How do you keep your house smelling nice?

[Stinkerbell's Daddy]

I also have to confess to a Yankee Candle adiction. I find the light scent of Clean Cotton refreshing, especially during the Spring and Summer. Yankee Candle also makes plug in air fresheners if burning a candle isn't an option.

 

[RadioNate]

Our house is for sale so I want it to smell good all the time.
I use the plug in fresheners....almost every room has one.
It smells great in there, no cat littler odor (or anything else nasty smelling).
Just replace every 6-8 weeks and all is good.

be careful not to over do it. When house shopping we went into a house that had air fresheners everywhere. I took it to mean they were hiding some smell, like cat urine in the carpet and as a buyer that was a huge turn off. I'm sure it was a fine house but all the air fresheners totally turned me off and we didn't give it a full look.

 

[Colleen27]

I'm not a fan of the chemical air fresheners, they tend to give me a headache. I keep our windows open, burn lavender candles, and keep cut flowers around the house when they're in season. That's generally enough to do the trick. We don't have a litter box, but we have a cloth diapered baby and two big dogs and the house still smells nice.

 

[Meriweather]

be careful not to over do it. When house shopping we went into a house that had air fresheners everywhere. I took it to mean they were hiding some smell, like cat urine in the carpet and as a buyer that was a huge turn off. I'm sure it was a fine house but all the air fresheners totally turned me off and we didn't give it a full look.

Nope...not overpowering. DH has allergies, so he can't tolerate anything too strong and I don't like strong floral smells at all.
I use Yankee Candle plug-ins....mostly Vanilla Lime, Cherry Lemonade and sometimes a couple of others.

 

[All American]

All-American,
Those wax burning things look like a great idea. What is the brand of the one you found at Walmart? Is it in the candle section or the air freshener section?

Thanks!

I don't know the name of the burner, but the wax is labled "ScentSationals" and it comes in a package of 6 cubes. At the WalMarts by my house, I have found them on endcaps by the aisles (or in the aisle) where the candles and picture frames are located. The burners are usually right next to them (at Christmas there was a cute Santa one I wish I would have purchased, but I digress...)

If you can't find them there, I did find a few links online for the other ones I have.
This one--I have the one on the top row in the middle, but I don't use that many wax cubes in it, maybe 2 or 3
http://www.scentsationalcandlesandgifts.com/Electric-Burners-1405.Category.html

I really like these wax melt things, especially the lemon one. It makes my house smell clean even when it isn't. They also have different burners.
http://www.ashmancandles.com/index.php

I have never ordered from this site, but they have the night light plug-ins which use in my daughter's bathroom which doubles as the guest bathroom as well.
http://www.tartburners.com/elpotbur.html#top

While I was trying to find the name of the maker of the burner I bought at WalMart (sorry again), I did find an ebay auction where someone claimed their electric tart warmer/burner came from Yankee Candle. I looked on the sight, but couldn't find anything that said "electric" specifically, but it's worth looking out for.

I hope this helps, and one thing. When I can't smell the fragrance anymore, I have found the easiest thing to do is let the wax warm up for a few minutes. Then, it just peels right out.

 

[dakcp2001]

I am another Yankee candle user! LOVE them especially in the fall!

We also use the Body Shop Oil burner with the Satsuma scented oil, it smells fresh and makes the whole house smell nice in a hurry! We have tried the other oils but the Satsuma is by far the best it smells like oranges. The Exotic is nice too.

http://www.thebodyshop-usa.com/index.jsp?cm_re=Tyra_TeaTree-_-Navigation-_-logo

go to for the home, and oil burners

 

[SpecialK]

We have a cat and don't have an odor problem rom the litter. (I have a sensitive nose and a brutally honest sister.) You might try a different brand of litter. Even though we only have one cat, I use a multi-cat formula because it has stronger odor fighters.

A million years ago when I was changing diapers, I kept a box of ziplocs by the changing table for the dirty diapers if I couldn't take them outside right away.

I can't use plug-ins because they give me headaches, but I will occasionally simmer a pot of water with lemon or orange slices, bayleaf, cloves, cinnamon.

 

[3jsmommy]

I don't have cats, but I do have three kids & a dog. I'm really sensitive to chemically smells I get a headache & feel nauseated from strong air fresheners.
I am in love with "The Body Shop" scented home oils!
I bought a little burner there years ago there & I use it all the time.
The scents are really clean & natural smelling. My favorites are Satsuma, (a really nice mandarin scent) lemon flower & the cotton one.
I almost always use Satsuma though, I always have people tell me that my house smells so clean when I burn it...sshhh don't tell them my secret!

 

[KandD]

A few months ago I started buying plug ins from Bath and Body Works outlet. I get them for about 3 bucks and I really like the smell. I have tried Glade and some other kind before that I really didn't care for.

 

[ChrizJen]

The Bath and Body ones are the ones we used on a regular basis before. We'll probably go back to those. I think we actually have a few of the "wallflowers" in a box in the basement, so all we'll need are the refills...assuming they're still the same as they used to be.

To the posters who suggested keeping the windows open, I wish we could! There's no way we could keep the windows open in the summer! We do when the temperature gets down low enough. But summers here are generally 4-4 1/2 months of 95+ degrees and 90% humidity! We're supposed to get down into the 80's with more reasonable humidity this weekend, so we'll probably open them.

And I guess I should mention that my house doesn't "stink". I honestly don't think we have an odor problem. It's not like it's unbeearable and no one ever wants to come in. We just notice an odor once in a while and I was interested in having something that would remedy that when it happens.
I really don't want to give the impression that we have a dirty house that stinks all the time! LOL

Thank you all for your suggetions!