Clearing The Air In Your Home (NAPSA)—Howclean is your castle? The answer may surprise you. But, three-quarters of the average home is made upof soft GIVE YOUR HOME A BREATH OF surfaces such as couches, curtains and pillows. According to a recent survey, many Americans only wash those surfaces once a year or not at all. So while many people may expect their house to smell fresh, they’re only cleaning a shocking 25 percent of their home. In other words, although the “white glove test” has come to represent the ultimate clean, it’s an indicator that may only work one quarter of the time. In terms of total home freshness, while the eyes don’t lie, the nose knows. While spring is the time of year most synonymous with a clean start, it’s fall and winter, “closed window seasons,” when we lose the circulation and freshness open windows provide, which makes cleaninga real priority. According to Dr. Craig Warren, Visiting Scholar at University of California San Diego’s Chemosensory Perception Laboratory, when tackling your cleaning regimen, the challenge is to expand your definition of clean—beyond your eyes to your nose. “While surface dirt and dust obviously need to be eliminated, simply cleaning hard surfaces doesn’t make your home smell fresh when odors are constantly being introduced into the soft surfaces of your home,” said Dr. Warren. “Scents are cyclical in nature. The more fully you live your life— with pets, kids, an open door for friends and family, with dinners and parties—the more scents are introduced and reintroduced into the home.” Dr. Warren says homeowners should not simply mask odors. He recommends using a product with odor-eliminating technology—such as Febreze, which eliminates odors andleaves a clean, fresh scent—for CLOSED-WINDOW CLEANING TIPS FROM FEBREZE How Clean Is Your Home? Not cleaning soft surfaces (such as pillows or curtains) allows them to capture odors that keep your house from smelling fresh. your home’ssoft surfaces. To keep your home smelling as fresh as it is clean, and to learn more facts about how scents affect you and the people in your home, the cleaning experts at Febreze, along with Dr. Warren, have developed a comprehensive brochure with tips and solutions to common problems with homefreshness. For a free copy, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Febreze Brochure Offer, P.O. Box 8797, St. Louis, MO 63101-8797. For additional information, visit www.febreze.com or www.home madesimple.com.
