Clean This Overlooked Spot In Your Home To Banish Lingering Odors For Good

No one wants to have odors lingering in the air in their home. This is off-putting to guests who stop by to visit. Strong household funks can also leave your furniture smelling bad. When unpleasant scents settle in here, they can be difficult to remove. Foul odor can even make its way onto your clothes, causing you to carry then stench outside with you when you leave your home. You probably stay on top of routine cleaning in an attempt to avoid these problems, however, there is one potentially smelly spot you might be skipping over. Walls are actually a common source of household stink.

Believe it or not, routinely cleaning your interior walls can make a huge difference in whether your house smells fresh or foul, because paint is known to absorb smells over time. This means that walls are more likely to emit smells in rooms that frequently contain unpleasant or strong scents, like kitchens or bathrooms. You may want to pay special attention to these spaces when cleaning your walls. Still, every wall in your home would benefit from routine cleaning, as this will help your living space smell fresh consistently.

Cleaning your walls to keep your home smelling fresh is simple. There are a few different methods you can use to get the job done. However, the first step is always to spot clean any stains or stuck-on grime with a bit of dish soap and warm water. Next, if your walls are not noticeably stinky, you can simply wash the entire surface with a solution made of dish soap and warm water. Keep in mind that you only need a few drops of soap, because adding too much can leave a film on your walls. Mix this solution together in a mop bucket and dip then wring out your mop. Starting at the top of each wall, gently work your way down with your mop. After you're done, you may open up windows and turn on fans so that your walls dry quickly.

Alternatively, you may need to use a vinegar and water solution if your walls noticeably reek or if you haven't washed them in a while. To create this mixture, pour 1 cup of white vinegar into a bucket of warm water. Use the aforementioned mopping method to clean your walls from the top down. After you have finished, use a cloth or clean mop dipped in plain water to wipe the vinegar solution off of your walls. Again, you may open windows and turn on fans to dry your walls.

The problem with many household aromas is that they can be difficult to detect because you may have become used to them over time. This is often the case for smelly walls that contribute to a malodorous environment, so if you are unsure whether icky fragrances are lingering in your home, you may want to have an honest friend or family member let you know whether they are able to pick up a scent. The ability to detect odors also varies from person to person, so this can prevent you from being able to identify wall smells too.

Dr. Ruth Fisher, a lecturer at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Kensington, Australia, spoke to the UNSW Newsroom about this phenomenon. Dr. Fisher explained, "But one of the really intriguing things that relates to [odor] perception is the great variation in how different people detect and perceive [odors]; for example, a sommelier or perfumer would be very good at isolating different characters in [odors], while other people might be highly sensitive to odors or not at all." Since you cannot necessarily rely on your nose to let you know whether your walls are smelly, it is best to just keep up with cleaning them periodically to maintain a fresh smelling home.