Having an unpleasant odour in your house is a huge bothersome, especially if you don’t know its source. When it comes to pets, their smell can be on virtually anything, including your carpets, curtains, and upholstery.
If you don’t know how to get rid of unpleasant pet odours from your home, here are some tips that’ll indeed work.
Vacuum and Steam-Clean Your Carpets
Most of the time, your carpets will be the real culprit when it comes to unpleasant odours. You can never know how much dander or hair is stuck inside, and over time, this debris can cause the carpet to become too smelly for your liking.
To solve this, first vacuum all your carpets thoroughly to remove all the dry debris. After that, steam-clean the carpets to get rid of all the bad smells.
Steam carpet cleaning is brilliant because it gets your carpet exactly like a new one. Plus, it leaves a fresh smell instead of the old, musty one.
If you don’t have a steam cleaner, you can always get professional cleaning services instead.
It’s worth noting that your pet shouldn’t be there when you steam-clean the carpets. It’s better to keep them in the garage or outside temporarily—at least until the carpet dries.
Sweep All Your Floors
Pets leave all kinds of loose debris on the floors, including dirt, hair, and dander. So, the first thing you should do before cleaning your floors is sweeping them.
Bear in mind that pet hair and dander are too light to see, so you need to be cautious when sweeping. Otherwise, you’ll just push them into the air, and they’ll keep spreading to other rooms.
When sweeping, do it gently and without sudden moves. Then, throw all the debris in the trash. If you want to take an extra step to ensure the dust doesn’t escape, you can cover the debris with a paper towel in the trash can.
Mop All Your Floors
After you sweep the floors, it’s time to mop them to remove any hairs or dander you missed the first time. You don’t need to go all out with the mopping. You can use a pet-safe cleaner only once to give the floors a fresh smell.
Wash the Pet’s Bed
Out of all the things that may smell of pets in your house, the bed is most likely the worst. In the end, your pet spends a large chunk of his time on it, coating it in saliva, dander, hair, and all kinds of disgusting debris.
If the bed is machine washable, your mission will be a breeze. All you have to do is take its cover off and throw it into the washing machine. If it needs to be washed manually, do it but make sure to use pet-safe detergents.
If the core material of your pet bed—which is often foam—has an odour, too, you have no choice but to wash it or remove it. Some materials aren’t machine-washable, and foam will take forever to dry. So, if the bed is old and you want to save yourself the hassle, you can just buy a new one.
Wash Your Linens
Because fabrics are more susceptible for unpleasant odours, you should wash all your linens if there’s a bad smell around. Remove your couch cushions, pillows, and bed linens, and throw all of them into the washing machine.
You can wash pretty much anything in your house that’s machine washable.
After you’re done washing the linens, make sure to wait until they’re completely dry before returning them. You can also use a freshener to get a pleasant scent.
If your odour problem is severe, you can wash some of your clothes too. Sometimes, even your wardrobe will smell of pets, so you might want to take a turn at it too.
Air out Your Home
Airing your home is the most apparent trick you do to get rid of smells. Granted, it’ll only get rid of mild, temporary smells, but it’s still good to get fresh air inside. Plus, even if the smell persists, airing the house out will reduce it a bit.
To properly air out your house, you’ll need to open all of the windows and doors in your house. Then, turn on all the fans, including ceiling fans. Of course, ACs are out of the question. Keep them turned off until you’re done.
Change the Air Filters
After airing your house out, you might as well replace all the air filters, or at least make sure they aren’t clogged. They’re not the reason for your pet odour problem, but if they’re clogged, they’ll affect your cooling and heating systems. Consequently, the air won’t flow inside your house as it should.
You can change the air filters yourself; it’s a pretty easy process. All you have to do is take the old one out and take it to your hardware store to buy a replacement.
When you take the old filters out, make sure to be careful because the dust inside may get on the floor. You should throw them in the trash immediately.
Install an Air Purifier
Air purifiers can keep your house smelling fresh because they filter all dust from the air. Not only that, but they also kill any bacteria around, accounting for a cleaner atmosphere around your house.
An air purifier won’t necessarily prevent your pet from causing odours, but at least it’ll keep the air inside your house clean. Not to mention, it can help asthmatic family members significantly by cleaning the air.
To Wrap Up
Unpleasant odours are a part of having a pet. You can’t prevent them, but you can control them and clean around to get rid of them. Steam-cleaning your carpets can make a world of difference. And, make sure to clean your linens regularly and air out the house.
Hopefully, after following these tips, you’ll get rid of the persisting pet odour in your house.
