You love your furry, four-legged friends. The smells that come with them? Well, those are much less appealing. The problem isn’t just with pets alone. Many undesirable smells come from the cleaners you use to clean up their messes. It doesn’t take long before unpleasant smells pile up. Fortunately, candles work beautifully to leave your home smelling fresh, clean, and free of pet odors.

8 Scents to Look for in a Candle

Baking soda and vinegar are oftentimes used to clean up pet odor. Vinegar has a strong smell and is acidic, making it great for cleaning up pet urine. Baking soda absorbs and neutralizes odors.

Essential oils can offer similar properties to vinegar and baking soda. Some have antibacterial properties, which may help clean the air, and others simply smell amazing. The effect? Essential oils can leave the room smelling clean, fresh, and homey. This makes them a perfect addition to candles.

Candles won’t get rid of the pet odors, but they can effectively mask the smell. Look for candles that contain one or more of these eight scents:

Apple

Apples smell clean and crisp and, according to some, can even help cope with migraines. Best of all, apples remind you of Fall. No one will notice pet odors when you’ve got apple pie baking in the oven.

Cinnamon

Who doesn’t love the smell of cinnamon? Fortunately, it is not only pleasant but also has a strong smell. Plus, cinnamon evokes a sense of warmth and of freshly baked oatmeal cookies.

Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus is a strong, forest scent that is perfect for some, though not right for everyone. Eucalyptus has antimicrobial properties, a clean scent, enough power to mask most household odors, and it smells like Winter.

Lavender

Commonly used in household cleaners, lavender's scent is both strong and calming. Lavender is commonly used to encourage relaxation. This is one of the most important benefits of lavender. When you smell something unpleasant, you get stressed out, and the smell is more noticeable. Lavender can calm you down so that you are not always alert to unpleasant pet odors.

Lemon

Lemon is commonly used in kitchen cleaners for good reason. Lemon is a bright scent that fills the room with a fresh and clean smell. It also has antibacterial properties that may actually clean the air.

Lemongrass

Lemongrass smells like a combination of citrus and grass. This combination offers both the energizing benefits of citrus and the sensation of freshly cut grass.

Orange

Great for boosting your mood, orange is an amazing scent to have in your home. It is commonly used in household cleaners for both its scent and cleansing properties. Orange is also one of the best scents to get rid of pet odor.

Vanilla

Vanilla offers a sweet and gentle but pervasive scent. It is both relaxing and uplifting. Most importantly, vanilla smells amazing.