If you have pets, how do you keep the house smelling fresh?

[BusynMember]

I open the windows when I can, change the litter often, burn candles...it just doesn't seem like enough. Oh, yeah, air freshener too. Any advice? Maybe I'm overly sensitive, but I still think the house smells of cat and dog...thanks.

 

[AnnieO]

Hmmmm... We have 3 cats and a dog... And the sofa smells of dog (he's not "allowed" on it, but he's a sneaky little bugger). Mostly, we don't sweat it TOO much. I happen to like potpourri and scented candles/oils, so they're scattered all over the place. I think the best one is the Glade plug-ins odor eliminator - not much scent, but works pretty well!

Uh... Also, I just quit smoking.. So my sense of smell may be off. But no one else has ever seemed to notice.

 

[DDD]

The only thing that has really helped has been replacing the carpet with laminate flooring.Unfortunately our bedrooms still have carpet and I swear our bedroom is "thick" with dog smell since Ace sleeps in there. I can't do scented candles etc. so I'm hoping to get rid of the carpet by summer. DDD

 

[Mom2oddson]

When you can find it...frebreeze has a pet odor elliminator candle. It works pretty well. Be careful of using too much frebreeze spray or lysol spray.... caused a bad asthma attack in my Mom's dog, vet said it was common.

Other than candles and open windows, I vacuum every other day. When I don't vacuum is when I notice the odor increasing.

 

[tiredmommy]

I use Febreeze on the upholstery and curtains and sprinkle baking soda on the carpets before vacuuming.

 

[Hound dog]

Before school I shampooed carpets and the upholstered furniture once a year. Helped with both the cigarette smell and the pet smell. I can't think of the brand but I use the carpet smell good stuff (you sprinkle it on and vacume it up) for pets with baking soda in it once a day. (can you tell my head hurts and I'm not thinking well? lol) I change the litter box often and keep it scooped out reg. My dogs get reg baths during the warm months, about every 3 wks. And I wash pet bedding once a week.

My Mom is uber sensitive to indoor pet smells. She's always amazed mine never smells that way since I have a cat and 2 dogs inside. Of course this is before school. I just don't have time to keep up with it right now......and you can tell. ugh

 

[Fran]

I spray the rugs that the dogs sit on with febreeze carpet stuff then I vacuum. I also spray febreeze in the air.
The floors get washed with fabuloso. The dogs get bathed almost monthly to 6 wks. The windows get opened when
the weather is nice.
There are odor neutralizers that are in a plastic jar. You take the cover off and it just absorbs the smell. I keep one
in the mini van. I think you buy them in Home Depot. I keep one in the garage and kitchen too. It doesn't perfume the
room. It just seems to absorb it.

 

[flutterby]

Baking soda in the litterboxes - fresh and after each scooping. It's pretty rare that I smell the dog, but I know some are worse than others. I'm very sensitive to smells and can't tolerate febreeze, so I would do baking soda on the carpet for about an hour before vacuuming. If the furniture gets too much of a dog smell, I will use Febreeze - sparingly and I have to stay out of the room for a few hours. I also burn quality scented candles - Root candles. They last longer and smell better without being overwhelming.

Don't get the baking soda in the pet aisle that is made for litterboxes. It's not as effective and just costs more. Regular baking soda works much better. Plus the one made for litterboxes has a scent to it that gives me a headache.

 

[donna723]

I don't have inside cats but I do have four dogs inside. If there's a 'dog' smell, I'm used to it and don't notice, but nobody's ever mentioned it if there is. Out of the four dogs, there is only one that sheds much. How I wish I had wood floors instead of all this carpet! I vacuum a lot (but probably not as often as I need to) and I shampoo the carpets at least once a month. They now make a Mr. Clean that has Febreeze in it and I've been using that instead of regular carpet shampoo - it's a lot cheaper and leaves a nice not-too-strong scent.

 

[AnnieO]

The Arm & Hammer baking soda pet stuff you sprinkle before vacuuming makes me ill, but regular baking soda does work. Forgot about it!

 

[flutterby]

Yeah, Step, I just use regular baking soda, too. Works better and costs less - and I don't like the scent of the "made for X" baking soda products. I want to get rid of odors, not add more.

 

[witzend]

Bubba and Oscar aren't bad, but Mandy is a little stinker. I wash pet beds and other fabrics that they come into contact with. Vacuuming helps a lot. Be sure that your vacuum bag is clean and well sealed, otherwise you're just blowing their dandruff and fur and stink back into the air. Odors is a big reason that we don't have cats. Is it possible that kitty might be missing the litter box? Or purposely spraying?

I also have a perfume that I like to spritz on lightbulbs when it gets too much. Of course, springtime is nice to open up the windows and clear it out.

 

[gcvmom]

We got rid of the carpet and got laminate flooring, too. But the biggest thing that helped with the cat smell was moving the litter box to the garage (ours is attached) and installing a small cat door in the door to the garage. Wish we'd done that years ago!

 

[SRL]

The biggest help here was changing to the Arm and Hammer Litter--the pricier stuff in the yellow box. For my stinky male cat it works better than regular litter and baking soda. Scooping and once a week change the works.

 

[LittleDudesMom]

I wash Spot's bed regularly, use the arm and hammer carpet dust when I vacuum, which is every other day, and use Fabreeze. Keeping his bedding clean really seems to help.

 

[katya02]

I clean all boxes daily including washing/bleaching any box with nasty bits, and bleach all boxes once a week; vacuum daily; wash down the stud room (I have a cattery so I have a stud room - really ) daily; wash food dishes, even for dry food - they get a slimy coating that probably adds to smell. We have mostly hard floors so that helps. Any carpets we have cleaned twice a year and I'm going to get one of those small carpet cleaner machines for in-between. My husband has a super-sensitive nose and zero tolerance for smells so he lets me know if odors are building up.

 

[GoingNorth]

Katya. I'm glad to hear that your stud has a proper room and not just a walk in cage or kitty condo. (breeding male cats have to be kept seperately from females for obvious reasons, plus they spray stinky, musky urine all over the place) The room means you can go in and spend time with him a few times a day. I used to round up and confine the girls and let my tom out in the house. Put up with the spraying to keep him happy and well socialized.

One of the real downsides to running a cattery is that doing it right takes a LOT of work. We used to joke about buying stock in bleach and cat litter

 

[AnnieO]

But the biggest thing that helped with the cat smell was moving the litter box to the garage (ours is attached) and installing a small cat door in the door to the garage. Wish we'd done that years ago!

We did this a few months back (last summer) and it is WONDERFUL! OK, so the smoking room stinks a bit - but gee, we smoke out there. Well... husband does, now. But - the kids each have 2 days a week they scoop, and husband and I have the other 3 (I have done this job one time in the past month... Love it!... husband stepped up there too). So it gets scooped EVERY DAY now.

 

[Star*]

My Mom just got me this AWESOME AWESOME book - and while I have a cat....she does her potty OUTSIDE. (we have a deal) BUT the book says to neutralize the smell of cat urine? Clean out the litter box with vinegar.

Dump litter
Rinse
Fill litter pan with distilled vinegar and let it set (slosh or swish around) about 10 minutes should neutralize the urine smell
Then dump out the vinegar, and rinse THOROUGHLY - (because vinegar will ALSO keep feral cats from spraying on your flowers and porches)
Then dry thoroughly and sprinkle bottom with baking soda
Replace litter

The vinegar takes away the urine smell. One acid neutralizing another. Bleach is not an acid -

Also you can go to www.heinz.com and get a coupon for .50 off a bottle of vinegar - try walmart and get a good deal on vinegar now!

As far as the dog?
Dryer sheets (even the cheap ones) you can tuck them in the corners of the couch to freshen your furniture when new and when they loose their smell? Use them to wipe up dog hair. Then toss.

You can keep baby wipes by the back door and when the little guys come in - use them to wipe up paws or wipe down wet or dirty fur, then toss. It's like an instant bath. DO NOT USE GERMICIDAL WIPES - THEY ARE NOT FOR SKIN and CAN HARM DOGS/CATS THROUGH LICKING....

For cats? Baby powder is great - our cat actually likes it. We sprinkle a little on her and brush it in - keeps her fur fresh and talc is not poisonous.

If you want a QUICK way to freshen up your house? Put some essential oil on cotton balls ----essential oils can be gotten at the dollar stores pretty cheap or flea markets.

Oh and one thing in there I tried and it worked like a charm......I LOVE popcorn (completely non-pet related) but I burned it. YUK.....
This book said to put CIDER vinegar in a bowl and microwave it for 2 minutes to get rid of the smell completely.

IT WORKED FANTASTIC.......ABSOLUTELY NO SMELL AT ALL....I was amazed. I made my next batch of popcorn and it was great.....

I took the bowl of vinegar and poured some baking soda in the garbage disposal and then poured the hot vinegar on top of it to give the disposal a nice cleaning - ran some water and it was nice and clean. WIN /WIN.

And if you can afford it........they do make doggie cologne - 4 Paws....Pootie HATES it.....smells like (can't say what she says....but it rhymes with mutt)

 

[BusynMember]

I am so sorry I took so long to thank all of you. I had a lot going on with my daughter...an IEP and an ADD test...ack. Anyway, I got SO MANY great responses! I'm going to get baking soda (I've been buying the more expensive stuff), vinegar (loved the idea) and vacuum every day if I can (I'm not supposed to right now because my arthritis is flaring up, but if I'm careful...)...I already clean the bedding often.

I wish we had an attached garage, but we don't and the cats stay indoors. However, since I'm at home a lot because I write, and I have one cat who will pee outside the box if the litter isn't clean, I am always changing the litter. I think the dogs are making a bigger smell than the cats, in this case. I also liked the idea of spraying some perfume around. I can do that in a mild way. I also keep the windows wide open on nice days. In the winter, I am going to start burning a few candles.

Any other tips, keep 'em coming. And thanks for everything.