Why Does My Bedroom Smell In The Morning?

If you noticed a bad smell in your bedroom when you awoke, you probably wondered what caused it. We all want our bedrooms to be a relaxing oasis from the outside world, and foul odors are unwelcome intruders. The truth is bad smells in the bedroom can have many sources.

Most of the time, bedrooms smell bad in the morning because of poor air circulation. Everyone sweats at night and has bad breath until they brush their teeth in the morning, and if you sleep with windows and doors shut, those stale odors can get trapped in your bedroom overnight.

why does my bedroom smell bad in the morning

Whether your bedroom is your fortress of solitude or a peaceful getaway for you and your partner, a foul smell will undoubtedly throw off the vibe. This article will give you an in-depth look at why your bedroom stinks in the morning, how to get rid of those odors, and how to keep your bedroom smelling fresh all day.

Reasons Why Your Bedroom Smells Bad In The Morning

Every household is different, so your bedroom might smell bad in the morning for several different reasons.

a dog sitting on the bed

Let’s take a look at some of the most common culprits.

Poor Air Circulation

People often sleep with their bedroom windows shut, especially if they are on the ground floor or live in a bad neighborhood. Many people also keep their bedroom doors shut at night, particularly if they have children.

Sleeping with windows and doors shut allows odors like sweat and bad breath to accumulate in the room overnight, leaving a bad smell in their wake.

Bad Breath

Bad breath can cause a foul smell in your bedroom in the morning, particularly if your bedroom is small.

If you sleep with your windows and doors shut and without a fan to circulate the air, the CO2 from your breath will build up in the bedroom overnight, causing it to stink in the morning.

Body Odor

Our bodies repair themselves overnight as we sleep. While this process is miraculous, it’s also a little smelly.

Your body sheds skin cells, secretes oil, and sweats lightly to rejuvenate itself, contributing to a stinky smell in the bedroom.

Try to get a shower right before bed to cut back on as much body odor as possible overnight.

Dust

If you don’t dust your bedroom frequently, it can accumulate and cause a foul odor. This is especially true if you keep your bedroom windows and door shut all night.

Dirty Bed Linens

Sheets and pillowcases accumulate a lot of sweat and skin particles, making them smell bad.

If you don’t change them frequently, that odor will build up and make your whole room stink. Alternatively, that body odor smell could also come from your mattress.

Over time, the smell of sweat can get through your sheets and into the mattress, making it smell old and musty.

Mold or Mildew

Sometimes mold and mildew can become factors for foul odors in your bedroom.

Whether you have a window that doesn’t seal properly or a leaky faucet in the bathroom of your owner’s suite, mold and mildew can cause a very stinky problem.

Mold can also be detrimental to your health, so you should investigate anything you find to find its source and eliminate it from your home.

Dirty Floors

If you have carpeted floors or an area rug, dust and bacteria can build up in the fibers and cause an unpleasant odor.

To cut down on any bad smells in your bedroom, make sure you don’t leave dirty clothes lying around the room and vacuum frequently.

Solid floors like wood or tile don’t usually trap enough dirt to cause an odor, but if you spill something on them and don’t clean it up, you could create a smelly mess.

Dirty Clothes In The Room

If you have a clothes hamper in your bedroom or leave dirty clothes on the floor, they could make your bedroom smell bad.

When your body sheds skin particles and emits oils, it can make clothes a little smelly, but sweaty work or gym clothes smell even worse.

Leaving stinky clothing in your room and sleeping with your windows and doors shut causes the smell to build up and overwhelm you in the morning.

Spilled Food or Drinks

If you eat and drink in your bedroom, a spill could be why your room stinks in the morning. Furthermore, these spills could cause mold to grow in your room, making it smell bad and causing a health hazard.

To cut back on your bedroom’s foul odors, clean up any spills immediately and throw out any food or drink you haven’t finished in one sitting to prevent it from spoiling.

Pets

Lots of people enjoy having their pets in their bedrooms. Whether your furry friend has their own bed to sleep in or they share your bed, they could be the source of a bad smell in your bedroom. 

How To Get Rid Of Bedroom Odors

Now that you have some idea of what could make your bedroom smell bad in the morning, here are a few things you can try to eliminate that foul stench.

Remove The Source Of The Smell

It should go without saying that once you discover the source of the bad smell in your bedroom, you should remove it. That’s easy to do with things like mildew, dust, and bed linens- all you need to do is clean more frequently. 

A slightly more challenging problem to fix is dirty laundry. Even if you keep all the clothes off the floor, a hamper full of dirty clothes can make your bedroom smell stale.

One way to mitigate this problem is to keep your hamper in your bathroom or laundry room instead of the bedroom. If you have an owner’s suite with an attached bathroom, consider keeping your bathroom door shut to keep the smell contained in one room.

If your pet is the source of the bad smell in your bedroom, that can be a devastating problem to try to correct. You love your furry companions, so it makes sense to want to keep them close to you.

One way to reduce pet odor is to bathe and brush your pet frequently to tame its body odor. If you have a pet bed in your room, make sure you launder the cover often.

Finally, if your pet sleeps in your bed, consider washing your bed linens every other day to remove pet hair and dander from your bedroom.

Leave Your Doors Or Windows Open At Night

Leaving your bedroom windows or doors open at night can eliminate the foul stench coming from your bedroom by improving airflow.

Leaving your bedroom windows open overnight is impractical if you live in a bad neighborhood or an overly hot or cold climate. In this case, you might consider leaving them open for a little while during the day to help your room air out.

Use A Fan Or An Air Purifier

Fans and air purifiers help circulate air, which can help mitigate any nasty smells that build up overnight. They come in various shapes and sizes, so finding one that suits your needs is easy.

If you find that your room gets exceptionally stale overnight, having both a fan and an air purifier running should help a lot.

Set The Temperature To A Comfortable Level

If your bedroom is too hot or too cold, that could be part of the reason it smells bad in the morning.

You will sweat a lot if you get too hot while you sleep, but if you’re too cold, you might pile on too many blankets and trap your body odor in the bed with you.

How To Keep Your Bedroom Smelling Fresh  

Once you get rid of the foul smell in your bedroom, you’ll want to make sure it doesn’t come back.

Here are a few ideas to help you keep your bedroom smelling fresh all day long.

bedroom window open for fresh air

Freshen Bed Linens With Fabric Softener

Sometimes our bedrooms can use a little extra pick-me-up to keep them smelling fresh.

Adding fabric softener to your laundry can give your bed linens an extra boost of freshness that lingers in your room all day.

Use A Diffuser or Air Freshener

Essential oil diffusers are a great way to freshen up your room. The best part about essential oils is that you can choose the oil to fit the atmosphere of your bedroom at different times of the day.

At bedtime, you can off to sleep with the soothing scent of lavender oil. When morning comes, switch out the lavender for some lemon or orange essential oil to make you feel awake and ready to start your day.

If you have pets in your home, make sure any essential oil or blend you choose is safe for your furry friends.

If essential oils aren’t your thing, you can freshen your bedroom with a plug-in or spray some air freshener around the room.

If you’re planning to stay home for a few hours, you could even use a candle to set the mood as well as improve the smell in your space.

Use An Air Purifier

As mentioned above, air purifiers work wonders for keeping bedrooms smelling fresh. They circulate air and help remove allergens like dust and pet dander from the space.

To make the most of your air purifier, change or clean the filter frequently according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Open Windows During The Day

Even if you can’t leave your windows open at night, leaving them open during the day will help keep your bedroom smelling fresh.

Just fifteen minutes a day is all it takes to let the fresh air in and pull the stale air out. If you have a fan, keeping it on while the windows are open with help get more of the stagnant overnight air out of your room.

Conclusion

Bad smells are a nuisance that can disturb the peaceful ambiance of your bedroom. These odors have many sources, from body odor to mold and mildew- even old Fluffy peacefully sleeping in her cat bed could make your room stink.

If you want to wake up to a fresh smelling bedroom, you should:

  • Improve your airflow
  • Change bed linens frequently
  • Keep clothes hampers out of the bedroom
  • Open your windows during the day
  • Invest in an air purifier
  • Deep clean your room monthly.
Shauna Stone