Said It Here

How to stop an apartment from smelling like pets

Pet odors linger quickly in small apartments because limited airflow traps dander, urine, and waste smells in confined living spaces. Regular cleaning and airing out rooms often fail to clear out the trapped odor, causing anxiety about hosting guests or keeping a pet in a compact home.

Overview
People affected14 accounts across 3 forums
Workarounds found44 items attempted
Community agreement205 total upvotes

What the numbers show

Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count

  • The most recent one is from October 2026.
  • This comes up 9.9× more often in r/CleaningTips than across the site as a whole.

What people tried

Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.

44 items+ Contribute

Found another way around this?

Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.

  1. 1
    Buying air purifiers
    Did this help you?
  2. 2
    Cleaning with Odoban products and Clorox wipes
    Did this help you?
  3. 3
    Stopping high-calorie chews
    Did this help you?
  4. 4
    Cleaning the litter box right away
    Did this help you?
  5. 5
    Putting a fleece blanket over the couch to protect it from claws and hair
    Did this help you?
  6. 6
    Using quality food including wet food daily to produce less smelly poops
    Did this help you?
  7. 7
    Using air purifiers and odor-neutralizing sprays like Maison Berger lamps or hypochlorous acid
    Did this help you?
  8. 8
    Wiping down walls, baseboards, and doors using hot water and powdered laundry detergent
    Did this help you?
  9. 9
    Changing AC filters monthly and cleaning AC vents frequently
    Did this help you?
  10. 10
    Hiring professional carpet cleaners or cleaning services for deep cleaning
    Did this help you?
  11. 11
    Using a small handheld vacuum for furniture and investing in a robot vacuum
    Did this help you?
  12. 12
    Using alternative cat litter brands such as Dr. Elsey's, Pidan tofu litter, Arm & Hammer Clump And Seal Slide, Arm & Hammer Hardball, Sustainably Yours Large Grain, or Feline Fresh
    Did this help you?
  13. 13
    Scooping the litter box 1 to 2 times a day
    Did this help you?
  14. 14
    Using a Litter Genie
    Did this help you?
  15. 15
    Investing in an air purifier with a charcoal or odor filter instead of wall plug-ins
    Did this help you?
  16. 16
    Opening windows to air out the house
    Did this help you?
  17. 17
    Washing pet beds and blankets weekly
    Did this help you?
  18. 18
    Using wax warmers with neutral scents
    Did this help you?
  19. 19
    Putting scented pearls in the vacuum
    Did this help you?
  20. 20
    Burning scented candles or placing air purifiers in rooms pets do not frequent
    Did this help you?
  21. 21
    Buying cheap special kitty odor control litter and cheap throwaway cardboard litter boxes
    Did this help you?
  22. 22
    Switching from wood pellets to clumping clay litter or tofu litter
    Did this help you?
  23. 23
    Adding baking soda to the bottom of the tray
    Did this help you?
  24. 24
    Scooping poop daily and fully changing the litter at least twice per week
    Did this help you?
  25. 25
    Replacing scratched plastic litter boxes with stainless steel boxes
    Did this help you?
  26. 26
    Using an enzyme cleaner
    Did this help you?
  27. 27
    Changing vacuum filters often
    Did this help you?
  28. 28
    Removing carpet and using air purifiers
    Did this help you?
  29. 29
    Wet dusting frequently and using carpet deodorizers or baking soda
    Did this help you?
  30. 30
    Bathing pets monthly and brushing them outside weekly
    Did this help you?
  31. 31
    Using a carpet shampooer or pressure-washing throw rugs
    Did this help you?
  32. 32
    Sweeping daily and vacuuming with pet odor carpet refresher
    Did this help you?
  33. 33
    Scooping the litter box frequently and dumping it weekly or bi-weekly
    Did this help you?
  34. 34
    Running a ceiling fan and window air conditioner constantly
    Did this help you?
  35. 35
    Using air purifiers and dehumidifiers
    Did this help you?
  36. 36
    giving the puppy a shower
    Did this help you?
  37. 37
    looking for alternative ways to mask the smell without buying expensive products
    Did this help you?
  38. 38
    Using wood pellet litter
    Did this help you?
  39. 39
    Adding baking soda to the litter box to deodorize
    Did this help you?
  40. 40
    Vacuuming and mopping floors more frequently
    Did this help you?
  41. 41
    Burning candles and incense
    Did this help you?
  42. 42
    Using air purifiers and fans with charcoal or HEPA filters
    Did this help you?
  43. 43
    Switching to stainless steel or disposable litter boxes
    Did this help you?
  44. 44
    Setting up an exhaust fan in a window
    Did this help you?
Tried another approach not listed above?+ Share your workaround ↑

In their words

Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.

r/CleaningTips6 people · September 2026

“I feel like no matter how much I declutter and clean my house still feels grimy sometimes. It’s an old house, and I’m unable to open the windows to air it out for the most part. There’s other carpet everywhere besides the kitchen and bathroom, and I have a small dog, a cat, and an 8 month old.”source ↗

UrLocalAnxiousGirly · r/CleaningTips · 168 upvotes

“I don’t want to “panic” clean every time a guest is about to come over and don’t want to feel uncomfortable if someone comes over unannounced.”source ↗

“I don’t think it smells bad, I think maybe it just smells weird lol”source ↗

CassyCat1999 · r/CleaningTips · 6 upvotes

“So, my cat litter is in my hallway as I have a small flat and nowhere else to put it. It gets regularly cleaned out and i have wood pellets, but a few people have come in and commented on the smell.”source ↗

“Im a bit nose blind to it now which is a nightmare!”source ↗

ChimpanzeeHooves · r/CleaningTips · 3 upvotes

“What are your top tips to keep your house smelling nice when you have a lot of pets?”source ↗

arifirari · r/CleaningTips · 2 upvotes

“My floors do drive me insane!”source ↗

UrLocalAnxiousGirly · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“I am also self conscious that my place may end up smelling too much like “cat.””source ↗

otter_759 · r/CleaningTips · 1 upvotes

“I have a smell problem, and I'm not sure how to deal with it. I live in a roughly 400sqft studio with my two cats”source ↗

“My partner frequently tells me the apartment "smells like cat" or is just generally stinky.”source ↗

Beginning-Run-7839 · r/CleaningTips
r/cats6 people · September 2026 – October 2026

“I'd like to make sure my apartment smells of cat as little as possible, as the reason he originally told me to re home 2 of them was because cats smell and he thought the smell would be too much with 3 in 1 apartment.”source ↗

Bigstoner42016 · r/cats · 11 upvotes

“Never had an inside cat so just wondering what are some good cat litter brands and litter boxes y’all use that aren’t break the bank expensive.”source ↗

“We bought some cheap special kitty odor control and cheap throw away cardboard litter boxes but want something better that doesn’t stink and not having to replace every few days.”source ↗

JarJarBl1nks · r/cats · 5 upvotes

“I’ve been using Outstretch by fresh step for forever but they’ve change the formula and names and they definitely changed the formula. It stinks quicker and it’s in the living room of my house since I live in a smaller two bedroom Chicago apartment.”source ↗

“I’ve always prided myself on my house not stinking of cat litter 😞 even the wall plugs I have form bath and body don’t seem to be helping lately…”source ↗

No_Filter1823 · r/cats · 2 upvotes

“As someone with 5 cats in a 2 bedroom apartment I understand your worry. We pretty much had to dedicate one of the 2 bedrooms to the cats and their many litter boxes and have an exhaust fan constantly going in the window to pull air out.”source ↗

Lucky_Louch · r/cats · 2 upvotes

“I’ve been going back and forth about getting a cat. I realllllly want a cat but I have a few concerns: - I live in a one bedroom with an extremely small bathroom , small kitchen so the only place the litter can go would be my living room but i’m nervous of the possible smell (advice?)”source ↗

“do cats really take to scratching on posts and all that or do you find they love a good couch scratch lol”source ↗

kkcookss · r/cats · 1 upvotes

“I’m paranoid about my house smelling like cat box and ask my friends when they come over.”source ↗

cailleacha · r/cats · 1 upvotes
r/puppy1012 people · September 2026 – October 2026

“Our 9 week old doodle puppy is adorable but her poop absolutely stinks up the apartment even though we actively regularly clear it & air the house.”source ↗

bracesthrowaway2021 · r/puppy101 · 2 upvotes

“so puppy smell can be strong even after they took a shower is there any way i can mask the smell?”source ↗

“is there a way i can mask the smell without buying those expensive scam products”source ↗

yuriloverscissors · r/puppy101

Where this came up

r/catsr/CleaningTipsr/puppy101apartment livingcatscleaninghome cleaninghome maintenancehousehold productsindoor air qualityodor controlodorspet carepet odorspet ownershippetspuppy training

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