Smells: Not so Lovely ones AND Lovely ones - A Summary

Links to all my Lovely Smells posts are below :)

Three things make a house smell off...

1. Last night's unwashed cooking paraphernalia
2. Un-emptied rubbish bins
3. Dogs

I could add... hubs shoes/feet, children, fermenting cups of tea, poo, aging undiscovered pet/infant wee, drain issues, rotting potatoes in the potato drawer, spew, other pets, carpets from 1973, old glasses of wine, etc... but they are all specific to my house.

One thing I'm pernickity about is getting the dishes done after dinner (and as anyone who reads this blog knows, mostly I should get an award for housewifely-slackarsery).  There is nothing more depressing, first thing in the morning, than to be faced with a congealed, stinking sink-ful of pots and pans.  Its a drag and I hate it, especially when the Screamies are finally settled and all I want to do is slump on the couch, but I do it (or persuade hubs to do it :)).

If you have a small rubbish bin (for kitchen waste etc) then you have to empty it more often and it doesn't get smelly.  A friend of mine had a huge bin that didn't get emptied except on bin-day, one very hot summer day she spied maggots crawling out of it. Shudder.

Dog smell seeps into everything.  I've found two solutions.  

• Wash the dog (or have him washed - that's what I do. The cost is about $40 a month, more if he is clipped, and I see that as part of the cost of dog ownership.  I do also bath him inbetween-times, but he loathes the hair-dryer so I only do it if the weather is nice).
• Glen-20 (mysteriously called Oust for a while, but now back to Glen-20).  I hate squirting chemicals around the house, but in this case, its the lesser of two evils.  Its also a disinfectant.

Making the house smell lovely can be quick and easy.  My first post is HERE. But for a quick summary...

• Open windows and doors - air the place out
• Aromatherapy (I've got a series on aromatherapy and essential oils on its way)
• Use an oil burner (I have both an electric one and a tea-light one which uses a candle, though these days you can steam ones and ultrasonic ones!)
• My favourite smells include 
• Lavender
• Tea Tree
• Eucalyptus
• Any citrus based oil (orange, lemon, grapefruit)
• My fave combination is Lime, Frankincense and Lavender
• Incense
• These days there is a dizzying array of different types of incense, my favourite at the moment is a Lemon Myrtle one
• Scented candles
• Ones with essential oils in them are the best, but also cripplingly expensive
• Brew some coffee
• My husband loves this option
• Coffee smell is very overpowering (which is why they get you to sniff coffee beans in perfume shops in between smelling perfumes. The coffee overpowers your scent receptors and you can smell the next perfume better) it is therefore very good at temporarily hiding smells
• Stick the bread-maker on

Other, slightly more time-consuming smell solutions include

• Bake a cake
• Air-freshener bowls
• Simmer pots

I've so enjoyed writing about lovely smells :)  Thanks everyone for reading. I'm planning posts on aromatherapy and putting good smells into your house using home made cleaning products.  Coming soon :)