Pop quiz: Which adjective best describes your dorm room or apartment’s aroma?
A. Fresh
B. Funky
C. Formidable
D. It’s complicated
Straight talk: “A” is the only reasonable answer to this question. What if a date asks to check out your place? Don’t you want it to smell fresh, clean, and worthy of another visit?
Use this map as your guide on your journey to freshness.
What to do about food odors
Your overpriced burrito smelled great when it was delivered last night. The remnants this morning? Not so much. Ditto last week’s pizza boxes on the kitchen counter and under the coffee table.
Cleaning up immediately after feasting is an odor-prevention must. This means taking out the trash and recycling — extra credit if you compost — and doing any dishes. However, smells linger. Sure, you can scrub the floor super-clean, but you still need help scrubbing your indoor air.
Get yourself an air purifier. Seriously. An effective air purifier, like a Honeywell air purifier, quietly cleans and recirculates a room’s air several times an hour. The right air purifier sucks in dirty air, filters it to capture microscopic airborne particles like smoke, pet dander, dust, and dust mite debris, and returns cleaner air to your room 4.8 times per hour.
When shopping for an air purifier that will be most effective, look for one that uses activated carbon that is engineered to reduce not only odors, but dust, pollen, pet dander, VOCs (volatile organic compounds, gasses, or chemicals emitted from household products), and smoke. It’s vital to remember to replace your carbon pre-filters every 3 months for optimal odor reduction.
Additional odor-busting kitchen tips:
- Toss expired foods and wipe up spills in your fridge.
- Clean the inside of your microwave.
- Work wonders on a stinky garbage disposal with baking soda and white vinegar.
How to deal with smelly clothes
Your new workout shoes look cool, but the scents they’re tracking indoors aren’t doing you any favors. And, you know, you sweat in shoes, socks, workout clothes, and your regular clothes.
Fortunately, there are air purifiers perfect for small bedrooms, extra-large living rooms, and sizes in between. Let Honeywell air purifiers expertly refresh your room’s air while you observe these bedroom best practices:
- Let sweaty items breathe. Don’t leave damp shoes in your gym bag, or put moist workout shorts in the hamper — air out wet clothing.
- Wash dirty clothes promptly. Look into how white vinegar can rescue pieces with persistent odors.
- Vacuum rugs, sofas, and chairs. Ensure your air purifier is running while you vacuum to capture stirred-up particles you don’t want to breathe.
Ultimately, the thing to remember is that there is no shortcut to a clean-smelling dorm: In order to smell clean, it must be clean, and that includes having cleaner air.