A nice smell is the sign of a clean house. Read on how to determine where the bad odours are coming from, what to use to remove them, and how to prevent them from showing up again.

It is easy to eliminate bad odours if you know what is causing them and where they are coming from. It is trickier if you don’t. Leak in your refrigerator may cause metallic smell of Freon. Overfilled basket of dirty laundry in the bathroom, blocked pipes outside your open windows, kids sneaking in food in their bedrooms or dead mouse stuck between your floor boards can all be blamed for unpleasant smells.

Most deodorizers although popular only cover the smells, but do not eliminate them. Choosing the right type of cleaner with a touch of smell makes a big difference though, so do not discard these.

Lemon based cleaners eliminate bad smell and clean the kitchen. Grapefruit or orange cleaners tend to work best to break down the bacteria causing smells around the toilet. Use floral cleaner for the cigarette odor in the car or light an oriental candle to cover smells caused by pet stains.

Leave an open box of baking soda in your kitchen shelves-this will absorb bad smell and prevent it from spreading. If spray air freshener is not effective, try neutralizing odours by mixing it with one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and one teaspoon of lemon juice in two cups of hot water and use this as a spray.

As usual, the best way to eliminate odours is to prevent them in the first place. Change your kitchen cloths regularly, don’t overfill your bins or laundry baskets, deal with mildew in your bathrooms as soon as it appears and try to ventilate your house as much as you can, even during winter months.