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:: I know that sounds like the kind of question that a very immature person would ask. But I’m genuinely curious. I’m 33, and I’m not judging anyone.
I’m specifically asking about the houses of people who have either dogs or infants. Some houses that have a dog just absolutely reek, while most don’t. Some houses where an infant lives are permeated with the odor of sour milk, while most aren’t. So what’s the deal with the ones that are that way?
Bad ventilation? Sloppy cleaning?
Believe it or not, when you live in a “stinky” house for awhile you stop noticing the smell. I grew up in a house with 5 cats, and I never noticed the smell until I went away for college and came home for the Summer.
Now I live with only a single cat, but I’m always paranoid that my place reeks and I don’t realize it, so I always ask friends and relatives who visit whether the place smells all right.
Barry
I often wonder if my house has a smell, but that I’m so used to it that I don’t notice it. May houses have their own odors, and not all are offensive.
As far as pets are concerned, you have to wash the beasts once in a while. And maybe vacuum a little more often than would otherwise be necessary.
I had a friend in high school who would come over to our house periodically. After high school, he hadn’t been over over in about a year and when he did, he made the comment that it still had the same smell to it. He insisted that it wasn’t a bad smell, just smelled like our house. I’m still not sure what that smell is like.
Now that I’ve my own house and family, I wonder whether the smell is the same as before (with added aroma of diapers).
One of my best girlfriends is the world’s worst housekeeper. I mean, her house is a cesspool. Dishes in the sink from weeks ago, the furniture smells like urine, floors haven’t been vacuumed, mopped or swept in months. It’s a travesty.
However, this is not something that you can just tell your friend. I don’t want to hurt her feelings or anything. Once our other friend went over and bleached her sink/floors/bathroom and cleaned the toilet. One week later it was in the same sad shape.
Weird thing, she keeps herself immaculate. She looks like a goddess. I don’t understand it.
Frankly, I think some people just weren’t taught how to clean up properly. From what I hear, she has always been this way. Ah, well, we love her no matter how stinky her house is (although I won’t sleep there).
I’ve mostly noticed this in my grandparents house. It was just how their house smelled… a mix of grandma’s cooking and perfume and who knows what. My husband’s grandmother’s house is the same way. Whenever we get afghans she’s crocheted for us they smell like her house… not a bad thing just nostalgic I think.
After my nana died I slept with a comforter from her house as it smelled like her house for a month or so afterwards.
It can depend on the dog, too. I have two with short single coats. They pretty much always smell good without a great deal of intervention on our part. However, my friend has a shepherd-type dog with a thick oily coat and that pup is always getting thrown in the tub. She will get stinky without regular baths, and the stink can get transferred to beds, carpets, etc. where it’s a lot harder to get out.
I can smell cockroach infestations. I know that sounds odd, but I knew a guy who had a ratty old roach-infested shack that had a certain odor. Later I noticed that particular smell in other places where there were lots of roaches. Finally, I saw some lady entomologist on television who said she could identify what type of roaches infested a building based on the building’s odor. Also, if the infestation is bad, I can smell roach odor on people when I meet them is public places.
Seems I’m always chasing odor lately, but we have a new puppy!
I am constantly battling the pet smell (I have 2 dogs and 2 cats).
Our litter box is in the basement, and I keep it scrupulously clean. So that isn’t really an issue.
Our dogs aren’t allowed on the furniture, and we have all hardwood floors with area rugs. Area rugs can be brought to the drycleaner periodically and dusted with deoderizer powder about once a month.
It’s also important to wash the dog bed covers often, and the dogs themselves. Some dogs just smell more than others. My Rottweiler has no natural doggy smell, but my Beagle has a smell that can only be described as “houndy”. Anyone who has ever owned a hound will understand, it is this musky, although not entirely unpleasant, smell.
A friend of mine has lots of dogs and lots of cats (well, ok, 2 of each, but they’re big dogs and fluffy cats). And you know it as soon as you walk through the door. Why? Because the ten-year-old cocker spaniel was never trained not to pee and crap everywhere. It’s so sad, the house is gorgeous, but they’ll never be able to sell it because it’s hard to walk in without gagging.
Iknow why my house smells funny. It isn’t my cleaning, it’s the fact that I live with two guys who have the foulest feet I’ve laid nose to. If I had my way the dirty socks would be stored out the back door. 
I have one big, fluffy-haired, inside dog. She’s hardly ever outside, so she doesn’t get stinky from that. Usually we just bathe her once every couple of weeks. Also once every couple of weeks we use pet de-oderizer on the carpet. So that keeps the smell down.
I have a sensitive sniffer, so I THINK I’d notice if my house started to smell. BUT, I do always ask my dog-hating mom if my house smells bad. Just in case!
Well, I’m a cigarette smoker, my husband’s a cigar-and-pipe smoker, and we have lots of pets - despite that, I have a very good sense of smell. But I’ve often wondered if the smell of my home is one I’m just used to and if it would bother people non-smoking or non-pet people. So, I asked a few close friends who are not smokers and/or pet people, and who love me enough to be totally honest with me. They’ve all said my house smells nice, and two were surprised that we do indeed smoke in the house - they assumed from the lack of smoke odor that we were outside smokers only.
Occasionally, I get a whiff of catbox odor (with three cats, even daily scooping can be too little) but apparently I am the ONLY person who can smell it! Even my clean-freak cleaning lady asked me where I keep the catbox, since she knows there are cats but has never smelled catbox. (FTR, it’s in the laundry room, right across from the master bedroom, and she’s been standing right next to it a few times without noticing.)
Okay, I see what you mean. Thank you.
I have a friend whose parents smoke in the home, but you’d never, ever guess it. Wish I knew the secret because one cigarette smoked in my home and it reeks for hours. I’d like to think my house is clean. I’m not immaculate, but it’s tidy and the floors vacuumed on a regular basis. Perhaps it has something to do with how “air-tight” a place is, ventilation?
I’m curious about the cockroach thing Ca3799 mentioned. I’ve only been in one home that had cockroaches (that I’m aware of, of course) and it did have a smell to it… Now I wonder if it was the cockroach infestation (it was bad), or just the way their house smells.
I know you didn’t ask, but you’re not doing your dog any favors by washing her that frequently. The usual recommendation I hear from vets (of which I am not one) goes no more than once every three months.
The temperature you keep the place matters too. Above 75 degrees and a lot of things that smell live much better.
Holden Caulfield mentions this in Catcher in the Rye, when he sneaks back into his house after being away at school for a while:
I certainly knew I was home, though. Our foyer has a funny smell that doesn’t smell like anyplace else. I don’t know what the hell it is. It isn’t cauliflower and it isn’t perfume-- I don’t know what the hell it is-- but you always know you’re home.
When we read this part in class, I always ask the kids if they know what Holden means and they all do. I tell them about the first time I came home from college after being away for a few months, and I could finally smell my house. It wasn’t vinegar and it wasn’t muffins, but it was a combination of the two, and not unpleasant.
I too am paranoid that my cats reek, but I have so few visitors that part of me just doesn’t give a damn.
I keep my house locked up tight during the day, so ventilation is poor. I’ve noticed that taking out the trash every day keeps smells down to near zero. Now that the carpet is getting old enough to need replacing, I think it’s soaked up enough odors to start releasing some of it’s own. Makes me worry I may become the (smelly) crazy old cat lady. Feh…