While a house isn't a home without pets, it would be nice if that deal didn't include that classic pet stench.
My dogs are big, active, and love to roll around in questionable materials outside. They both have short hair and are thankfully relatively easy to keep clean, but the smell always finds a way. They suffer through the dreaded bath time every few weeks, but still, I can't get over how my house smells like dog.
They don't smell any better or worse than the average canine I've met, but I'm self conscious their odor is the first thing people notice when they walk in my door (besides my dogs excitedly running to greet them).
I'm not always the best housekeeper, but I still do my best to keep both dogs and everything else in the house clean as a way to staunch the smell. I've tried several different brands of plug-in air fresheners, sprays, wax melters, and I have a stash of scented candles I light as a last resort. Most recently, however, I've had the opportunity to try out something new. Oil-free reed diffusers from alio are helping my home smell fresh.
Alio is new to the air care industry, but my experience with them so far has been positive. Their odor-neutralizing diffuser reeds are made from natural wood resin taken from sustainable forests. The reeds are infused with blended scents and rest in the alio signature vase designed to promote airflow. The whole setup eliminates odors while gradually releasing a subtle scent.
There are 20 scents to choose from, and after an intense debate with my husband, I decided on the Tahitian Sunrise and Warm Vanilla scents. The next challenge was determining where in the house to put the diffusing reeds. I wanted to position the vases in places where they'd be most effective in getting rid of the dog smell and also where they'd be safely out of reach of our curious canines.
I ended up settling on a shelf in our living room and the desk in my home office. Each set comes with 15 reeds, and this allowed me to choose exactly how much scent I wanted to release in each room. I started by putting five reeds in each vase, but after two days, I ended up adding three more to the Warm Vanilla vase in the living room. The downstairs of my house is one big open floor plan, and because it's March in Hawaii, the windows stay mostly open. With all of these things combined, the vanilla scent I was looking forward to seemed to only stick around in the area directly surrounding the vase.
Once I added a few more reeds and closed a few windows due to an unexpected cold front (72 degrees, brrrr!), however, the problem was basically solved. I walked downstairs one morning and was pleasantly surprised to notice the subtle scent of vanilla on the opposite side of the room from the diffusers. I didn't detect a hint of dog like I usually do when the windows are closed, and still the smell of vanilla wasn't overwhelming. It's since been a few days, and the smell is still soft and calming.
Upstairs, my husband thought he was clever and stole the diffuser set out of my office. He moved it into his office across the hall, and I had no idea what happened to it. I didn't know where it was, but I could still smell it. The tropical scent of Tahitian Sunrise leaked under his closed door and gave our carpeted hallway a much-needed freshening up. When he eventually relinquished the diffusers and I put them back in their rightful place, I was once again impressed by how well they worked.
My office is one of the smelliest rooms in the house because while I'm working away, my two sidekicks are either watching me from the futon or wrestling on the carpet by my feet. When I opened the door the morning after installing the diffuser on my desk, I was instantly struck by the good smell. No more working through dog stench!
Alio's oil-free reed diffusers made a noticeable difference in how my house smells. My recommendation for anyone interested in trying it out is to experiment with how many reeds you set out at a time. Five was plenty for my small office, but it wasn't enough to tackle the dog smell in a more open space. Now that I've found the magic number, I keep the unused reeds in the airtight containers they came with. According to alio, reeds last about 30 days, and when I stop noticing the good smell, I'll replace them with fresh sticks.
What I like most about alio is that the diffusers are safe for the dogs to be around. There's no hot wax or oil involved, and I don't have to worry about the house catching on fire if the dogs start getting rowdy. I've already lost one plastic outlet cover due to the dogs playing and slamming into a scented plug-in, but the worse that can happen with the diffusers is the vase is knocked over and I have to play a game of pick-up sticks.
The oil-free reed diffuser set sells for $18 and can be purchased on the alio website and with Amazon Prime. I recommend anyone who's struggling to find a practical and effective way to deal with dog smell to give it a try. The vase comes in five different colors, and with 20 scents to choose from, there's something for everyone.
Are you going to try oil-free reed diffusers from alio? Let us know in the comments.
All images via Amber King
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