Improve the indoor climate: Simple home remedies for a great scent

If you could only do one thing to improve indoor air, it would be this: ventilate. Dust particles, aerosols and even pollutants collect in the air we breathe! Proper ventilation leads to an exchange of air - bad indoor air goes out and fresh outside air comes in.

How often and for how long you should ventilate depends on many factors, such as the time of year, the insulation and your own habits. However, experts agree that ventilation should be carried out several times a day.

Aroma diffusers have a great effect on the scent in the house. They distribute a fine mist throughout the room and increase the humidity, which ensures a better indoor climate, especially in winter.

If you add a few drops of essential oil, the mist will also spread a pleasant scent into the house. Most aroma diffusers can be programmed to distribute a fine mist over several hours. This guarantees a fragrant scent for several hours.

Houseplants can work wonders when it comes to.... Even NASA looked into this when they wanted to figure out how to clean the air in space stations. The result was the “NASA Clean Air Study„.

In this study, researchers found that many common houseplants can even filter formaldehyde, benzene, trichloroethene, xylenes, toluene and ammonia from the air. These substances are classified as harmful to health and sometimes even carcinogenic.

If you still want your home to smell like a summer breeze, you can still place some scented candles in the house. Simply use scented candles made from vegetable stearin, soy or beeswax. These are considered harmless.

Potpourri is also very good for a fragrant home. With homemade potpourri, you can even be sure that it is harmless. Use dried orange or lemon slices, cinnamon sticks, star anise, dried flowers (but not pressed!) and much more. Simply shake the potpourri occasionally to reactivate the scent distribution.

Soap residue, hair, grease, and sometimes even food residue ends up in the drain. This mixture can build up on the pipes and rot there. It should come as no surprise that the gases that arise do not exactly create a pleasant scent.

Most of the time it doesn't get to the point where you notice that the drain stinks as soon as you enter the room - but sometimes it does. But even if the drain doesn't smell noticeably, it doesn't hurt to clean it every now and then and put an end to the decomposition gases that still rise.

A big source of smell in the house is garbage. The biggest culprit is organic waste, but bathroom and plastic waste can also smell very bad. In a comfortable home, you shouldn't be able to smell where the trash cans are.

To prevent a smell from developing, the garbage should of course be disposed of regularly. Waiting until the trash can is too full to throw more in is not really an option (although it does happen in even the tidiest of households).

The liquid they contain means that food waste can ferment optimally and cause a bad smell. This must be avoided! It is therefore best to wrap the rubbish in paper – such as old newspapers or kitchen paper. Also helpful: Allow foods such as tea bags to dry out before throwing them away.

Tipp:Put a few sawdust in the organic waste bin to absorb additional moisture. The tip is also often given to put cat litter in the trash can. Cat litter absorbs moisture and neutralizes odors, but it should not be disposed of in the organic waste bin. So you should avoid this tip.

At night, sweat, skin flakes and grease get into our bed linen, where bacteria can thrive. Upholstery or carpets can also become contaminated and at some point be to blame if the air in the room doesn't smell very fresh.

If you really want good air at home, you have to do it regularly, wash upholstery covers and sometimes that too.