7 Ways to Make Your Room Smell Amazing (Without Lighting Any Candles)

Your dorm functions as so many spaces: your bedroom, your living room, your dining room, your study corner, and more. That also means that your room has quite a few different scents running through it at once — from microwaved popcorn to post-workout sneakers. For safety reasons, most dorms don’t allow you to burn candles, so you need to find different ways to make your dorm smell good.

Thankfully, you can get your space smelling fresh without lighting a single candle wick. You just need to think outside the box. Here are seven suggestions cleaning experts swear by. 

When you want to imbue your space with a fresh scent, try these simple fixes.

If your dorm allows electric diffusers, you can keep one on your nightstand and add in your favorite essential oils to permeate the room with their scents. “If you keep them right next to a bed, it does add a little moisture to the air, too, especially in the winter, when the air gets too dry because of the heating,” says Kadi Dulude, owner of Wizard of Homes. 

You can also go the reed diffuser route, which allows the scent to flow through the room by way of the reeds soaking it in and releasing it. (Pro tip: If the scent starts to fade, you can flip the reeds over every few days to get a stronger burst.) Make sure to check with your roommate first, since the fragrance will likely pass over to their side as well. 

Being an independent adult means picking up after yourself. Besides the obvious things like clothes and dishes, don’t forget about the smaller particles like dust and debris. A good dusting session is a surefire way to keep a dorm room from smelling stuffy, Rubino says. 

Rubino recommends buying a microfiber towel and slightly dampening it to dust all the surfaces in your room, from your desk and bedside table to your dorm bed frame. To amp up the good scents, use a nice-smelling botanical cleaning spray to imbue the room with a floral aroma while you clean up. Dulude notes that you can also add a drop or two of essential oils, like eucalyptus or lemon, to a homemade cleaning solution of water and distilled vinegar for a scent boost — avoid porous surfaces like wood, upholstery, or natural stone if you clean with vinegar.

Sheets, pillowcases, blankets, and wall tapestries are what Rubino describes as “porous,” filled with little spaces that odors can pass through and linger. If you’re not keeping up with your weekly laundry day, you’ll smell it. Rubino recommends using botanical-based laundry detergents to clean bedding and clothes thoroughly while being gentle on the environment. 

Wall tapestries may be a time-tested dorm room decoration to cover up blank walls, but they similarly hold on to odors. You don’t need to throw them to the wayside, but you should add them to your laundry load every week, Rubino says. If you’re not looking to add to your laundry pile, you can always replace that tapestry with some affordable wall art, instead.

If you just can’t part with your candles, then don’t! You still can’t light them, but you can use a candle warmer lamp that’ll heat up the wax and release your favorite fragrances. Plus, your candle warmer can double as decor. This is another solution that will scent your entire room, so check in with your roomie about what you both like.

Introducing a pleasant scent to your room is a quick fix, but there are some steps you should take to help prevent really awful smells in your space.

Michael Rubino, an air quality expert and founder of HomeCleanse, recommends purchasing an air purifier and a vacuum for your dorm room. Better yet, make sure these items are HEPA-grade (High Efficiency Particulate Air) — these filters will eliminate small particles from the air. Your air purifier should also have a carbon filter to trap odor molecules. 

When the weather allows and you’re not running air conditioning or heat, Rubino suggests opening a window if the outside humidity is between 30-50% to circulate fresh air through the room. Rubino says mold is more likely to grow in environments with a humidity level above 60%, so opening your window when it’s not too humid out will avoid microbial build-up — the growth of bacteria and fungi — and keep your room feeling (and smelling) fresh. Of course, make sure to close and lock your windows when you’re not in your room. To keep an eye on the moisture level in your room, consider buying a small hygrometer, or a thermometer for humidity. 

Rubino suggests keeping windows and doors closed when the air conditioning is on and turning on your loud-humming bathroom exhaust fan when you’re taking a shower. And if the humid air just won’t leave the room, a dehumidifier is a must. If you don’t have one, ask your RA or university housing contact if there’s one they can provide.

If your room is smelling a little off and you’re not sure if it’s a little funky or actually moldy, Rubino says to keep a nose out for the “telltale, musty, earthy, cigar-like smell” that mold creates. After all, he says, mold can grow in humidity above 60% within as little as 24 to 48 hours, so keeping the moisture levels in your room at bay is a must for a nice-smelling space. (If you think your room does have mold, flag it to your RA to see how it can be addressed.)  

While it’s nice to add scents you like to your room, Dulude warns to make sure you’re not ignoring what’s causing the unpleasant smells. “If there are bad smells in the room, [you] have to find out what is causing it; don’t try to mask the smells,” she explains. 

If you tend to order food often, Dulude suggests throwing away takeout containers soon after eating — not in your room’s trash can — because they can start to smell as they pile up.

This post originally appeared on Dorm Therapy. See it there: 7 Ways to Make Your Room Smell Amazing (Without Lighting Any Candles)