Your home should be a sanctuary where you can unwind after a long day. Even with the most comfortable furniture and soothing décor, however, a smelly scent in a room can easily ruin your relaxation. Finding the source of an unpleasant fragrance isn’t always an easy task. For your convenience, here are the most common causes of bad smells in the house.
Food
Food quickly degrades when you leave it out, especially food scraps that have fallen into tiny nooks and crannies. Look behind your trash can, in the back of cabinets, or in your refrigerator for spoiled leftovers. Food can also attract critters into the home if you’ve accidentally left it out to rot, causing even more unpleasant smells.
The Bathroom
It’s pretty apparent when an awful smell is originating from the bathroom, but unless the scent is unusually persistent, there isn’t much you can do to mask the stench. Air fresheners and essential oil diffusers work great for clearing out unsavory smells.
Pets
Our furry friends are valid family members, but that doesn’t mean we like to put up with their various smells and messes. All animals, including dogs, birds, cats, and reptiles, may cause many unpleasant scents. If there’s a persistent odor throughout the house, inspect the areas your pet frequents the most.
The Sewer
Our homes are connected to sewer systems that typically keep awful smells out of the house. However, if there’s an issue with the system, the scents from the sewer may get thrown back into the home. Unused toilets are often the sources of sewer odors, since the water in the drain evaporates and leaves the bathroom vulnerable. Sinks can also produce this rotten-egg smell. Make sure you regularly run water through your pipes to ensure pleasant fragrances throughout the home.
Mold
We’ve all been in a basement that smells a bit musty, and even with air fresheners, that lingering scent can be unrelenting. Most basements suffer from hints of must, but an overly pungent smell may mean you have a mold problem. Mold is also pervasive in kitchens, bathrooms, and garages, but it can appear in any room of the house. If you find instances of mold, get it removed as soon as possible to avoid structural damage and health hazards.
Most common causes of bad smells in the house are minor issues that you can quickly resolve with some cleaning and air-freshening. However, some odors may mean there’s a severe problem, so don’t hesitate to remedy these scents when you discover them.
