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Cleaning Up:  Keeping your home smelling fresh...  |
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catscharm74
True Blue Farmgirl
4687 Posts
Heather
Texas
USA
4687 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 14 2008 : 6:55:38 PM
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besides daily cleaning and opening the windows when it is not scorching here, how can I keep the house smelling fresh naturally? I do not like those plug ins or aeresol sprays. Lighting candles scare me with a 2 year old. My house just doesn't smell fresh. Any ideas...
Heather
Yee-Haw, I am a cowgirl!!!
FARMGIRL #90 |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2008 : 7:21:25 PM
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Put baking soda down on the carpet before you go to bed and vacuum in the morning (or leave down for 2 hours) it's non toxic so it won't hurt Charlie or Chloe. Also, vinegar is a natural deodorant- possibly because it kills germs and denatures proteins. Anyway, when you wash your floors, use a good bit of vinegar in the wash water and you can even spritz your furniture with vinegar. It'll smell vinegary for a while but then as it dries it replaces the smell with a naturally sweet smell.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
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catscharm74
True Blue Farmgirl
4687 Posts
Heather
Texas
USA
4687 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2008 : 7:35:30 PM
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I do use vinegar on everything. My gripe is the dog...it just stinks and I hate it. I put some baking soda with a few drop of lavendar throughout the house and it helps a little but that darn dog... I can't take it anymore!! She has ruined our couch, no matter how often I clean it or cover it. Even my if I clean my vacuum and it still stinks like dog. I hate to walk into the house because I smell it. I have tried every different santizer/spray out there.
Heather
Yee-Haw, I am a cowgirl!!!
FARMGIRL #90 |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2008 : 9:08:17 PM
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Heather- put some fragrance or essential oil on the air filter of your vacuum. As the air blows through, it will take on essential oil smell. Refresh as needed.
Also consider having Chloe groomed once a month with a de-greasing shampoo. That should help a lot.
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.awarmheart.com
Please come visit Nora and me on our new blog:
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com |
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Tina Michelle
True Blue Farmgirl
6948 Posts
Tina
sunshine state
FL
USA
6948 Posts |
Posted - Jul 15 2008 : 12:46:44 AM
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as for the couch..if you can eventually afford one..a leather sofa would be a good thing to get if you plan to keep the dog..the leather is easily wipeable and easy to clean.
not much you can do once the urine absorbs into couch cushions though, and that's what sounds like has happened on your couch...so no matter how often you wash the covers that's not likely where the problem exists, but it probably has penetrated deeper.
So as far as the couch goes..it probably will need replacing eventually to solve that problem.
In the meantime I do agree with Alee about the natural carpet cleaner/baking soda if you have carpets..but I think what I'd do is mix some essential oil in with the baking soda and sprinkle that into the carpets at night..and I'd actually sweep it over the carpets with a broom..and then vacuum up..because that way it will actually spread the smell down into the carpet fibers a little better than to just sprinkle it on top and then vacuum it up..you actually want the smell to last a bit longer..and to do that I think you'd actually have to not just sprinkle it onto the surface of the carpet..but sort of brush it down into the fibers a little and then do a light quick vacuuming.
And yes the a/c filter thing is another good idea.
One thing that helps to get nasty smells out..but I don't know if you can do this or not..is to get a can or two of lysol and leave your house for a day..take the dog to a kennel for the day..and then set the can of lysol near the a/c filter..where the duct work is... or up in the attic where it will pull the lysol through the a/c duct work and through the house... so that it can flow through the duct work to kill all the stink..tape the lysol sprayer down and hurry out of the house. When you come back home the lysol will have dissipated enough, but..it will have also killed alot of germy smells and stale smells throughout the house.
I know it is a "chemical" but it does help to get the stink out and germs and "sicky" smells out of a house.
Barring that..I'd suggest even though it is a little warm..opening the windows for a day
.. or setting a fan in a window facing outwards..yep..face the fan to the outside so that it blows out of the house..make sure all other windows in the house are closed except for one at the direct opposite end of the house..then set up a few oscillating fans in a few of the other rooms if you have them.
What will happen is..the fan will draw the air through the house like an attic fan nearly.
We used to do this all the time when I was growing up..it actually helped to keep the house cool in the summer time when we did not have a/c.
Another thing you can do is after you cook supper in the evenings..put a little saucepan of water on your back burner of your stove..put some spices like clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon sticks in it and let it simmer.
It will at least scent part of your house.
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good luck!
~Seize the Day! Live, Love, Laugh~
visit me at:
http://gardengoose.blogspot.com/
and at www.stliving.net
you can also check out my etsy shops at:http://GardenGooseGifts.etsy.com |
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catscharm74
True Blue Farmgirl
4687 Posts
Heather
Texas
USA
4687 Posts |
Posted - Jul 15 2008 : 04:46:32 AM
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Thanks for the ideas. I am thinking of getting a leather couch, so that is good to know. I give Chloe a bath twice a month. I have also switched her dog food because I noticed the brand I was using makes her stink for some reason. I will try all you have suggested. I just hate that stale air/dog smell. IT is so hot here by 8 in the morning, I really can't open the windows a lot. I try when the temp is below 85 when I wake up.
Heather
Yee-Haw, I am a cowgirl!!!
FARMGIRL #90 |
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Brew Crew
True Blue Farmgirl
676 Posts
Molly
Arizona
676 Posts |
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Suzan
True Blue Farmgirl
659 Posts
suzanne
duncannon
pa
USA
659 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2008 : 1:52:20 PM
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Best thing ever:
8oz peroxide
1tsp baking soda
squirt of liquid hand wash
works on all kinds of pet odors - I was ready to ditch the sofa when I came across this and it saved it! My friend uses it for skunk smell on the dogs too. |
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Suzan
True Blue Farmgirl
659 Posts
suzanne
duncannon
pa
USA
659 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2008 : 1:53:22 PM
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| Oh, should have said, make it up as you use it, don't store it due to chemical reactions. |
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Suzan
True Blue Farmgirl
659 Posts
suzanne
duncannon
pa
USA
659 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2008 : 2:00:51 PM
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| Wow, three posts to get this out - I must be texting my kids too much...I should say that my cat had sprayed my sofa a couple times and since we don't use that room only at Christmas it wasn't caught right away. I made up this stuff and soaked my sofa (especially soaked the cushions) with it with a scrub brush and let it all sit. It took a couple days but it did dry and was as good as new. The peroxide did not fade my fabric either. I was at the point that it didn't matter if it did as this was my last resort, I was looking for a trip to the dump with it anyway. |
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KYgurlsrbest
True Blue Farmgirl
4853 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4853 Posts |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 6:49:54 PM
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Heather, with the 4 dogs (2 of whom like to roll in deer poo every chance they get), I've found a great product called Fresh Wave that's an odor neutralizer and all natural. It's not a candle, but it's this jar of well, gel or some sort, and you just leave it open wherever you have the issues (I have 2) and it lasts for a good month or more and I simply replace it. There's a light fragrance, but moreso, there's no DOG fragrance 
I also have their vacuum pearls, that you put in a vacuum bag, and it eliminates the dog smell that the vacuum gets when picking up hair.
Farmgirl Sister #80, thanks to a very special farmgirl from the Bluegrass..."She was built like a watch, a study in balance ... with a neck and head so refined, like a drawing by DaVinci"...
NY Newsday sportswriter Bill Nack describing filly, Ruffian.
http://www.buyhandmade.org/ |
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Cleaning Up: Keeping your home smelling fresh... |
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Keeping your home smelling fresh...
