Ooh, That Smell…

The next time you're about to enter your home, take a moment to clear your mind and focus on what you're smelling. First, just outside the door. Are you smelling freshly cut grass? Or maybe the flowers in bloom along your walkway? Maybe something a little less pleasant like car exhaust or fumes from your neighbor's house in the process of being painted? Then go inside and smell again. What do you smell? Is there a big difference between what you just smelled outside? If so, is it a pleasant smell? Or, would it at least be in the "ok" category as far as scents go? Olfactory adaption, or nose blindness, is a phenomenon most people experience and don't even realize. It's a function of our brain that filters out "background noise" of our everyday lives that lets us focus on the matters at hand. Most people don't smell anything when they enter their home unless it's different than usual. According to 45 blog entries on the subject, "Why Can't You Smell Your Own House?" posted at www.quora.com, the human brain is constantly processing information it receives and learns to filter out what it deems unnecessary, such as the smell of our own home. I'm a little sensitive to smells that surround me, even the constant ones, but it's definitely a learned and intentional practice for me. Habituation typically causes our brains to determine that a particular sensation is not surprising or dangerous and discards it before it even enters one's consciousness. When I started practicing real estate, I was reminded of nose blindness when I went on listing appointments. People's houses typically have some type of smell to them. Not necessarily bad but noticeably present. Tactfulness is essential if there's a negative smell in a house that's about to go on the market. The last thing you want to do is offend a homeowner by telling them their house stinks. Recently, I've noticed a gross smell in my kitchen. Partner, Joe, and I are not the best about keeping a squeaky-clean refrigerator. Joe likes to keep leftovers much longer than most folks and then some inevitably get forgotten, shoved to the back. So, yes, it occasionally smells bad when you open it. This smell wasn't quite that, though; just as yucky smelling but different. It didn't take long for me to realize it was our trash. Despite it being lidded and having a pedal opener, the smell was definitely emanating from the garbage. And, when you stepped on the pedal and quickly tossed something in, a wave of the smell permeated the kitchen. Disgusting! Our trash can doesn't hold a lot so you wouldn't think it would develop such a smell in between bag replacements. Well, it's a beautiful, sunny and hot summer! Food waste is going to spoil and smell much more quickly than in cooler weather. Add in some humidity in, a heavier air mass, and that holds it in that much more. What's one to do? Empty that trash much more frequently and limit organic waste by composting. The other day, I smelled that nasty smell again in the kitchen and was perplexed because I'd just taken the trash to the garage maybe an hour ago. What the heck! Engineer Joe had the answer. He said it was coming from the sink. As a realtor, you learn about all the systems involved in rural homes. They typically have a private septic system; a tank and a leach field underground. These are expensive features for a home that require all kinds of permitting and you want to do everything you can to protect them and make them last as long as possible. One important rule is to not put food waste and grease in them. I was aware of this but even with the sink's stopper basket ajar, inevitably some food went down the drain. About a year ago, on vacation at an Airbnb, I saw one of those mesh drain screens. Three days later, I popped one in the kitchen sink as well as one in the laundry room. Ever since, I've been amazed at just how much yucky food stuff accumulates in that little basket every day so I'm constantly tapping it into the garbage can … certainly another prime suspect in the olfactory crimes of the kitchen. That brings me back to why there was still something foul in the air when I'd just taken the trash out and the drain basket was empty. Well, it was still coming from the sink. Then I really scrutinized that mesh drain basket. Even though I'd rinsed it after emptying it into the trash, there was still some material stuck in the fine mesh. I took a whiff of it and, whoa! Stink-O! The dishwasher happened to be near-full so I put the screen in the top rack and turned it on. Voila! A few hours later, I pulled it out and it was squeaky clean and had zero smell. As I'm wrapping up this article, I'm at my real estate office covering some floor time office hours. Clients of another agent have just arrived and something just occurred to me. Today's scent Mr. Michael is wearing is a distinctive combination of Polo cologne and Deep Woods bug repellent. As I'm experiencing nose blindness, I'm really hoping the smell has worn off and all these people aren't having their own olfactory senses offended!