How to smell your home and fix what you don't like

Why can't we smell our home

The fact is that we get used to the smells of the environment, if they do not seem dangerous to us. How it works? Aromatic compounds enter through the nose and hit the receptors that send signals to the brain. He recognizes the smell and decides whether to sound the alarm. If the fragrance seems safe, then there is no need to pay close attention to it.

Thanks to this mechanism, our ancestors could notice, for example, that from the animal they killed, it began to stink of rot - this meant that it was no longer possible to eat it, otherwise you could get poisoned.

Pamela Dalton, Doctor of Experimental Psychology, has been studying the topic of "nose blindness" for 20 years. Yes, in one researchP. Dalton. Odor Perception and Beliefs about Risk / Oxford Journals she gave subjects a pine-scented air freshener to put in their bedroom for three weeks.

The participants of the experiment reported on their feelings, and it turned out that gradually their sensitivity to this smell

decreased. At the end, Pamela was even asked: “Are you sure that the air freshener is still working?”

How to smell your home

The adaptation of the olfactory system is different from that of other sense organs. For example, let's compare "nose blindness" with "hearing blindness".

Imagine that you are working near a construction site. Most likely after some time your brain "turns off" ambient noise. But if someone asks you, “Do you hear the paver humming?” - you immediately refocus your attention and bring back the sounds of the construction site.

It doesn't work that way with smell.

There are life hacks that will help you better recognize aromas, including those that are in your apartment. But they are unlikely to teach you to abruptly switch from smell to smell.

1. Leave the apartment for a few hours

Scientists studying the mechanisms of smell are advised to apply the techniques of perfumers. One of them is to leave the room for some time (from several hours to several days), to the smells of which your brain has already managed to adapt.

A simple example: when you find yourself at home after a long absence, you can feel how smells room.

2. Provide blood flow to the nose

The increase in blood flow will help the nose re-smell smells that have become familiar. Dalton says that some perfumers run up and down stairs to get their circulation going. This method, says Pamela, works in her laboratory.

What to do if you still can’t smell the house

Based on his researchP. Dalton. Odor Perception and Beliefs about Risk / Oxford Journals Dalton concluded that when a person is looking for danger in the surrounding scents, his nose becomes more sensitive and slower to adapt to them. Therefore, do not worry if you did not manage to feel what your apartment smells like.

Perhaps, even despite the fear of smelling the smell of dirty socks and a cat's litter box, your brain did not find anything suspicious in the house and did not sound the alarm.

Most often, unpleasant odors are in the “nasal blindness” zone, as they are constantly present in your home. Here's what you can do to get rid of them.

1. Clean up after animals carefully

Their urine, hair, drool and cell fillers can exude an odor. To get rid of it, you can use the following ways4 Funky Odors in Your House Only Your Guests Can Smell / House Logic:

1. Bathe your pets regularly. Especially if they are long-haired and like to walk on the street. Vacuum your apartment a couple of times a week. Recommended to use before baking soda - You will need ½ cup. Mix it with 5 liters of warm water, pour the solution into a spray bottle and spray the pile evenly. Wait for it to dry completely and vacuum the carpet.

Don't forget to brush through narrow spaces: pet hair can hide between the carpet and the wall or in a gap under a closet.

2. If the pets have a favorite sofa, cover it with a blanket, if a pillow, buy a cover for it. Wash them at least once a week.

3. If you suspect that the animal may have been marking territory or urinating before reaching the toilet, use UV detector lamp. It will help highlight the "surprises" left by your pet for guests. By the way, in addition to cleaning, the lamp is useful in order to examine the animal for the presence of lichen and ticks.

If your pet still turned out to be “not clean on its paw”, the consequences can be eliminated with the help of vinegar and water - mix them in a ratio of 1: 3. You can also buy ready-made neutralizers animal urine and special products with enzymes.

4. Change the filler and clean the cages regularly.

2. Remove mold and prevent it from reappearing

Musty odors are usually caused by high humidity and the resulting mold. Carefully inspect the darkest and most humid places in the house: basement, bathroom, kitchen cabinets. If you find gray or white spots anywhere, it's probably mold.

1. Clean the affected surface from plaque. For this, a solution of bleach and water in a ratio of 1: 10 is suitable. Apply it with a brush or spray gun.

2. To prevent fungus, buy a dehumidifier or install hood. If this is not possible, try to improve air circulation in any other way.

For example, after taking a shower, it is better to leave the curtains open.

You can also buy a small fan and turn it on every time you leave the bathroom. And it is better not to put the freshly washed dishes in the cupboard immediately, but to wait until it is completely dry.

3. Try to reduce the humidity in rooms where it is most often high: put bowls of cat litter or baking soda there.

3. Wash bedding and clean mattress

Our body produces heat and sweatsheds pieces of skin. All this, being in our bed, becomes an excellent breeding ground for bacteria, which emit an unpleasant odor. Therefore, it is worth regularly monitoring the cleanliness of bed linen and mattresses.

1. Change bedding at least once a week advisesHow Often Do You Really Need to Change Your Sheets? / This Old House Canadian microbiologist Jason Tetro. Wash sheets and duvet covers for 10-13 minutes at 60 degrees - lower temperatures will not be able to kill bacteria.

2. Sprinkle the mattress with baking soda, let it sit for an hour, and then vacuum it up. By the way, for a pleasant smell, you can add a couple of drops of essential oil to soda.

4. Wash the refrigerator and install an odor absorber in it

Sometimes, even if it seems to you that you have eliminated the root cause unpleasant smell - for example, spoiled dumplings were thrown away, tiny pieces of food may remain in the compartments that have eluded your gaze.

You may not notice the aromas they exude, but note that the ice has changed color and tasted "something different." Most likely, this means that you have developed "nasal blindness" to these smells. And perhaps the guests will learn them.

1. Wash the refrigerator. To disinfect, use a solution of 1 tablespoon of bleach and 4 liters of water. Then let the refrigerator air out for 15 minutes and rinse off the mixture. Leave the door open at least overnight.

2. Install in fridge odor absorber. It can be a store-bought sachet, a saucer of baking soda, or crushed activated charcoal tablets.