Eliminating unpleasant odors in your home is crucial when you decide to put your home on the market. One of the first things buyers will notice upon arriving is how it smells. If they smell a bad odor, it will put them off pretty fast. Regardless of how nicely staged your home might be, unpleasant odors will make your home unappealing to most people. Opening windows and turning on your exhaust fans may temporarily remove the bad odors, but it won’t eliminate them completely. Follow these tips below if you want to keep your buyers happy.
1. Stay Away From Perfumed Air Fresheners
Many people make the mistake of spraying perfumed room fresheners around their home, in hopes that it will remove the bad smells. Ultimately room deodorizers fade, and often times they just mask the smell anyway. Some of the air fresheners have an overwhelming smell, and it can feel like a buffer - like you’re trying to hide something. When a buyer comes by to view your home, the wrong air freshener can cause a bad reaction with them, like a headache or a runny nose. Instead of trying to mask it, you should try to locate the source of the bad odor and get rid of it.
2. Try Using Pet Carpet Cleaners
Everyone loves their pets - after all, dogs and cats are part of the family. Unfortunately, they can often make your home smell bad. Whether the smell is on the furniture or the carpet, it’s important to remove it. Most odors will come from your pet’s accidents. Always clean the accident immediately. When the accident occurs, first blot it with a paper towel, then use mild dishwashing soap to remove the odor. Once the mess is cleaned, blot it again with fresh paper towels to dry it. If you notice an older accident, you should use an enzyme cleaner to clean up the bad bacteria. You can also try using activated charcoal (a form of carbon that has been activated to make it extremely porous). Most pet stores will sell this.
3. Green Cleaning Products
Using natural odor eliminators can be a great alternative to the chemicals. A popular product that many people boast about is baking soda. You can put an open box of baking soda in a room to help absorb unpleasant smells. It can also help to remove musty aromas in dark spaces around the house, like basements and crawl spaces. In addition to being used to remove pet odors, it can also help with the smell of cigar or cigarette smells. If you’re not interested in trying baking soda, pet supply stores should have green cleaning products that help remove odors, while still being safe for the home. Of course, hiring a cleaning service that uses green product is an option too.
