agree big time with wiping down your walls! I use a sponge mop with a new sponge head and I use a mild cleaner in a bucket of warm water. It’s always amazing at the dirt that comes off of walls! And paint does indeed gather and hold smells. Just wring the sponge well before each few swipes, otherwise all sorts of water drips and runs all down the walls as you try to swipe them clean. Takes only a few minutes to sponge the walls clean.

[yellowbritches]

[QUOTE=MistyBlue;7040946]
Ah the stinky vacuum reminds me of a little trick I learned…somewhere…can’t remember where now. Vacuums all have an exhaust filter. That needs cleaning and/or changing from time to time. Always clean or replace it after vacuuming up something especially rank. But for every day…find and slide it out. Wipe it clean with a dry cloth (it’s usually cloth too) and then put a few drop of vanilla extract on it. (or anything else with a smell you like, perfume, febreeze, etc) Replace the filter and give it time to dry before vacuuming again. Then afterwards whenever you vacuum, the exhaust coming out of the back of your vacuum with scent the air instead of just spewing out the smells of old dust and dirty carpet. :winkgrin: Usually lasts me about 3-6 weeks before I have to re-scent the filter again and I vacuum daily. Also agree big time with wiping down your walls! I use a sponge mop with a new sponge head and I use a mild cleaner in a bucket of warm water. It’s always amazing at the dirt that comes off of walls! And paint does indeed gather and hold smells. Just wring the sponge well before each few swipes, otherwise all sorts of water drips and runs all down the walls as you try to swipe them clean. Takes only a few minutes to sponge the walls clean.[/QUOTE]
Hmmm…I feel like I need to go tear apart my vacuum now…

[MistyBlue]

I do that every January…so that when I vacuum the rest of the year my house doesn’t smell like hot Christmas tree needles, LOL! The exhaust filter trick works pretty awesome. I have to take scissors to the beater bar on my big vacuum 1-2 times per year to cut out the hair and threads and odd stuff that get wrapped around the brushes. I never know where all the thready stuff comes from…I don’t sew or anything.

[yellowbritches]

I did that recently, after I knocked my vacuum over and saw that my now gone long blonde hairs had basically rendered the brush USELESS. I know my mom does it (again, she’s a pro at keeping a clean house…I’m not sure I’m hers), but I’d never done it. AMAZING how much better the vacuum works when the brush can actually BRUSH. And, bonus, I have short hair now, so probably can go longer between vacuum spring cleanings.

[MistyBlue]

Ugh, first time I did that I was both amazed and disgusted at how much long blonde hair was wrapped around the brush. I have to keep doing regularly, I have no idea how I have any hair left on my head considering how much of it I find everywhere else! First time I did it the beater brush looked like a blonde, black and white foam roller! (had an Alaskan Malamute at the time, lol) And afterwards it was able to get the carpets a helluva lot cleaner. :winkgrin:

[FourFaults]

Agree with everyone’s comments so far! We have three indoor cats and we have an 118 year old house and it can get damp from the old stone basement so it’s extra challenging. So far, visitors can’t tell we have cats until they walk by them!

I tidy often and then do a full clean of the house every month or so - which includes washing all the cat blankets that they sleep on and scrub the litter boxes (4 of them). I think a big difference we noticed was changing from clay litter to corncob litter (A&H thanks to a helpful member here!). Smells better, is lighter to carry the bag, and tracks less. When I clean the cat litter (every day), I make sure to take it right outside to the composter. Ugh, one day I forgot to do that b/c my doorbell rang. I came home the next day and as soon as I came through the front door, I remembered!!

witherbe - love the cat cubby!!!

I think I’m going to go look up this Litter Genie b/c right now, that’s me lol!

Jenn

[Nicker]

I wish I could wash the walls in our current home! 90+ year old house with the original walls that have the swirled sanded plaster stuff are walls you cannot wash, I found that out the hard way. I do run the vacuum brush over them weekly.

My vacuum has bags(I do not like bagless!) and with every bag change I put a small amount of baking soda or carpet deoderizer into the new bag. My oldest daughter will vacuum just because she likes the way it smells.

I wish I could convince my husband to get rid of our carpet! I absolutely HATE it, we have a huge family room that is still not finished after 6 months because we are fighting over flooring. Right now it’s just the plywood subfloor. I want anything but carpet, real wood floors are what I would love but I would take vinyl over carpet. All he wants is carpet. Yuck! Our daughter has asthma and I think it would really help her to rip all the carpet out of our house. Plus I could get rid of our little vacuum and just use an industrial shop vac.