Smell in house: natural remedy apart from vinegar?

rosie383

Another question if you don't mind:D.

Our house smells. Not badly, but you notice it when you come in or enter a room where the door has been closed for a few hours.

There doesn't seem to be a damp problem as such, but I am frustrated that it takes at least two days to get a load of washing to dry indoors. (I have just ordered a rotary dryer for outside so that will help a bit hopefully.)

The silicone sealant around virtually all of the windows has mildew spots and I am gradually working my way around the whole house as I have time, cleaning with bleach spray or mildew remover spray.

It is better than it was, but I would love to do something more. Apart from a budgie in a regularly cleaned cage that is at the back of the house, there are no other pets and the people we bought from didn't have pets.

Rather than using chemicals to mask the smell, would it be worth buying a load of bicarb and putting a bowl in every room? And if so, where can I buy it cheaply please?

P.S. I said apart from vinegar as DD1 positively hates the smell of it. I use it when I need to, but will avoid it if I can when she is at home.

marleyboy

It needs plenty of ventilation, open windows and doors to allow a through draft every now and then.

Anglea

I've been trying to identify the source of a strange damp smell in my house for months. In the past it meant a leak but I know there isn't one now. Every now and again I put bicarb and vinegar down the sink holes as they can often smell, especially outside drains when it's been raining a lot.

You can get large boxes of bicarb especially for household use (as opposed to the ones for consumption) from the 99p shop - and I expect from shops similar to them.

Or you can buy those special dehumidifiers full of crystals to remove moisture.

Linda32

Try a Nutradol Gel We used one of these when we dropped a bottle of milk in a holiday flat!!

You can buy them from Tesco, Sainsburys etc.

rosie383

I am ventilating when possible, for example when everyone else goes out in the morning I get the windows open and let the air in while I clean. It's a bit more difficult when others are here though as they all hate the cold. They think I'm the mad one for asking them to put on a woolly jumper and extra socks.
Neutradol gel might be an idea. I'd forgotten about those.

As for bicarb I didn't realise you could get it in the pound shop. I might even grab a pack of those crystal dehumidifier things too. Be interesting to see how they go. I think the house does feel dampish.

Butterfly_Brain

Drying washing indoors causes damp and mildew especially if you have the whole house shut up. Do you have air vents in the walls?, if you have a chimney have you had it inspected and swept?

We had dreadful trouble with damp when we moved into our house even more so after the insulation was put in the loft, so DH went up and moved it all from around the eaves and put vents into the soffit, he also insulated the walls with cellex in the coldest room which is DS's bedroom, his walls were always cold to the touch. We also had to replace the ceiling because the damp had got into the plasterboard and no amount of cleaning would stop it from returning.
Have you checked the gutters for leaks? That can cause damp to get into the brickwork and it seeps through the plaster.
If I have to dry washing indoors I put it on airers in the bathroom with the windows open, the shower vent switched on and the door shut. I also have a dehumidifier.
You need to find the source of the smell in order to get rid of it once and for all, masking it will just make things worse

JIL

My son, whilst at university lived with a lad who insisted on an airing hour every weekend. This consisted of all windows and doors being opened to the full and no matter what the weather they remained that way for an hour.
He would sit on the bottom stair to ensure no unexpected guests let themselves in.
Seemed to work because their house with four young males living there, although messy was never smelly.

GreyQueen

I feel your pain, rosie, as I'm cursed with an acute sense of smell and mystery pongs drive me potty.

Other people's odours can be pretty unpleasant, and you've moved quite recently, haven't you? Odours can seep into textiles like carpets, curtains, blinds and into wallpapers, so if you have any of those pre-dating your occupancy, I'd be suspicious that this is where the problem might be coming from.

I won't repeat the very excellent suggestions up-thread, as they've covered all I could contribute to this, and more.

whiteguineapig

i stopped drying the washing in the house at all
i now wash it and then take it down to the launderette to dry it, it costs about £1.60 for 2 loads, i also bought a dehumidifier and run that regularly

[Deleted User]

Have you tried washing soda and boiling water down each plughole? Also scrubbing the inside of the plughole with a long thin brush, they get very gunky. It is easy to dismantle the screw type white undersink pipework, that also gets gunky. Washbasins, sinks, showers, bath. Also de-gunking the toilet cistern walls with a gloved hand and a scrubbing sponge. Smelly algae clings to lots of surfaces, including to the actual flushing gubbins

Is it odour of smoke, body fluids, bad eggs, faeces, dog, dog mange, cat scenting spray maybe up the walls and doors. Do you detect any specific scent?

rosie383

There isn't any specific smell, and not really anything unpleasant if you get me.
The plug holes don't seem to smell and there aren't obvious signs of damp. I think I am going to have to be more rigorous about ventilation tbh. In our last house I was more aware and did open the windows religiously every day. We were told by the neighbours after we moved in that our house had been burgled a few times so I have been more wary of opening windows here.
From tomorrow that is going to change. I will just change around my routine a bit and do it!

GQ I think you could have it the nail on the head. We suspect the hall stairs and landing carpet which has been down since before the previous owners moved in fourteen years ago!!! Put it this way, even though I have scrubbed the kitchen floor on my hands and knees and hoovered the carpets to death, if any food gets dropped on the floor it goes straight into the bin. I just can't wait until we get rid of the blasted thing so I can feel clean in my own home!!!