LPT: Does your house have an unidentifiable odor? If it's not your room mate, a lost Easter egg you hid in April, or last nights leftovers, here are some spots to look for that smell you can't figure out.

TL:DR Your house stinks and here is why. Or alternate Buzzfeed style: "15 reasons your friends put their nose in the air when they visit"Something not smell right in the house and you can't figure out what it is? Do people kind of sniff when they come over, and it's not because you're making cookies? Or that the cat just took a spectacular shit in the litter box and is prancing around two lbs lighter?If it's not your unwashed room mate, or the Easter eggs you hid in April, you need to figure it out. Stop spraying air fresheners, lighting candles, and go find what it is.Hidden spots for odors you can't find:UNDER THE STOVE TOP: Most stove styles lift up. This can be really gross if you've never cleaned it before or didn't know about it. It's where old grease, bits of ground meat, random peas/rice/pasta hide out at.BROILER/PAN DRAWER: If you have the type of stove that has a drawer on the bottom, pull that out. All the way. Right off the rail. You might be horrified to see pencils, old cat food, more dust than just a bunnies worth, grease, food bits and so on.UNDER THE FRIDGE. Refrigerators often slide easily, IF you pull them straight out. Another source for incredible grossness, along with lost pet toys, a marble, that fork you dropped three years ago, etc. You should be pulling out the fridge and cleaning the coils regularly anyway, to extend the life of your appliance.DISHWASHER. If it collects food in the filter, clean the filter y'all. If it collects water in the bottom, you get mold. Do whatever the manufacturer suggests, like a vinegar wash or something.WASHING MACHINE: Those front loaders get moldy and disgusting smelling. I wouldn't own one. You can get a product to help clean that out, or call a service person. This smell makes me gag.LAUNDRY BASKET: Dirty clothes have been residing there and some smells stay. Along with articles of clothing you may not launder often, like a bathrobe. Of course if you have smelly feet and you just drop your dirty gym soaked socks in the basket and let them rot up the room, that's not a welcoming odor. They don't make a candle called "Dirty Socks" that I know of. It also tends to leave the room, walk down the hall and greet you at the door.ANIMALS: We all know that litter boxes are awful smelling. If you have one, clean it every.single.day. Replace the litter. Put it far, far, far away from your kitchen and living space. You may need a carpet/spot cleaner in your life when you have animals, since accidents happen. But cleaning them up doesn't always get rid of odor. There are products, but they only do so much. You may need to deep clean. Or professionally clean.DRAPERY/CURTAINS: It's something that doesn't often get cleaned and the cloth retains a bit of every odor from cooking, to gym socks. After awhile, the funk just needs to be shared with everyone who walks in the door. Since it's your home, you may not notice the rankness of old unwashed sheers. Pick up a piece and give it a deep snort inwards. If you gag, get new ones or wash what you have. If heavy expensive curtains, some professional carpet/drapery cleaning might be called for.AIR DUCTS: Yup. Dead mouse, droppings, years of dust and dirt, DB COOPERS hidden stash of cash. It all adds to the funk that permeates. I mean, look how many movies Disney makes about who all lives in the air ducts/walls. Again, it's one you may not notice since you live there and it kind of creeps up on you like a stalker ex, so get an unbiased nose.TOILET TANK: Outside of the obvious need to clean the bowl, lift the lid. A source of mold under the lid and in the tank. Also, use something to swab the back of the tank and see if it smears black/red/brown or anything other than clean. With condensation trapped between tank and wall, you get a odorous visitor.WINDOW TRACKS: With the newer plastic ones, it's not as bad, I don't think. You do need to clean them regularly to keep the dead flies/spiders and the long hair of your lady friends cleaned up. With the older metal frames, it can get smelly because of...you got the memo?...mold.CARPETS/RUGS: It seems obvious, but a lot of people don't think about it. Clean them at least once a year, it helps keep smells down and extends the life of the product. Most smaller rugs can be tossed in the wash. If you have bathroom rugs or bedside ones you haven't washed, well...ewww. Wash them.SINK DRAINS/UNDER THE SINK: Did you know you can get drain flies? They actually live in the drain, that is how gross it can get. Also, we try to ignore the under the sink stuff, that dark cavern with monsters, spiders and ghosts living in it, but you really do need to drag out the old cleaners, garbage can and stuff and give it the Lysol or bleach treatment every few months. It's also a good place to check for rodent droppings if you suspect midnight visitors are partying in your walls. Scented garbage bags (disgusting btw) are not going to fix this, clean yo' shit up. Scrub the g-can, wipe down the drain itself, look for leaks or anything weird, get into the corners and do the walls of the cupboard and the doors. Do it. Just do it. We all hate it.PLANTS: Sometimes, we over water and dirt in the pots go rotten. Swamp rotten. Or a plant gets root rot, or some other disease. These can really reek a place up. Also check the containers they sit/drain into. I have a pot inside a pot for one plant, and discovered during a move that it was completely gross in the outside pot. Like, I'm surprised stuff wasn't moving around kind of gross. I'm a super clean person and that gagged me. Also, leaves need to be wiped every so often, so keep dust off, grease, and make them pretty and shiny. Fake plants also get pretty grody if not given the occasional shower. At least that is how I cared for my fake ficus trees years ago, sat them in the shower, and watched the dirt flow off them. Shower because of hot water and bugs didn't come from the yard while they dried. An amazing amount of dirt came off of those fakers, the dirty little things. So naughty.DECORATIVE PILLOWS/THROWS: They prop our feet, sit against our back, cover our sweaty bodies and collect a ton of shed skin and dead dust mites. Maybe some dead spiders and flea wings. If you can, wash them. If you can't, put them in the dryer on fluff or air dry with a dryer sheet that smells good. You can wash a lot of them though. I have a heavy 1984 Pendleton wool blanket, and I can wash that.That's all I've got for now. via /r/LifeProTips https://ift.tt/2TUfp7p