When it comes to odor control, the compact size of a tiny house can work for you and against you at the same time.
On one hand, odors easily travel from one part of your home to another since there is such a short distance to travel. On the other, ventilating such a small space is quite easy.
In this post, we are going to share some simple tips and tricks with you to help you keep the interior of your park model home smelling fresh and clean.
- Remove trash and old food ASAP.
The kitchen is a big source of unpleasant odors in a tiny house. The two main culprits are 1-your trash, and 2-food that is going bad on your countertops, in your cabinets, or in your fridge.
Just remembering to routinely discard foods as they go bad and take your trash out every day can go a long way toward preventing foul smells.
- Keep up with your laundry.
A day-old shirt or pair of socks may not smell terrible, but once your laundry has spent weeks piling up, it can start to smell pretty rank.
If you typically do your laundry once a month, try doing it once a week instead. You may be surprised at what a difference it makes.
- Get odor eliminator for cat litter.
If you happen to have cats, you have to have a litter box—and that litter box is likely going to be the main source of unwanted odors in your tiny house.
Actually, most of the time, you probably won’t notice strong smells from your litter box. Cats are pretty good at burying their waste. But if you are having problems, there are deodorizers you can purchase for your litter box that can help keep bad smells at bay.
- Keep your pets clean.
Now, one good thing about cats as far as odors go is that they themselves usually do not smell bad at all. Cats clean themselves many times a day in most cases, and they do a great job at it.
Dogs, on the other hand, can sometimes smell pretty strong. If that is the case with your pets, the best thing to do is just plan on bathing them often enough to prevent them from really having a buildup of odor. If you groom them regularly, you can also prevent their hairs from getting everywhere and spreading their odor around the house.
- Regularly clean your interior.
Any home can start to smell stale if you are not keeping up with basic cleaning. So, along with the suggestions above, we recommend you have a routine schedule for vacuuming, mopping and dusting.
The good news is that it generally does not take nearly as much time and effort to clean a park model house as it would a full-size traditional house since you are dealing with a fraction of the square footage.
The hardwood floors in our park model homes are fast and easy to sweep clean with a broom, making it virtually effortless to keep your living room and kitchen clean every day.
- Open your doors and windows to let out bad smells.
While the tips we have provided so far should help to prevent the buildup of unwanted odors, sometimes, you will still need to let them out.
Thankfully, it is arguably easier to air out a tiny house than a full size home. If you just open some windows on either side of the house, you can get a nice cross-breeze going through. That will carry away the smells in no time while bringing in the fresh scents of the outdoors.
7. Be proactive against mold.
Mold and mildew can contribute considerably to stale odors in a house. Moisture can build up easily in a tiny house, especially in the bathroom, and in those conditions, mold can thrive. That is why you should be proactive in maintaining dryness in your tiny house. That means taking steps like:
- Ventilating the bathroom when you are using the shower.
- Placing desiccant products in enclosed spaces like cabinets to pull moisture out of the air.
- Regularly checking for leaks and repairing them immediately when you find them.
- Quickly airing out any part of your home that does get wet, especially anything made of wood.
Not only will taking these steps to combat mold help to freshen your air, but it will also increase the longevity of your home.
- Use natural remedies.
There are numerous natural products that you can use to help control odors in your tiny house, many of which you probably already have on hand.
For example, if you have some old coffee grounds, putting them in your fridge can help to absorb smells. You can also try this trick in your microwave.
Baking soda is also renowned for its odor-fighting properties, and can serve the same role.
Want to bring some good odors into your home, rather than just getting rid of the bad? One popular trick is to leave out a fresh cut citrus fruit.
- Try odor-eliminating products.
Finally, if you still need some extra help getting rid of unpleasant smells in your tiny house, there are many odor elimination products on the market. These include disinfectant sprays, vinegars for cleaning, moisture-absorbing products you can hang, and more. The best products for your needs will depend on the sources and locations of the undesirable smells in your home.
We hope you find some of these tips for odor control while living in a tiny house helpful! Once you figure out routines, products and practices that work for you, you should find it easy to enjoy fresh, clean air in your park model home every day. For more tips and tricks for living in a park model home, take a look at our blog archives.
